Friday 6 January 2017

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/.  

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