Jim Prentice to speak at PC leadership dinner Thursday
No refunds on PC leader's dinner tickets, says party
The Progressive Conservative Party has confirmed that Jim Prentice will be speaking at its annual Calgary Leader's Dinner Thursday night before introducing new interim leader Ric McIver.
Prentice has not spoken publicly since he resigned last week shortly after being re-elected to represent Calgary-Foothills.
It's a $500-a-plate fundraiser that usually raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Tories.
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But last week's crushing defeat in the Alberta election left the party down 60 seats in the legislature and in need of a new leader — a position that will be filled on a temporary basis by McIver, the Calgary-Hays MLA who lost his bid for leadership to Prentice last spring.
McIver is expected to offer his thoughts on how the party will rebuild.
Political analyst Lori Williams says the party's future hinges on how well it performs in the legislature.
"They're going to have to eat crow for the things they've done wrong, promise to do better and show that they're still relevant," she said. "History has shown that parties that go down to this type of defeat take a long time to recover."
No refunds
But attendees having buyer's remorse after shelling out hundreds of dollars for a pricey PC fundraiser are out of luck.
"We've had a couple requests, but not as many as people would assume," said Kelley Charlebois, the executive director of the PC Association of Alberta.
Mount Royal University political science professor Duane Bratt says many people bought tickets before the election, and before Prentice announced his resignation from politics.
"I know there have been requests by some companies for a refund, because they were not giving necessarily to the party, they were giving money for access to the government," Bratt said. "They're no longer the government."
Bratt says the party can't afford refunds because it spent so much money during the election.
"Advertising on TV hockey games, Stanley Cup playoff games is not cheap, so I wonder what is the state of the fiscal situation for the PC party," he said.
Last year's event, hosted by Prentice as he ran to be the party's new leader, attracted a record 1,800 people. Thursday's event, a sit-down dinner that has now been replaced by a stand-up reception, is expected to sell 1,000 tickets.