UCP Stance on GSAs Makes International Headlines - Again

It's been Christmas in May for the NDP since the UCP AGM.  Every day seems to add one more feather to the government's caps.  After the membership voted in favour of reinstating parental notification for "extra-curricular activities" that involved the distribution of "resources" pertaining to religion or sexuality on Sunday, all parties (including Jason Kenney) have been on the defensive.  It is a "very badly worded" motion Kenney told CTV Power Play, as he stood "by his decision not to enact" the policy members voted for.

"Research shows that GSAs save lives and this policy flies in the face not only of scientific evidence but of basic human decency as well" said a press release from the Alberta NDP on Sunday.  Stephen Mandel, leader of the Alberta Party, stated there are"certain fundamental things that are not negotiable: children's rights and their (right) to join a GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance)".  It's "a step backwards", echoed Alberta Liberal Party leader David Khan.

Another gift for the Government is the newly-formed habit of the UCP to walk out of the Legislature when they don't like the topic.  That topic of late is Bill 9, the legislation which will require a 50 metre safeguard for staff and patients entering and exiting clinics that offer abortion services.  The UCP has walked out en masse from three debates on the Bill so far; April 11, May 3, and again on May 9.  Some quipped the government could effectively keep them out of the Legislature permanently by extending the debates.

Funny though it might seem, MLAs in Alberta are elected to represent their constituents.  Kenney himself said the Party "will have to govern for all Albertans, not just Conservative Party members", yet has instructed his caucus not to show up for debate; and they have listened.  Is a representative that is beholden only to the Party Leader a true representative of the people who elected them?

Finally, although it's only Thursday, for the second time since Jason Kenney came to "save" Alberta, the reluctance of Kenney and his supporters to acknowledge a teen's right to privacy became international news.  For the record, no one is suggesting teens cannot tell their parents if they join a GSA.  If anything, this new legislation should be an opportunity for increased dialogue between parents and their children.

While I never personally thought of the UCP as the gift that keeps on giving, one has to admit they have not had a good week.  Luckily for them, most people don't pay attention to politics until election time.  Unfortunately, the UCP is very quickly acquiring "old" Party baggage the "new" Party was supposed to have left behind.

So You're Not Running a Candidate in Calgary-Lougheed

After a stellar showing at their AGM over the weekend, the Alberta Party officially announced Tuesday it would not be running a candidate in the Calgary-Lougheed by-election this Christmas season. A statement from the Party said they would instead abide by parliamentary tradition and allow three opposition leaders without a seat in the legislature, and the government, to duke it out while they prepared for a leadership race.  While one UCP supporter claimed announcing the outcome of the by-election was a "foregone conclusion" was defeatist, does anyone really believe Jason Kenney picked Calgary-Lougheed because he might have to work for it?   While this author took a stab at predicting who would step down for Kenney earlier this year, I missed the obvious benefit of removing the longest serving Calgary MLA, Dave Rodney; my bad.

Photo Credit: Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press

Referred to as a "stronghold", incumbents have the best chance of re-election, especially those who have been re-elected three times.  Naturally, if not an incumbent, the incumbent's party leader.   The NDP had to run a candidate because they are the government and it's quite likely they held back from announcing the date of the by-election until they found someone who could be everything that Kenney wasn't (and also take away some bragging rights from the AB Libs).

When fighting a social conservative college drop out who "served" his country by grandstanding on decades old belief systems, there's few better to enter the ring than a happily married gay doctor.  Dr. Phillip van der Merwe takes the edge on a single gay lawyer by having already made a lifetime commitment to another in the eyes of the law and of course God, who witnesses all marital unions.  Oh, and the Alberta Green Party leader is running as well.

The Alberta Party can happily leave this definite hot mess alone.  Kenney only has good old faith in traditional marriage, anti-carbon tax, anti-socialism, anti-compassion and a pie-in-the-sky promise that economic miracles will abound if he forms government in 2019.  The NDP will run on policy, GSAs and the fact that the economy is getting better even without Jason Kenney's magic conservative wand.  David Khan will run on his anti-PAC advocacy and hope that Trudeau shows up to knock on a door or two.  I imagine Kenney is hoping for the same since it seems he'd rather be facing off with Trudeau anyway.

While some are trying to set the narrative that the Alberta Party was either too weak or lonesome to run a candidate, UCP supporters on social media are obsessing about the Alberta Party and not the by-election.  It would appear the Alberta Party doesn't have to enter a by-election to take headlines or energy away from the UCP and it's highly probable that annoys them more than anything else.

Disclaimer: As of November 17, 2017, author is on the board of directors for the Alberta Party and also the executive as VP Membership. Former: member of Youth Justice Committee, Age-Friendly Steering Committee, Environmental Committee, Westerner Days Committee, and Miss Blackfalds 1992.

