The February 12 article in the Western Standard by Linda Slobodian entitled “Nixon's Got To Go,” should not go uncontested.
She makes it clear that she does not like Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Jason Nixon, accusing him of, “Bullying and disrespecting Albertans.” She calls upon the provincial board, in which the Take Back Alberta lobby is heavily represented, to reopen nominations in the constituency and to rescind the disqualification of Tim Hoven, who had contested the nomination. Slobodian’s demands are divisive and inflammatory, and I presume that is exactly what she was shooting for.
She asserts that the nomination process conducted in March of 2022 was a farce because Hoven was disqualified. She speculates that, “Nixon is the UCP candidate because he was aided and abetted by the former premier Jason Kenney ring-kissing UCP executive board. It bent rules and callously attacked the reputation of his popular opponent Eckville rancher Tim Hoven who likely would have defeated the incumbent.”
While it is fairly clear that the board at the time was very supportive, and possibly too supportive of Kenney, there is no evidence that the disqualification was malicious or unwarranted. The truth is that we do not know why Hoven was disqualified. Everyone concerned signed non-disclosure agreements, therefore whatever or whoever Slobodian’s source might be is a compromised one. My strong suspicion is that the party board that disqualified Hoven is not her source.
She contends that the move to reopen the nomination and reinstate Hoven as a candidate would not have happened if the “majority of the Nixon-backing board hadn’t been given the boot in January and replaced with Take Back Alberta-endorsed candidates.” Although she is right to note that the “Take Back Alberta” overthrow of the board was essential for keeping the issue alive, Slobodian proves she has no idea what she is talking about with respect to the outgoing board. Obviously, she did not speak to any members of this “Nixon-backing board.” I know because I was a member of that board. I know that many members of that board did question Hoven’s disqualification. I know that the provincial board would not give the local board the answers it sought due to its faithful respect for (or possibly acquiescence to) the aforementioned non-disclosure agreements.
Slobodian’s mention of “sweet democracy and grassroots hutzpah” is laughable. While I will concede that the previous board leaned towards enthusiastic support for Nixon, other views were always present. There was always a healthy understanding that this board must represent all of the membership. I, and many others, took that responsibility very seriously.
Then came the meeting in January which was a contest to see which group could get more members signed up to vote for a slate of candidates prepared by their leaders. The Take Back Alberta strategy worked, and a board which was perceived to lean one way was replaced by one that leaned in a very different direction. If the goal was to better represent the grassroots membership they failed horribly. My personal little piece of the Alberta lawn was torn asunder. The Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre constituency association, which I believe is the second largest United Conservative constituency association by membership, now had a few board members who did not even live in the riding.
In fact this board has more members from outside of the riding than it does from the Rocky Mountain House area of the constituency. That is not a grassroots strategy. It was a David Parker, Take Back Alberta sponsored coup, and it worked perfectly; unless your goal was to reflect the makeup of the constituency in terms of both geography and political philosophy.
Slobodian alleges that, “They branded Hoven a racist on flimsy grounds and disqualified him. For them, the end justified the means — even if it meant trying to destroy a good family man’s reputation. Keeping their boy Nixon in, rules and ethics be damned, was all that mattered.” Beyond the fact that the party did not release publicly any reasons for disqualifying Hoven, and therefore made no attack on his reputation, the accusation levelled against the party and Kenney and Nixon that, “The end justified the means,” is rich.
For David Parker’s Take Back Alberta organization, the means to accomplish its ends are to
Interestingly, when I have disagreed with Jason Kenney in the past, it is precisely when he employed similar strategies (see this post from 2016 for more details). Back when he won the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party, he did so by effectively cancelling and ignoring that party’s provincial board and others without knowing whether they were with him or against him. It’s almost as if the ghost of David Parker was lurking somewhere among his strategists.
When the United Conservative Party was forged by bringing the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties together, we were promised a big-tent grassroots conservative party. The party has yet to make good on this promise. As long as groups within the party seek a victory for one form of conservatism over another, unity will remain beyond our grasp.
Slobodian is angry, and her protestations are greeted with a chorus of loud and angry ‘Amens’ by Take Back Alberta and its allies. In doing so we applaud bad journalism; journalism that is the equal and opposite of the CBC. If the CBC is guilty of bias, this article should be judged according to the same standard.
Wouldn’t it be nice if some media outlet would respond to the lack of balance and fairness in news reporting with a fair treatment of all sides of an issue. This article, by design, increases polarization within the United Conservative Party… and that is a shame.
- incite anger
- overthrow entire boards with no regard to whether the people on them have done an admirable job
- encourage people to vote for a slate of candidates that they do not know and vote against others who they have no knowledge of
- align with others who have a common enemy, and
- make enemies of those who are friends of your enemy.
Interestingly, when I have disagreed with Jason Kenney in the past, it is precisely when he employed similar strategies (see this post from 2016 for more details). Back when he won the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party, he did so by effectively cancelling and ignoring that party’s provincial board and others without knowing whether they were with him or against him. It’s almost as if the ghost of David Parker was lurking somewhere among his strategists.
When the United Conservative Party was forged by bringing the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties together, we were promised a big-tent grassroots conservative party. The party has yet to make good on this promise. As long as groups within the party seek a victory for one form of conservatism over another, unity will remain beyond our grasp.
Slobodian is angry, and her protestations are greeted with a chorus of loud and angry ‘Amens’ by Take Back Alberta and its allies. In doing so we applaud bad journalism; journalism that is the equal and opposite of the CBC. If the CBC is guilty of bias, this article should be judged according to the same standard.
Wouldn’t it be nice if some media outlet would respond to the lack of balance and fairness in news reporting with a fair treatment of all sides of an issue. This article, by design, increases polarization within the United Conservative Party… and that is a shame.
