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“We should have done what Jason’s trying to do now and get a mandate from the membership of both parties and from Albertans as a whole.

“I think the urge that we had to bring conservative factions together and work toward getting the province back on track . . . was absolutely the right thing, but you can’t forget those that you represent — you need to take your orders from them.

“As much as we thought we were right in the ends that we were trying to arrive at, the means do mean something.”

Backlash to that move was fierce and none of those who crossed the floor were still standing after the last election — all of them stepped down before the vote or were defeated.

The province’s current NDP government was at least partly spawned from the resulting staggering upset over Prentice’s PCs, though the Wildrose held on as the Official Opposition.

Anderson said he doesn’t believe Albertans were ready then.

“This is such a critical juncture in our history,” he said. “Now, people understand and they know that this needs to happen if we’re going to turn the ship around and get things going in the right direction and get jobs created, get people working again and get our finances in order.

“We need to do our best to work together. Some parties cannot work together because they are just too diametrically opposed but, for the PCs and Wildrose, that’s not the case and they’re agreed on 95 per cent of stuff.”

Anderson said while he wants to do his best to mend fences, he has no interest in returning to politics at this time.