Looking Forward to Leadership Race #2

A Heavy News Day

January 26 was a busy day at political news desks in Alberta.  Three separate events all point to acceptance that on March 18 the most likely conclusion to the Progressive Conservative Leadership Conference is that delegates will vote for Jason Kenney and his Unite Alberta initiative.  These three stories taken together, kick off the next stage in the life of the Alberta family of conservatives. 

The most predictable of the three news events was the departure of Stephen Khan from the race. It was less than two weeks ago, while at the leadership forum in Edmonton, that I whispered to my friend sitting next to me, "Khan is planning on dropping out of the race." He looked to be the hired gun, tasked with the job of going after Kenney hard and mean, allowing Richard Starke and Byron Nelson to look distinguished and "Premier-like." Khan self-righteously cited "vitriol, anger, and division" as elements of the race he could no longer tolerate. Most observers would agree that Khan had virtually no chance of winning. If Khan is a candidate in the 2019 election, it appears he will likely not be be carrying the banner of a new conservative party.

Perhaps under-reported was the story of Richard Starke's adjusted position regarding the Wildrose Party. He now proposes that the two parties work together to form a government which will defeat the NDP in 2019. This signals a move from Starke's centrist campaign to one which addresses the traditional grassroots conservative voter. Finally,a candidate other than Jason Kenney acknowledges that voters who have supported the Wildrose Party for last 15 years are in fact part of the conservative family that our party seeks to represent. (for more on this read http://pcaathoughts.blogspot.ca/2016/12/the-real-progressive-conservatives.html) This move is likely too late to impact the results at the leadership convention in March, but it does position Dr. Starke better to be a candidate in the next leadership race.

The most publicized of the three events is the announcement by Brian Jean, that he will willingly step down as the leader of the Wildrose Party if the party membership chooses to unite with the Progressive Conservatives. Jean stressed that he wants the process to go very quickly. He wants the merger approved in June and a leadership race to commence in July. By Fall the new leader and new party will be sitting together in the legislature. So, why the big rush? Jean indicates that he is concerned about the NDP calling a snap election. It is doubtful that is the real reason. After the way Jim Prentice was punished for an early election call it is extremely unlikely the NDP would attempt anything so foolish. I contend that the real reason for the rush is Rona Ambrose.

On this same busy news day the National Post touted Rona Ambrose as the "Best Female Prime Minister We Will Never Have." As interim leader of the federal Conservative Party she is daily building up her resume. I have said to anyone who will listen that Rona Ambrose will be the next premier of Alberta. (see http://pcaathoughts.blogspot.ca/2016/12/prediction-rona-ambrose-will-be-alberta.html) Maybe Brian Jean is worried about this too. The Conservative Party of Canada will not pick a new leader until May 27. Ms. Ambrose will not be in a position to enter a provincial race until June at the earliest. The best way to beat Rona Ambrose is to beat the clock. Brian Jean is currently the favourite to win the Alberta united party leadership. His chief competition is not Jason Kenney. The race against the clock tells me that Brian Jean has already begun his race to defeat the mighty Ms. Ambrose.

January 26 was a busy news day for journalists watching the Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership race. Three separate events, all of which point to the likelihood of a Jason Kenney victory, occurred within the space of a few hours. These events demonstrate that conservatives in Alberta are looking past the Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention on March 17 and 18 to another leadership race; the race to be the first leader of a united Alberta conservative party.

The Conversation Will Now Change

With the results of Leadership Race #1, or more correctly the referendum on the merger as a foregone conclusion the topic of discussion will now turn to the nature of the Agreement with the Wildrose Party. How will we ensure one party does not dominate the merger? Will we have a new constitution based on a fresh set of principles? How fast will it go? Will there be time for Rona Ambrose to enter the race? Will anyone be excluded? (O'Neill? Nelson? Khan?) Look for this discussion to move along very quickly. Jean will want to put Wildrose's best deal on the table immediately in order to meet his timelines.

There will be a lot of talk about money? It is generally concede that the Wildrose Party is in better financial shape than the PC party. That is the primary reason why it makes sense to use their legal framework as the structure of the new party. So what happens to monies currently in PC accounts? There are many pockets with money in them including campaign accounts, constituency association accounts and accounts controlled by the board. Do we keep the party alive until after the money is spent? What if that means running some candidates as Progressive Conservatives in selected ridings? What happens to monies in candidate accounts in situations where previous candidates do not support the merger? Will there be a prenuptial agreement? There are so many questions.