The Politics of Party Affiliation

In the last week there has been a lot to talk about on the political front and very little of it provided optimism for Alberta.  In BC, MLA Christy Clark, who approved the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, lost her bid to form government and the NDP's MLA John Horgan was named Premier designate on June 30, 2017.  Though an NDP government in BC would seem like a good thing for an NDP government in Alberta, there has been a difference of opinion between the two over the necessity of increasing pipeline capacity to the BC coast.

If that wasn't enough to begin to rile the Conservative troops in Alberta as they prepared to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered his Canada Day speech in Ottawa naming the individual provinces and territories that make up this incredible country we call Canada and somehow skipped over Alberta.  Trudeau and politically engaged individuals across the country felt the backlash before it even started.  Just remember, when conservatives make a gaffe and apologize, everyone is expected to accept the apology and move on (*Note, there were a number from Fildebrandt so I just chose one at random).

Credit: Jason Kenney's official Facebook page

In Alberta, the conservative party "leaders" (Jason Kenney and MLA Brian Jean) and shakers (MLA Derek Fildebrandt) pounced on the opportunity to rally support from the separatists and conspiracy theorists.  Alberta Liberal Leader, David Khan, responded to MLA Brian Jean saying "Canada Day is the ONE day a year when politicians should be inclusive..." (no pun intended, I'm sure).  Neither the Alberta Party Leader, MLA Greg Clark, nor Alberta Premier Rachel Notley made any mention of the omission on social media.

I once had a conversation with someone about how it was beneficial for provincial parties to have federal counterparts.  The NDP, Liberals and former PC's all had a federal likeness of the same name and the Wildrose had Reform.  Even once the latter two parties merged federally, both provincial parties can lay claim to the parentage when it suits them. While the same could also be said for the NDP and Liberals, in a province that went very blue in the federal election the provincial parties are having a rough time with their federal namesakes and even their provincial cousins.

If David Khan didn't have enough of an uphill battle in the province before (and he did), the Prime Minister has managed to be unhelpful despite additional funding provided to the province during the downturn, expedition of infrastructure funding and pipeline approval. For the Alberta NDP, the federal party delivered a stunning blow almost one year after the provincial party was elected to government by tabling, and approving further discussion of the "Leap Manifesto" for implementation into federal NDP climate policy.  More recently, MP Jagmeet Singh, a federal NDP leadership candidate, claimed he would not support the addition of any pipelines, east or west for Alberta oil. Meanwhile, the federal Conservatives elected MP Andrew Scheer, a social conservative, to lead their party into the future of yesteryear. Personally, I'm starting to think it a blessing to not have a federal counterpart at all.

Another Week, Another Move Toward Unity

It feels like "hurry up and wait".  On the left we have the governing NDP making good use of their time and stature holding meet and greets.  We have the Alberta Liberal Party's new leader David Khan who has begun an "87 constituency tour", Jason Kenney on a similar path to garner support for Unite the Right and Brian Jean has been reaching out as well.  Derek Fildebrandt has also stated he will join the race if the parties merge.  The former Progressive Conservatives and Wildrose members will vote on unity July 22, 2017.

Meanwhile, the Unite the Centre initiative has enjoyed a publicity boost from the acquisition of Katherine O'Neill, former President of the Progressive Conservative Party.  O'Neill has recently accepted the position of Director of Alberta Together, a political action committee that, according to their website was "started to help shape and support a growing fearless, focused and forward thinking centrist political voice" in Alberta. "It is a not-for-profit organization that puts public service, pragmatic centrist principles and province-building at the top of its agenda."

http://albertatogether.ca 

Back in April, the first Unite the Centre meeting was held in Red Deer.  People were invited based on the organizers' knowledge of the invitees' political leanings.  Each of the invitees were asked to reach out to others within their communities to bring as many voices to the table as possible.

At that time Kerry Cundal was running for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party and though she did not speak on behalf of the party, she attended.  Had she won the leadership, she would have known what these conversations were about and how or if her party could benefit from taking part.

The NDP's connection with its federal party will continue to be a tough shadow to cast off. With the latest announcement from the federal NDP leadership candidate Jagmeet Singh that he and his party will oppose both Kinder Morgan and Energy East, the AB NDP are left holding a bag. As much as they would like to move centre, their federal counterparts seem intent upon making them look like Greens on steroids. Add to that the slim-to-none chance of Wildrose or Kenney's party or the UCP quieting their socially conservative, death threat making, immigrant hating, refugee bashing, homophobic members to appeal to a centrist base... and you have just two parties in the centre.

As O'Neill said on Ryan Jespersen's show last week, "there are two parties in the centre; the Liberals and the Alberta Party... what is the best option for 2019?"  Greg Clark will be in the room but I believe David Khan is restricted to maintaining the status quo.  Seems we'll find out where the conversation leads on Saturday.

