As part of Jason Kenney's Unite Alberta Tour/Progressive Conservative Leadership Campaign, he arranged numerous events around the province. This event was on January 19, 2017 in Calgary.
Dave Rodney spoke first to reiterate his endorsement of
Jason Kenney for leader of the PC party.
“This has been done before,” he began, “Lougheed united the right and
the centre right and it is time to unite Progressive Conservatives and the
Wildrose Party. The NDP are destroying
the Albertan way of life” he declared, though his emotion was lost in the weak
audio connection, “we need to bring back the Alberta Advantage… and unite with
Jason Kenney!” This strong sentiment
brought an awkward attempt at a standing ovation which did not make it to the
back half of the room.
When Jason Kenney took the stage, he talked about the last
two weeks and how 900 people had shown up at the previous town hall in
Calgary. “We want our province back” he
said as forcefully as the poor audio would allow. “We are united in a belief in hard work and
personal responsibility; Albertans believe in the creative power of free
enterprise; an idea that you work hard
and achieve some of your dreams to pass it on for a better way of life. Alberta has some of the most compassionate
people in this country and the NDP doesn’t understand that, doesn’t understand
Albertans, or our way of life. We need
to stand up together, for our Alberta.”
He then digressed into the personal stories of Albertans
from his summer pre-campaign campaigning across the province, beginning with a half-truth
about how he started that. “A few months
ago” he stated, “I left my job as a federal MP, my only income, to begin a campaign for unity across the province. I
started a movement in Alberta; revived hope and optimism.” Perhaps his memory is a little fuzzy with
these details. He did resign on
September 20, 2016 but his provincial tour began in July of 2016. For collecting a federal pay cheque while he campaigned for a new job, Kenney took heat from Albertans,
Conservatives and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, his only job
prior to becoming a federal MP.
“Albertans are uniting” he claimed, and he would know
because he was out there. He told us
that “as the NDP came to office, Albertans were leaving for BC and
Saskatchewan" He talked
about the people he’d met, most of whom were the ages of those in the room (I
had the average age of autonomous attendees estimated at about 57 years). The 54 year old woman who lost her job and
was working in a role she would have had when she was in her 20’s. The crowd was appropriately affected, murmuring and shaking their heads. The ‘young couple’ from Calgary who had owned a business for 32 years and who “survived the NEP
but couldn’t survive the NDP”. He chuckled and there was more head shaking; they remember. I don't.
There was a 17 year old boy from Hardisty who now realized
that “politics has consequences” but was clueless how government or elections
worked. He was running up to Jason at a
gas station yelling “Hey! Are you that Kenney guy?!” (because he’s 17 and
that’s how kids talk?) And he asked Jason how quickly he would be in government
to stop the NDP. Jason had to explain
that he couldn’t do it right away and this young man replied “why, why will it
take so long?” This young man told Jason that his father had lost his job in
the oil patch and couldn’t find work. As
a result, this young boy was supporting his parents and his four siblings. Jason called him an oilfield worker later on
in the story but I can’t say whether he mixed up the father and the son or if
the 17 year old was also an oilfield worker.
“Alberta has gone so far off track” he lamented, “we’ve
gotten through before but this time it’s different. This NDP government is determined to make a
bad decision worse. They have no mandate to make
everything more expensive. Moms and
dads, who lost their jobs or have 70% lower income, these are the people taxes
will hit the hardest.” As to the environmental gain; “there is none” he told the crowd. Without naming him, Kenney spoke of a University of Alberta professor's (Andrew
Leach) comment that in order to make a difference, carbon would have to be
taxed at $200 per tonne rather than $30 per tonne.
The audio was finally fixed and we could hear much better. “We are the only major oil and gas producing country in the
world to have a carbon tax” he told the crowd, “we want to vote on the carbon
tax!” Further regulations, like Bill 6,
are also ruining people in Alberta. He
spoke of a family from Grande Prairie who “sold all their heads and the farm”
because of the “administrative work” imposed on them by the NDP
[i].
Kenney claimed “the NDP wants to bring Ontario’s
Environmental Plan to Alberta” and nodded to a Fraser Institute study as
evidence; he didn’t identify which study, just “a” study. “Does this government care,” he asked the
crowd “they have no regard for the people, they only have their ideology.” And the crowd mumbled in agreement. “There are 2300 new coal plants being built
around the world. We need to attract
industries to Alberta but these industries are reliant on power." Those industries will not come here, he told
us, and that will create less diversity in our economy, not more.
He then spoke about Trudeau’s latest gaffe of saying that the
oilsands need to be phased out. Of
course, Harper said the same thing a few years ago but he elaborated and
Trudeau did not; therefore the latter is nefarious while the former is... a conservative. Kenney claimed the demand for oil was to
exceed 4 trillion dollars over the next few years and suggested Trudeau was
forcing Alberta to not be a major contributor.
The crowd liked it.
“We all hope some innovation comes along someday that will
reduce our dependency on fossil fuels” he surprised me by saying “but until
that day, we need a premier who will stand up to the Prime Minister;
like the person everyone wishes was Alberta’s premier, Brad Wall.” This statement received some cheers. Of course, they want Brad Wall as a mascot but
no Albertan wants his sales tax or higher income taxes or crumbling roads.