The true measure of whether or not this is in fact a new party is not found in the legal framework. Rather it is in the principles, policies, and people. Will the new party start with a board that is dominated by one party or the other? Will the party be based on the principles and policies of one of the parties or will it start with a blank slate? Will its new name be one that unifies or indicates the preeminence of one of the founding parties?

There will be many interesting days ahead. Right now, in the wake of a sometimes stormy season in the life of our party during the leadership race, perhaps the most pressing question is, "Who will be the peacemakers?" "Which leader can demonstrate an authentic desire to unite Alberta?"  Stay tuned for more Progressive Conservative fun!

Be Afraid ... Of Fear Itself: Fear and Exclusion in the Alberta PC Party.

"Who do I NOT vote for?"   This question, or some version of it, has become the primary question that we ask ourselves as political decision makers.  The key question in the recent US Presidential election was, "Which candidate do I distrust more?" or even,  "Which candidate do I hate more?"  This week as the federal Conservative Party leadership race heats up a "Stop Kevin O'Leary" campaign has begun. At the same time Kellie Leitch is accused of taking a page from the playbook of US President Elect Donald Trump.  We are told to be afraid of Leitch, and be afraid of O'Leary.  The way to get elected is to create fear about the opposing candidate.  On March 18 the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party will choose a new leader.  Sadly, some of the same fear tactics are being employed in this race.  

Many of us have heard the line from Franklin D. Roosevelt that "The only thing we have to fear is...fear itself."  In this leadership race I fear the possible outcomes of the fear that is being mongered.  If fear is created about the NDP, the Wildrose, progressives, conservatives, party unifiers, party rebuilders, and party poopers within the PC Party, we have a recipe for a comeback and possible majority for the Liberal and/or Alberta Party.  That is what fear itself can cause!  That's what I am afraid of.

The Scary People

It's a political fact of life!  Every party has it’s 'Scary People'. Every candidate has his or her supporters who are an embarrassment to his or her campaign. Every campaign features some degree of outrageous ‘support' for a candidate comprised of a preposterous characterization of a political opponent. People we ought to be afraid of are everywhere!  This is not obviously more true or less true of people on the right than of people on the left. So, it should come as no surprise that candidates for the Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership have had to endure some very unfair and inaccurate personal attacks. It is disappointing that these abuses happen, and it is disappointing that these abuses receive any public attention at all. But the disappointment doesn’t stop there. It is disheartening when candidates will use these shameful acts and comments of small scary minorities to score political points. It is discouraging when the entirety of a group of supporters of an opposing party or of a candidate can be characterized as something like a group of 'deplorables'.

We have seen this recently in the United States where the nation was divided into two groups of scary people led by two allegedly scary leaders. But Canada is not immune to this demonization of its leaders or sweeping generalizations about their supporters. Stephen Harper came to be hated by armies of people who characterized him as heartless and controlling. Justin Trudeau is dismissed as Pierre Trudeau’s dumb son who couldn’t get a good teaching job or earn an advanced degree. Rachel Notley is routinely blamed for everything that goes wrong in Alberta. The character of these people has been so maligned that it requires courage to speak up in support of any of them. So it is not surprising that both the Jason Kenneys and Sandra Jansens of this world are painted as extreme in some way by some scary people. It is a sad reality that scary people of various political persuasions will destroy reputations of good people with a leisurely laugh.

‘GOOD’clusion and ‘BAD’clusion

Among the consequences of this almost routine character assassination of politicians is the legitimizing of their exclusion from any place within our political party of choice. In the world of Alberta Progressive Conservatives of 2017 this means that some of us can assert that Sandra Jansen does not belong and some of us can assert that Jason Kenney does not belong. It seems odd to me that while this exclusion is so commonplace in the world of politics, we teach our children something very different.

Inclusion has been a powerful theme in Alberta’s schools for the past several years. Every student is entitled to a place to belong.  Colour, ethnicity, disability, inability, sexuality, sexual identity, gender, learning style, intelligence type, poverty, wealth, family circumstances, language, and religion have all been the basis for people to be wrongly excluded from learning and excluded from relationships. In my life as a teacher I tell my students that these types of exclusion can be called BADclusion. Furthermore it is badclusion to isolate or write off people who disagree with you on any issue. I encourage GOODclusion. Isn’t it interesting that there is so much badclusion on our political scene and in our own political party?

Consider our use of language when we characterize people as being far left or far right. Our intention is to marginalize and exclude these political radicals. In truth, the far left is communist and the far right is fascist. It is offensive to use these terms to describe any members of our mainstream parties, including the NDP, Wildrose, and all parties in between. And yet we freely throw terms like this around with apparent ease, and in doing so are guilty of exclusion.

