Politics

Colby Cosh: Following Alberta election, Prairie politics now firmly anti-Ottawa

Published

1 year ago

May 30, 2023

=The new Prairie party system, pathologically disconnected from the political authority of Ottawa, may be as significant a development as Danielle Smith’s win

United Conservative Party Leader Danielle Smith, top, and NDP Leader Rachel Notley hold rallies in the lead-up to Monday’s provincial election in Alberta. Photo by Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press; Todd Korol/Reuters

EDMONTON — Alberta’s 2023 election provides the setup for some good tricky trivia questions. Lemme play Alex Trebek for you: what party finished third in the election? Congratulations to the Alberta Green Party, which got all of 14,085 votes among the 1.7-million-plus cast; some reporter will be along any minute now to try to turn it into Cinderella. But it goes without saying that if you’re finishing behind the Green party in an Alberta election, you’ve got problems.

So which party finished fourth? That would be our old friends from the centrist-vapourware Alberta Party (AP), whose support declined from about 172,000 to 12,715. Yikes. You may have noticed that the Alberta New Democrats’ vote count rose by 157,000 from 2019, and the party made the best of a disappointing night by talking excitedly about all the people who voted NDP for the first time. The mathematical coincidence here suggests that many or most of these dewy virgins weren’t disillusioned Jason Kenney voters, but just cranky Red Tories who were never on board with the United Conservative Party project in the first place and who had dallied with the AP in ’19.

(The high-profile “ex-Conservatives” who rallied noisily behind the NDP and Rachel Notley in the late days of the campaign were people who almost certainly voted AP last time, and who wouldn’t brake for Jason Kenney in a crosswalk if he was pushing a stroller with twins.)

Which party finished fifth, you ask with bated breath. That would be the separatist Independence Party of Alberta, which demonstrated the enduring strength of Canadian federalism by collecting a measly 5,181 votes. Sixth place, whatever crummy metal you make that medallion from, went to Artur Pawlowski’s Solidarity Movement of Alberta (4,812 votes). Anybody further down the list than this is getting outpolled by a wacko street preacher, which means seventh place must have gone to, you guessed it, the ancient and dignified Alberta Liberals (4,282 votes). The party that created Alberta was lucky to hold onto seventh ahead of the die-hard Wildrose Loyalty Coalition (4,256 votes, with some recounts assuredly pending).

That’s all an annoyingly elliptical way of saying that Monday night’s Alberta election might have been the purest, clearest two-party choice to have come about anywhere in Canada in 100 years. (Even in Saskatchewan in 2020, there were minor parties that collected not one but two per cent of the vote share.) The development of politics on the Prairies has reached its full westernized form: elections are to be contested for the foreseeable future out here between the descendants of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (founded in Regina in 1933) and the descendants of the Reform party (founded in Winnipeg in 1987).

Foreign organs such as “Progressive Conservatives” and “Liberals” need not seek friends west of the lakehead. We’re informed that there is a national party called the “New Democrats,” but if you ask Rachel Notley about it, she’ll say they have nothing to do with the Alberta version and that she doesn’t even, like, talk to those weirdos. And who can blame her?

This new Prairie party system, pathologically disconnected from the political authority of Ottawa, may be as significant a development as the headline outcome of the election (by the way, the Conservatives won). Even in British Columbia, the provincial Liberals finally ditched their awkward branding this spring, becoming “B.C. United” (and possibly turning into a soccer team — editor, please check). The Saskatchewan Liberals did the same thing, with the new name still TBA, and their morbid New Democrats are openly hostile to Jagmeet Singh’s federal NDP. Only pride and dim memories of St. Tommy Douglas keep them from reinventing themselves as Saskatchewan Now or some such.

There is now a large section of the country whose citizens, even the ones strongly oriented toward Liberal political ideals, look to the federal government and recoil in sick horror at its managerial abilities. That’s a new thing in Canada, a passive accomplishment of the federal Liberals. You might enter a hospital out West with some trepidation, but you know it’s not going to be run as poorly as our military procurement or Aboriginal governance or the RCMP or passports and aviation.

Grotesque economic atavisms that would obviously benefit from liberalization (telecom policy, food-supply management) don’t get liberalized by Liberals; they’re too busy raging against “assault rifles” and putting the CRTC in charge of the internet. National sentiment remains very strong in the West, but everything federal carries a stench of incompetence, swindling and hipster moralizing, and the political scene now reflects this distinction.

National Post
Twitter.com/colbycosh

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Politics

New Brunswick election profile: Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

FREDERICTON – A look at Blaine Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.

Born: March 1, 1954.

Early years: The son of a customs officer, he grew up in Forest City, N.B., near the Canada-U.S. border.

Education: Graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1977.

Family: Married his high-school sweetheart, Marcia, and settled in Saint John, N.B., where they had four daughters: Lindsey, Laura, Sarah and Rachel.

Before politics: Hired by Irving Oil a week after he graduated from university and was eventually promoted to director of distribution. Worked for 33 years at the company.

Politics: Elected to the legislature in 2010 and later served as finance minister under former Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward. Elected Tory leader in 2016 and has been premier since 2018.

Quote: “I’ve always felt parents should play the main role in raising children. No one is denying gender diversity is real. But we need to figure out how to manage it.” — Blaine Higgs in a year-end interview in 2023, explaining changes to school policies about gender identity.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Politics

Climate, food security, Arctic among Canada’s intelligence priorities, Ottawa says

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The pressing issues of climate change and food security join more familiar ones like violent extremism and espionage on a new list of Canada’s intelligence priorities.

The federal government says publishing the list of priorities for the first time is an important step toward greater transparency.

The government revises the priorities every two years, based on recommendations from the national security adviser and the intelligence community.

Once the priorities are reviewed and approved by the federal cabinet, key ministers issue directives to federal agencies that produce intelligence.

Among the priorities are the security of global health, food, water and biodiversity, as well as the issues of climate change and global sustainability.

The new list also includes foreign interference and malign influence, cyberthreats, infrastructure security, Arctic sovereignty, border integrity and transnational organized crime.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Politics

Anita Anand taking on transport portfolio after Pablo Rodriguez leaves cabinet

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

GATINEAU, Que. – Treasury Board President Anita Anand will take on the additional role of transport minister this afternoon, after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet to run for the Quebec Liberal leadership.

A government source who was not authorized to speak publicly says Anand will be sworn in at a small ceremony at Rideau Hall.

Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, but he is not expected to be at the ceremony because that is not an official role in cabinet.

Rodriguez announced this morning that he’s leaving cabinet and the federal Liberal caucus and will sit as an Independent member of Parliament until January.

That’s when the Quebec Liberal leadership race is set to officially begin.

Rodriguez says sitting as an Independent will allow him to focus on his own vision, but he plans to vote with the Liberals on a non-confidence motion next week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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