Should the PCs let in Kenney’s Trojan Horse?

Jason Kenney’s Trojan Horse is at the gate of the Progressive Conservative party — but we don’t know yet if he’ll be allowed inside to burn the place down.

That, of course, is what Kenney wants to do: win the PC leadership race so he can dismantle the party and join forces with Wildrose supporters who would then dismantle their party — and together they’d form a new conservative party.

It’s just not clear at this point whether the PC officials will allow Kenney to run in their leadership race. Of course, you have to wonder why they would even entertain the notion of allowing Kenney into the race when his stated goal is to destroy the party.

It would be like the people of Troy happily trundling the Trojan horse into their city when they know it’s full of Greeks eager to ransack the place.

PC officials met on the weekend to approve the rules for their leadership race that officially starts Oct. 1. And at first blush, you have to think there’s no way Kenney will be allowed in.

Some key rules for this leadership race are identical to those in the 2014 race where candidates had a “fiduciary” responsibility to protect the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta. They were sworn to “avoid causing harm or disrepute to the PCAA and its ‘brand’ through any detrimental action or conduct, whether intentional or unintentional.”

You’d have to think dismantling the party would be the very definition of “causing harm” to the “brand.” Certainly, PC MLA Sandra Jansen thinks so. “In my opinion, Jason Kenney is clearly intent on dismantling the party and so I believe that he certainly doesn’t fit the guidelines,” said Jansen, who is a critic of Kenney and a possible leadership candidate. “But that’s not my call to make.”

Actually, it’s nobody’s call to make at this point. The party has yet to appoint an adjudicator of the rules.

Party president Katherine O’Neill said she wants to remain impartial and won’t offer an opinion on whether Kenney should be allowed to run. Besides, nobody can rule out Kenney because there is not yet a race where anybody is in.

O’Neill has come under attack from Kenney supporters who think she is subtly trying to stack the deck against him. For one, O’Neill supported scrapping the old one-person, one-vote system where candidates could win by signing up instant Tories.

Instead, O’Neill supported the new system where the winner will be decided by a convention of delegates selected by members.

The new rules stipulate that of the 15 delegates chosen from each constituency, five must be established board members sitting in their positions as of Oct. 1.

Kenney supporters complain this means onethird of all delegates will be longtime PC members less inclined to support Kenney’s plan. The critics call the new rules “undemocratic.” They’d have a point if political parties were supposed to be democratic. They’re not. They’re private clubs where members set the rules and determine who gets to join the club.

And the critics would have a point if the rules had been announced months ago and were suddenly being changed now. Kenney announced his candidacy eight weeks ago. It’s difficult to take the critics’ complaints seriously when Kenney announced his candidacy long before he knew the rules.

Then there’s the fact PC party members voted at their convention in May to keep rebuilding the party rather than amalgamating with somebody else. That in itself would seem to doom Kenney’s chances of a hostile takeover.

However, by rejecting Kenney’s candidacy out of hand, the PC party runs the risk of appearing weak and insecure.

Perhaps the best plan would be to let Kenney run and have party members clearly determine his fate … and their own.

They can decide whether to allow his Trojan Horse in or set fire to it where it stands.

Nobody can rule out Kenney because there is not yet a race where anybody is in.