We easily declare people to be extremists. A substantial number of people in Alberta could be described as ‘pro-life’ or ‘anti-abortion.’ Many others of us consider ourselves to be ‘pro-choice.’ This is a complex issue not always characterized as such. It is an issue that involves a confluence of individual rights, religious rights, science, reason, and popular opinion. It is an issue about which people on both sides consider those who disagree this them to be adversaries. The federal Liberal Party excludes pro-life people as potential candidates for their party. There are some within our party who would like to do something similar. We, the Progressive Conservatives of Alberta need to examine our hearts for such exclusion. We need to stop the name-calling and figure out how to get along with people we disagree with. We need to stop the negative characterizations of people we disagree with and figure out how to include each other in productive political discourse.

The Ralph Klein Example

I often hear a longing for the next coming of Peter Lougheed or of Ralph Klein. In conversations with a friend of mine who served as part of Klein’s caucus and cabinet I think I gained some insights into the ‘secret sauce’ in his recipe for political success. He respected the voice of every caucus member as the legitimate representative of a constituency, he allowed members to receive the accolades rightfully earned for work in various ministries, he convened hard, and sometimes loud conversations behind closed doors, and he led a government where an almost inconceivably wide range of voices from within the party had meaningful input into decisions and legislation. He specialized in inclusion.  I suspect that Lougheed employed similar strategies.

Conventional wisdom might tell you that governing all of Alberta will require a party which spans a wide band on the right and centre of the political spectrum. My contention is that more correctly, it will require a party which defies the political spectrum altogether. Under Ralph Klein, the party was home to people who might have belonged to a variety of right and left leaning parties in other provinces. Meaningful and fierce discussions occurred within caucus and cabinet meetings. Members were expected to represent constituents with passion. The caucus in 2019 must again become a team with many diverse parts. It must be a place where iron sharpens iron. It must be a place where all are respected, and where the leader is someone who can handle being disagreed with. Disagreement should never again be considered to be a bad thing. The cabinet must be a place where ministers are not scripted by the premier, but rather where ministers have real responsibility, make real decisions, and are publicly acknowledged for the accomplishments of their ministries. We must become the party once again which is big enough to include all of the Sandra Jansens, Donna Kennedy-Glanses, Stephen Khans, Richard Starkes, Byron Nelsons, Jason Kenneys, and Brian Jeans of this world into one functional collaborative whole.

What Now?

Over the course of the current leadership campaign we have heard a lot of talk about being centrist (see also http://pcaathoughts.blogspot.ca/2016/12/the-real-progressive-conservatives.html). Others talk about uniting the right. It should be apparent to all that laying claim any part of the political spectrum is an act of including some and excluding others. We have witnessed early on in this campaign the willingness to write off some who are identified as the scary people. “Socialists are scary people!” “The Wildrose Party is loaded with scary people!” “Pro-lifers are scary!” I’m afraid of Pro-choicers!” “Climate change deniers are crazy radicals!” “Radical environmentalists are a real threat!” The list of people to exclude can go on.

In the aftermath of this leadership election, it appears a foregone conclusion that some people will exclude themselves. Indeed, Ms. Jansen has excluded herself already. It is probably true that she did not hear clearly enough the invitation to (continue to) be an important part of something big; an important resident of a big tent. Somewhere in that episode is a mistake that we can learn from. If on March 18 the leadership is won by a centrist, it is likely that supporters of the Wildrose Party will continue to be excluded, and some from our party will migrate to them. If the leadership is won by Jason Kenney, it is likely that some of us will migrate to the Liberals, the NDP, and the Alberta Party. That may be inevitable. But this likelihood should sadden us. I am dismayed at the prospect of more people feeling excluded.

Perhaps the opposite of BADclusion or exclusion is invitation. Real inclusion requires invitation. I lament when the only invitation being heard by party members and others who consider themselves to be Progressive Conservatives is contingent on being like-minded. That is not a recipe for a big tent. This is not inclusion.  Whoever wins the leadership on March 18 must extend an invitation to all who disagree with him. As a matter of fact, prospective leaders should begin to extend invitations now lest they appear disingenuous by virtue of their strategic (late) timing. Disagreement makes us better. We should seek it. The best marriages are not those between people who agree on everything. We need to be a party where people know they are included because no matter how forcefully we disagree with each other, we do so with courtesy and civility. Inclusion makes us better. Take a lesson from your kids! GOODclusion is the secret sauce to the recipe for the return of a strong conservative and progressive government in Alberta.



For more posts in this series please check out http://pcaathoughts.blogspot.ca/.