Not so united conservatives: Kenney being punished politically for doing the right thing
Kenney must choose saving lives over political survival, writes columnist Graham Thomson
This column is an opinion from Graham Thomson, an award-winning journalist who has covered Alberta politics for more than 30 years.
The mutineers haven't tried to seize control of the boat or toss the captain overboard but you have to wonder if they're getting ready to abandon ship.
Alberta's United Conservative government caucus is not a happy crew these days.
In fact, on Wednesday, more than a dozen of them took a step unprecedented in Alberta's political history by joining together to publicly slam their own government.
They didn't mention Premier Jason Kenney by name but he's the one who announced the reintroduction of tougher COVID-related restrictions.
"We believe that yesterday's announcement to move our province backwards, effectively abandoning the plan that Albertans had worked diligently over the past months to follow, is the wrong direction," said the letter signed by 15 rebellious representatives, including the Speaker of the legislature, Nathan Cooper.
"As MLAs, we are calling on our government colleagues to recognize the plea of our constituents. After 13 painstaking months of COVID-19 public health restrictions, we do not support the additional restrictions imposed on Albertans."
Two other UCP MLAs have joined the rebellion, bringing the total to 17, representing 25 per cent of the government caucus.
Watch | Kenney and Notley spars in the legislature
Kenney wasn't caught completely off guard. He knew something was brewing below deck when he appeared at Tuesday's news conference.
"I know some Albertans will disagree with the government's decision today and that includes undoubtedly some people in my own caucus and party," said Kenney.
"I fully expect to hear those opinions publicly in the coming days and I welcome them. I've always welcomed a wide-ranging debate on how best to rise to the challenge of this pandemic. I just ask that the debate be informed by facts."
The only time premiers welcome criticism from within their own caucus is when the doors are closed. Political leaders do not want MLAs washing their dirty clothes in public. But this week Kenney watched as a quarter of his MLAs started up a laundromat and opened the doors to the public.
This is not some Machiavellian manoeuvre with Kenney in the background pulling the strings to allow MLAs some freedom to complain without damaging the government. Kenney is facing a real revolt, though it is limited in scope.
He's responsible for this, at least in part.
During the pandemic, he has often pandered to the more conservative of his supporters, those who think the threat of COVID-19 is overblown, those who bristle at wearing a mask, those who want to fully open the reopen doors to restaurants and places of worship.
Many of them live in rural Alberta and argue they are being punished for outbreaks in the cities.
If you want to know where they live, just look up the constituencies of the 17 UCP MLAs publicly criticizing their own government.
They feel betrayed by Kenney who seemed to be on their side last year.
That was when Kenney called COVID-19 the "flu," downplayed its lethality, defended the right of anti-maskers to hold public demonstrations, and made it easier for people to fly to vacation hotspots.
With that kind of leadership-by-example, it's no wonder some of his own caucus flew on Christmas holidays to vacation hotspots.
But the real problem for Kenney is his actions are bringing him into conflict with the founding ideals of the United Conservative Party. In 2017, Kenney formed the UCP from the ashes of the old Progressive Conservative Party and the more right-wing Wildrose.
He promised supporters a libertarian, grassroots-led party dedicated to personal freedoms, smaller government and balanced budgets.
Instead, Kenney is imposing top-down government-mandated restrictions on personal freedoms as well as posting record budgetary deficits and running up a $100-billion provincial debt.
The pandemic might be responsible for many of Kenney's troubles but a large chunk of his own caucus doesn't seem to understand or sympathize. Or, more troubling for Kenney, a large chunk of his bedrock support doesn't understand or sympathize.
No-win situation
Perhaps adding insult to injury for Kenney, a student of parliamentary traditions, is the realization that Speaker Cooper is also taking an unprecedented step in Alberta political history by publicly supporting an attack against the government.
Speakers by tradition and necessity are supposed to stay out of partisan or controversial issues. Their role is to present a neutral face in the legislature as they referee political debates.
David Carter, who was Alberta's Speaker from 1986 to 1993, says he's appalled by Cooper's actions. "It is completely wrong," said Carter in an interview Thursday. "It is completely a violation of all things parliamentary in a true democracy as practised in the province of Alberta and Canada."
Carter says Cooper should resign, along with deputy Speaker Angela Pitt who is another signatory to the letter. The Speaker's office has not responded to a request for a comment.
Kenney might not be politically dead but the vultures are already starting to circle.
Paul Hinman, interim leader of the Wildrose Independence Party, issued a tweet Wednesday urging the disgruntled MLAs to quit the UCP and sit as independents "until the province-wide lockdowns are removed and recall legislation is amended to hold MLAs accountable to the people who elected them, not the dictator premier."
Kenney is in a no-win situation.
By re-imposing restrictions, he has a mutiny within his caucus and his base of support.
If he didn't crack down now, the Third Wave could overwhelm our health-care system, and people would die needlessly.
He did the right thing this week, not that it should have been up for debate, but too often in Alberta, it is.
As premier, Kenney's only concern should be the lives of Albertans, not his own political survival.
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