Next, Kenney moved on to education and the audience was
ripe. “This government has proposed a
radical review” he said sadly “with a goal to turn students into ‘
effective agents of change’” (emphasis
his) and the crowd booed. “We know what that means, don’t we?” He eyed the
crowd and spoke the dreaded word.... “Activism”… and people shook their heads and
the sound of muffled discontent filled the room
[ii]
. “They’re working on a secret
curriculum” he pronounced “one that doesn’t involve moms and dads. Our kids need education, not pedagogical
fads.” He believes the NDP has “caused
damage to the structure of the economy and the political culture, not just in
Alberta, but Canada”. As evidence, he introduced the next topic; Saskatchewan in 1944.
“Go Riders!” He shouted and a few people cheered but most were.. shocked? After all, the town
hall was being held in Calgary, directly across the street from McMahon
Stadium. “Go Stampeders!” A woman called back from my side of the room and the
crowd loudly agreed. The mood was lighter afterwards and he asked
how many were “displaced” Saskatchewanians like himself. There were a few, certainly, but not enough
to make him feel like he was talking to a room full of sympathizers.
“In 1944, Saskatchewan’s population was over a million and
Alberta’s was half that, now Alberta is over 4 million and Saskatchewan has
less than a million” he began “The
population decreased when the CCF in Saskatchewan raised taxes and chased away
investors. Oil companies picked up as
one and moved everything to Calgary.”
[iii]
It was after the province was able to “unite through the Saskatchewan Party”
(2007) that the economy turned around he claims.
[iv]
“Drilling is down in Alberta and
unemployment is up”
[v] in
comparison to Saskatchewan, “like Brad Wall said, this is no time for a six
decade experiment with the NDP. We need to get our Alberta back.”
There are divisions between the parties he said, and he has
“great respect for Lougheed, Klein and the Alberta Advantage… but you have to
admit the PC party got off course. There
was a word to describe the PC party and that was ‘arrogant’. Half of the PC supporters went to the
Wildrose party” he claimed. And then
there was some genuine excitement.
A gentleman stood up and started to yelling “Don’t you put
words in my mouth! I’m a Wildrose supporter … don’t say things about the
Wildrose!” I confess to missing exactly
what set him off as I was writing when I realized there was a disruption. The crowd wasn’t having it. “Sit down! No one asked you! Go home!” they
yelled. The anger was swift and loud
and, frankly, a little unnerving. The
gentleman was escorted away even though Kenney invited him to ask his questions
after the speech.
Kenney picked up where he’d left off although it was obvious
the crowd was a little distracted; a din was making it difficult to hear him
for a few minutes. “If there is not a
united party in 2019, the NDP wins” he said, “if we can do it federally, we can
do it provincially to save Alberta… uniting was infinitely harder to do
federally, but we did it in 10 months and won the next three elections”
[vi]
. “The Wildrose party said it was open
to a merger; it was the PC Party that showed no interest”
[vii].
He finished off by saying that he “will support any other
leader” the membership decides to elect. People need to show “humility, park their
egos, avoid labels and emotions and focus on the future”. The crowd clapped; some stood, many did not,
and people began to line up for questions.
1. The first gentleman up to the microphone for a question
was a young man who had lost his job. He asked Kenney what he would do to restore
the Alberta Advantage. Kenney replied
that he would “put Alberta first and renew Alberta as a beacon of opportunity”.
2. The second gentleman was wearing a “Make America Great
Again” hat. He asked how Kenney would
fix what the NDP has done in the province.
“I will reverse taxes and bureaucracy; when I defeat the NDP I will
extend the legislature into the summer to repeal the regressive policies. Bill 1 will repeal the carbon tax and other
pieces of legislation and regulation. Once we have united, we’ll be able to
slow down the NDP. Their preferred path
to power is that we remain divided so they only have to compete for 35% of the
vote. If we end the vote split they will
have to compete for 40-45%. We need to
slow down the damage they are doing.”
3. What will you do
about education and the social engineering in our schools? “I respect parental
rights and their authority in education.
They have a prior right to direct the education of their children. The NDP picks and chooses; school choice
respects rights of parents. The NDP
wants to undermine these rights and undo our tradition of pluralism in education.”
4. Is the little group of MLAs in Edmonton with you? “Four out of the six MLAs available to
endorse me have done so.”
5. Alberta has changed over the past 30 years. Do you have a more centrist message for those
who are not far right? “It will be a big
tent party full of tolerant, diverse individuals. I’ve never used the term ‘Unite the Right’. A free-enterprise party will create wealth;
family is most important; respect for educational choice. The party will be an
unhyphenated party like what Stephen Harper created. A coalition with different views; what
unites you, not what divides you. That’s
what Steph- that’s what Lougheed did.”
6. What policies will
you adopt from the Wildrose party? “There was too much top-down in the PC party
of the past. The membership will tell us
what they want. I don’t want to put my
own opinions out there. We need to focus
on democratic reform and unity.”
