Former Harper advisor to chair Alberta’s Wildrose campaign

Tom Flanagan, once among Stephen Harper’s most influential advisors, will chair the election campaign for Alberta’s Wildrose Party, an upstart hard-right movement aiming to unseat Alberta’s 40-year-old Progressive Conservative regime. Flanagan, a professor at the University of Calgary, has deep ties to the federal Conservative Party. Many view his prominent role with the Wildrose as a sign that federal party heavyweights are divided over who to support in the upcoming campaign. The PCs elected Alison Redford, a centrist lawyer from Calgary, as their new leader earlier this year. An election call is expected this spring. A poll released on Monday showed the Tories leading the Wildrose 39 per cent to 28 per cent among expected voters.

Globe and Mail