Airdrie-Cochrane UCP candidate Peter Guthrie admits they were originally concerned about holding a fundraiser so close to Christmas.

Any doubt, though, was quickly erased when the Saturday, Dec. 15 function packed Ducks on the Roof as Guthrie and the UCP constituency association builds momentum towards the provincial election now only months away.

"We thought it was going to be tough because we’re so close to Christmas and we’re competing with Christmas parties," says Guthrie. "Look at the support we have here tonight. It’s pretty awesome to see."

Guthrie told the crowd of nearly 180 people that the provincial election campaign period starts in January and an election could be potentially called as early as March. He expects the NDP to continue to ramp up and accelerate their finger pointing and name calling. It's a trapping he wants UCP supporters to avoid.

"One of the things we don’t want to get caught up in is the misdirection of our opponents. We need to stick to the facts and defend this province against a closed book agenda that has no worries about deficits or debt burdens."

He says the Albertans he has been speaking with want lower taxes and an end to the build-up of a bloated bureaucracy they believe has been bogging down the government for over a decade. And, most important of all, they want jobs and opportunities.

"Opportunities that’s a big one. They aren’t looking for handouts. What they want is a chance to get out there and earn a living."

Guthrie also took aim at the carbon tax, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government.

"We could use a United Conservative Party to defend our resource sector from special interests groups, activists groups and destructive ideology and mustering up just a little bit of defence from Ottawa would be nice."

Guthrie says the Cochrane-Airdrie UCP will be ready when the election rite is dropped.

"This is very well well-organized constituency and you see tonight the quality of the people we have on our board. We have all the positions on our team filled and now we’re working on our volunteer team, Tonight, we’ve made a lot of headway on that. A lot of volunteers signed up. So I think we could be ready to go in January."