If you would like to be part of these discussions, or just want to have lunch and listen, tickets are available for the Alberta Together event on June 24, 2017.  The event is scheduled to run from 11:00 am (registration opens at 9:30) until 3:00 pm at the Black Knight Inn in Red Deer.

The Fight for the Centre

In the past week some Alberta Liberal Party members were able to vote for their choice of Liberal Party leader.  I say "some" because there were a number of disqualified voters. In the end, 77% of registered party members (Almost 1700) voted.  It was probably a tough choice.  David Khan and Kerry Cundal are probably the most likable and genuine individuals to face off in Alberta politics in a very long time.

Image Credit: thoughtundermined.com 

David wanted to rebuild the Liberal brand in Alberta.  He wanted to put in the work to remind people why the Alberta Liberal Party was the oldest party in the province.  He wanted to make the Alberta Liberals great again.  Kerry wanted a mandate to build a stronger centre.  She thought it was time to stop fighting for the same voter base in the middle of the political spectrum.  She said now was the time to work together with the other centrist party, the Alberta Party, and the politically homeless Progressive Conservatives who did not want to be part of a Jason Kenney - Wildrose "frankenparty".  The result was David Khan with 54% of the vote and Kerry Cundal with 46%; David won by 133 votes from a total of 1697 votes cast.

No doubt Kerry was disappointed.  As she boarded her flight overseas, I imagined she was feeling down.  It was a whirlwind of a campaign; six months worth of campaigning crammed into two.  She and David traveled the province meeting people for coffees, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, drinks and attending events; some of them together (they're also friends outside of the political arena).   Which is harder on a candidate?  Losing by a little or a lot?  When it's close you think there must have been something more you could have done; one more day of phone calls, one more trip to the other end of the province or sold a hundred and fifty more memberships to people who wouldn't be disqualified... who knows.

That was June 4th and the campaign hangover had to be pretty bad on the 5th, but time heals all wounds.  On June 6, David sent out an email reiterating his pledge to rebuild and re-energize the party and asked those who supported both him and Kerry to join together and work towards 2019.  If Kerry had some of the fight knocked out of her on Sunday it was back with a vengeance by Tuesday.

The email was titled "Let's continue this discussion".  She thanked the volunteers, supporters and the ALP members for being involved in the process.  She thanked those who were willing to think outside the box.  Then she reached out to half of the registered Liberal voters.  "46% of you were interested in hearing about what it would mean to see cooperation with other centrists and progressives in Alberta.  That discussion is ongoing and I want to personally invite you... to be a part of it."

The next meeting to discuss Alberta Together is happening in Red Deer on June 24th, 2017 from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm.  Tickets can be purchased here and it is open to anyone who wishes to be a part of this movement.  Kerry even invited David to take part; after all, almost half of the voting members chose to support a different view.  David knows he will have a lot of work ahead of him and the fight for the centre is just beginning.

The NDP and UCP would like people to think they are the only choices in 2019.   This works for both of them but does it work for Albertans?  The majority of Albertans voted PC for 44 years.  The NDP is trying to move to the centre.  The UCP could try to move into the centre as well but with Kenney's voting history and the Wildrose's ... well, Wildrose-iness, it won't be easy for them.  So who does that leave as an option?  It could be the Liberals but somehow having a majority in the federal government hasn't helped their brand here in Alberta.

Rachel Notley addressed a crowd in Calgary on June 1st asking "people who believe just as much in being progressive as they do in being conservative" to consider the NDP as a "pragmatic, progressive home." Greg Clark joined Ryan Jespersen on 630 CHED on June 7 and he referred to the influx of new members the Alberta Party has seen over the past couple of months. "There's definitely momentum in the centre and it's heading our way" he said.  Be that as it may, the only parties not aiming for the centrist voters are the highly contentious conservatives.

Call it arrogance, call it disdain; the conservatives don't want anyone who can't call themselves an absolute conservative.  The NDP, Alberta Party and Liberals are opening their doors to progressive conservatives.  That will leave three choices on the left of the right and one party, if the Kenney-Wildrose supporters surrender to the call for power, on the right.  And what will happen then?  Will there be enough of a split between the left and centre parties to allow Kenney-Wildrose to form government?  Anything's possible.

REMINDER: Members of the Wildrose Party must have been registered two weeks prior to the July 22 AGM to vote for what they think will be best for Alberta's future. The PC Party needs 51% to vote for unity and the Wildrose needs 75%.  Wildrose memberships can be purchased for $10.

