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Stranger than fiction: Alberta politics has entered the realm of absurd melodrama – CBC.ca

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This column is an opinion from Graham Thomson, an award-winning journalist who has covered Alberta politics for more than 30 years. For more information about CBC’s Opinion section, please see the FAQ.


Alberta politics needs a new dictionary, or maybe a thesaurus — a source for words to better describe the province’s political landscape that is beginning to resemble a badly written soap opera.

The situation Alberta finds itself in has been called “unprecedented” and “historic” and just plain “bizarre.” But no words have truly captured the melodramatic craziness of a plotline that takes ridiculous twists almost hourly.

It’s a political farce where Premier Jason Kenney is now referring to members of his own United Conservative Party as “lunatics.”

That quote came from a CBC story last Thursday afternoon exposing a secret recording of Kenney telling staff two days earlier in a closed-door meeting that a move to topple him at an April 9 leadership vote was an attempted “hostile takeover of our party by fringe elements.”

Kenney was clearly worried that many of the almost 15,000 UCP members who had registered for the in-person vote in Red Deer were so fed up and angry with his leadership that they were determined to kick him out as party leader.

“The lunatics are trying to take over the asylum,” said Kenney using one of his favourite rhetorical techniques: demonize and insult anyone who opposes his leadership.

“I will not let this mainstream conservative party become an agent for extreme, hateful, intolerant, bigoted and crazy views,” said Kenney, twisting the rhetorical knife in deeper. “Sorry to be so blunt with you but you need to understand what the stakes are here.”

What’s at stake here for Kenney is his own political survival.

And the UCP’s board of directors seems eager to do all it can to help him.

One day after Kenney vowed to his staff he was “not going to let” the inmates take over the asylum, the UCP board abruptly announced it was scrapping the in-person vote on April 9 and moving the leadership review to a mail-in balloting system that will be open from April 9 to May 11.

WATCH | Premier Jason Kenney addresses media about leaked recording

Kenney stands by comments made in private recording

3 days ago

Duration 2:08

Premier Jason Kenney says comments came during a time of reflection, but maintains he will fight the ‘fringes’ trying to get a foothold in the UCP. 2:08

Despite once upon a time defending the in-person vote as the only credible system, the board now argues that allowing members to send in a ballot by mail will open up the vote to all of the UCP’s 55,000 members, not just those 15,000 who had registered to vote in-person.

What the board neglects to say is that Kenney seemed destined to lose the Red Deer vote because many of those 15,000 members were angry enough at Kenney’s leadership that they were willing to take a day out of their lives, spend $99 for the registration fee and pay for expenses including gas money and a hotel room to vote him out as leader.

Anger is a great motivator in politics, especially if you think your vote can make a difference.

A mail-in ballot might not blunt that anger but it might effectively smother it in a blizzard of ballots from not-so-riled-up members who didn’t care enough one way or another to make the trek to Red Deer.

Now, they get to vote and Kenney has six weeks to reach out and convince them to cast a ballot in his favour. Even if they’re not enamoured with him as leader, he is hoping to scare them with warnings that the “lunatics” could take over the UCP asylum unless mainstream UCP members stop them.

I am not saying Kenney had the “secret” recording deliberately leaked to reporters but it certainly plays into his narrative that he is the fearless hero willing to save the UCP from “extreme, hateful, intolerant, bigoted and crazy views.”

Dissent

Kenney wants to paint this fight as not about him but about the very survival of the UCP just 14 months from a provincial election and a head-to-head battle with the NDP.

One major potential flaw in Kenney’s plan is assuming that the majority of “mainstream conservatives” are willing to support him.

Among them are the constituents of Calgary-Fish Creek, represented by UCP MLA Richard Gotfried who took part in a joint news conference Thursday afternoon on the steps of the Legislature, immediately below the balcony outside Kenney’s office.

The band of grumblers wasn’t great in number — just 14 in all — but included seven riding association presidents and seven MLAs: five of them UCP members and two of them former UCP MLAs who had been kicked out of caucus last year for criticizing Kenney.

“You can’t change the rules midway through a process. It is not democratic, and it’s underhanded,” said Rob Smith, president for the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills riding association.

Rob Smith, the president of the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills UCP constituency association, spoke at a news conferernce Thursday opposing changes to the review of Premier Jason Kenney’s party leadership. (Peter Evans/CBC )

Two of the MLAs, Jason Stephan from Red Deer-South and Peter Guthrie from Airdrie-Cochrane, called on Kenney to resign.

Gotfried has not called for Kenney to quit but he is concerned about the direction Kenney’s top-down leadership style is taking the party. And Gotfried is irritated that anyone would suggest party members, including constituents in Calgary-Fish Creek, are lunatics or kooks for simply questioning Kenney’s leadership.

“I take exception to that because they are not lunatics; these are my constituents,” said Gotfried in an interview for this column. “These are moderate life-long card-carrying provincial and federal conservatives.”

Not only that, as Gotfried points out, the provincial riding of Calgary-Fish Creek happens to fall inside the boundaries of the federal riding of Calgary Southeast (now Calgary Midnapore) that Kenney represented as an MP for 19 years. Gotfried is not saying all his constituents want Kenney to quit but many of them simply want an open and transparent vote to gauge the support for Kenney. And they worry about a “high potential for abuse of a mail-in ballot process.”

So, what happens now?

The only thing clear at this point is that instead of knowing Kenney’s fate on April 9, we will have to wait until the mail-in ballots are counted on May 18.

But the story won’t end there.

If Kenney wins, there will be continued dissent, accusations of dirty tricks and more than likely a legal challenge.

If he loses, there is a very real possibility that he will run again in a UCP leadership race against Brian Jean in a rematch of the bitterly contested UCP leadership race in 2017.

Alberta’s absurd political melodrama will continue.

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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