7. Regarding oil development, Lougheed wanted to protect the
environment and the water and Klein was a proponent of nuclear energy. Where do you stand on that? “I stand for
environmental protection and prudent, responsible and affordable measures on
greenhouse gases but not at a cost.
Other jurisdictions are not doing it.
The rest of the world is investing in 2300 coal fired plants. We should focus on technology, research and
development like Brad Wall. We don’t
expel enough greenhouse gases; bring on the technology.”
8. Is it your goal to minimize the progressive wing? “The
party will be inclusive and broad, a party of free enterprise supporters. When
we united the Conservative Party of Canada, we lost a marginal amount of
support from the extreme sides. Some
Progressive Conservatives will find they’re more comfortable with the NDP, right? (Laughter). The majority, though, will stay. If I get a mandate on March 18, some will
leave and they’ll get a lot of press, but the 20-30,000 that stay will get no
press.”
9. I support your
platform. I was a teacher for 30 years
and a high school principal. On the
subject of parental rights, I believe parents are responsible as first
educators in their child’s life and there is a role for politicians to ensure a
place for all kids. I want to ask about
the act for safe and caring schools for kids, Bill 10. Will a united conservative party under your
leadership ensure GSA’s are upheld? “Yes” Will a united conservative party
under your leadership balance between parents and politicians? “I do not
believe a politician should be involved in that.” Will a united
conservative party under your leadership promote socially progressive ideas? “Yes.
For example, while I was a member of the federal party, I supported tax cuts,
Guaranteed Income Supplement and the Child and Family Benefits. A compassionate conservative party can create
wealth; it creates wealth to help those and need.”
He told a story about an autistic child in Grande Prairie who,
after learning about gender, became confused about her identity; gender
dysphasia, he called it. This child enlisted
assistance from the school and was being treated as a boy and even being called
a boy’s name while at school. The
parents were not informed of this.
(After an hour and a half of google searches, I could find nothing to
corroborate this story; if you find anything, please share and I will update
with a reference).
10. Kids are getting
a $100 cheque in the mail and they think it’s “cool”. Why would they vote for you? “Because they’ll be mugged by economic
reality. It’s the false promise of the
NDP; they create a base of voters who think the NDP is okay.”
11. Hi, I’m nine
years old and I’m in grade 4. My teacher
told me that the oil sands are bad (shocked crowd) I
went home and talked to my parents and they told me the oil sands are good and
that they give people jobs. (Loud
applause) How…. how will you convince people like my friends? We all trust my
teacher. (More loud applause and
compliments from Kenney on her intelligence and bravery). “We should
have teachers with no bias who will let you figure out what’s right and
wrong. We need to get politics out of
the classroom.”
12. I’m her mother (to applause). I just want to say that
you have to say no to brainwashing. You
need to instill your own values in your kids.
Michelle Rempel was invited to the podium next and she didn’t
seem to have the room’s attention. Many
people were leaving and it was difficult to focus on her. She didn’t manage to rile up the crowd at all
and then she was gone.
The woman beside me asked me if what the young girl said had
upset me. I said it looked like a shameless plant and I
was disgusted. She agreed it was
probably planted. We talked a bit about
sharing values with your children and talking to them about what they learn in
school. They were pleasant, she and her
husband and their adult daughter. They
were Mormons he said, "so we're very conservative." They were not sure if they supported this path forward yet and that’s
why they’d attended tonight.
They hadn’t heard enough to make a decision.
[ii] The
quote “effective agents of change” can be found in a competency model for
Alberta Education; “CULTURAL AND GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP involves actively engaging
with cultural, environmental, political or economic systems. Students
acknowledge First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Francophone or other perspectives when
taking action on local or global issues. They advocate for the dignity and
well-being of individuals and communities. Students value equity and diversity,
and believe in their capacity to make a difference”; an indicator of which is
“valuing equity and diversity and believing in the capacity to make a
difference” followed by “Examples: • I acknowledge that I am an agent of
change. • I balance the need for both equity and diversity in communities.”
Page 8
https://education.alberta.ca/media/3272998/competency-indicators-september-30-2016.pdf
[iv] “
In recent years, Saskatchewan's agricultural and mineral
resources have come into new demand, and it has entered a new period of strong
economic growth” cited from an archived RBC economic report, 2007.
[v]
Alberta and Saskatchewan GDP looks very similar, but the employment rates show the difference. In January 2017 Alberta's workforce looked like this: In Goods Producing sector: 8% Agriculture, 25% Forestry, Mining and Oil and Gas, 3% Utilities. 43% construction and 18% manufacturing. The same sectors in Saskatchewan: 25% Agriculture, 16% Forestry, Mining and Oil and Gas, 3% Utilities, 32% construction and 18% manufacturing. The only difference was found in Saskatchewan from the previous January; manufacturing increased from 16%, construction decreased from 35% and agriculture decreased from 26%.
https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/invest-and-economic-development/exporting-and-trade
https://www.albertacanada.com/files/albertacanada/SP-EH_highlightsABEconomyPresentation.pdf
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labr67i-eng.htm
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labr67j-eng.htm