AB Liberals: A Leadership Race Announcement

At 7:15 am on Wednesday morning, the 5th of April, I received a forwarded message inviting me to a get-together on the 6th at Aloft in Calgary where  Kerry Cundal was going to make an announcement. For the past week and a half, the upcoming leadership race has received a fair amount of attention since Nolan Crouse, previously running in an uncontested race, suddenly withdrew.  On March 29, 17 there were only two days remaining for potential candidates to register and Crouse's withdrawal, which he stated was for reasons which "would be kept private", had some of us politically obsessed individuals scratching their heads.  Speculation swiftly circulated that two individuals, David Khan and Kerry Cundal, may be putting their names forward in Crouse's stead.

David Khan made his announcement on March 31, but Kerry, while she admitted to registering, said she had not yet decided if she was going to run.  Announcing an announcement, with only three days until the leadership debate, suggested it was an invitation to a campaign launch, but what would I know?   I hadn't started attending events for the PC Leadership Race until the final months so this was my first one and I was really looking forward to starting at the very beginning.  It is also worth noting this race is scheduled for a whirlwind three months rather than six as the new party leader is expected to be announced June 4, 2017.

I was going to meet up with a friend before the event so we could drive in together.  Unfortunately he pulled a Michael Scott and let his GPS guide him to a location much farther than the "two minutes" from his turn that I had instructed.  I checked a mental map and figured the middle from where he ended up would be Aloft so we met there instead.

We were welcomed by a couple of people from Kerry's team and they directed us to the pool where the event was being held.  We weren't early and there were already around 20 people in the room.  Considering it was 7:30 at night, the light in the room made it feel as if it was around mid-day.  This wasn't a problem until afterwards when I had the stark realization that it was nearing 11:00 pm on a work night and still had an hour drive back home.

Kerry Cundal - Liberal Leadership Candidate 

There were people with cameras and a steady stream of enthusiasts still arriving behind us.  We purchased some drinks and claimed a cocktail table while eyeing up the appetizer trays that lined both sides of the room.  I may joke that I attend for the food but it's also completely true.

The first person to stop by and chat was a woman from Calgary via Ontario.  She told us it was a very different feeling supporting the liberals in Alberta as opposed to what she was used to.  "The party has such a strong following" in Ontario she said.  She asked whether we thought the party had a chance provincially (which seemed like a strange question to ask at a Liberal Party event).

One person at our table was from BC and we talked about the difference between political parties in other provinces.  She had trouble with the PC party "big tent" idea since in Ontario, a Liberal, apparently, is a Liberal and doesn't belong to a PC party.  In Alberta, as we know, it used to be different.

The second person we talked to was another woman from Calgary, but a long-time resident.  I was really interested in her opinion because she said she wasn't really politically engaged but came with a friend. Unfortunately my questions came too fast and furiously and she asked, somewhat disapprovingly, if I was a reporter.  That was awkward.

People began to clap and our attention was drawn to the balcony overlooking the pool.  Kerry had arrived and she was talking with reporters upstairs.  I have to say I was caught up in the anticipation of the moment.  While the event's existence pointed to her announcing she would run, I wasn't making any assumptions.  What I had heard around the water coolers was that her announcement would be especially worthwhile.

She was introduced and took the microphone at the front end of the pool room.  She began with an acknowledgement to our gathering on Treaty 7 land and told us she had only just flown back from Ottawa earlier in the day.  She said she was looking forward to the coffee and meetings over the next few months and she was no stranger to hard work.  Hard work, she said, was what she was expecting on this campaign.  Then she got straight down to business: "We need to bring the centre together for 2019."

Back in 2015 I remember a twitter account named "Liberals for Greg Clark".  For all I know, it was even their account but I've been thinking of it since.  Was she talking about the new centre now that the PC Party had abandoned it? Was she talking about a coalition or unification?  I wish I could answer those questions but she didn't elaborate during the rest of the speech.

She's lived around the province.  I couldn't keep up with all of the places she'd lived but I did catch Grande Prairie, St. Albert, Sylvan Lake and Calgary.  "Most of us came from small town Alberta" she told us and I could relate to that. She said she was committed to service and committed to certain principles like "the rule of law for everyone".  "Feminism is not cancer" she declared and offered a firm "no thank you" to the politics of Jason Kenney and Brian Jean.

"The NDP have good policies" she said "but they aren't getting the job done.  They need more fiscal responsibility" and she doesn't see that happening. "This is not about titles or labels, this is about Alberta: Alberta matters."  She talked about how we were looking at an election with the NDP on one side, the Conservatives on the other and the Liberals should be taking advantage of it; not sitting on the sidelines.  She wants to connect with progressives who care about our finances and she hopes David Khan joins in. "The Liberal Party has good principles, good people with smart ideas and good policy" she said "policy that doesn't belong in a drawer, it belongs in the legislature."

It sounded like those in the room agreed with her as their applause was frequent and their cheering was loud.  We talked with a few more people throughout the rest of the evening and they were bolder in their vision: they are interested in a united centre to take to the polls in 2019.  Somehow, Alberta politics just became even more interesting.

D.