Cowardly? Perhaps. But Kenney knew what he was doing

UCP would rather be seen as craven than do battle over ‘contentious social issue’

They didn’t exactly stampede for the exit.

But when members of the United Conservative Party announced Tuesday evening they wanted nothing to do with the NDP government’s Bill 9, they vacated the Legislative Assembly at a gallop.

The bill, with the weighty title of Protecting Choice for Women Accessing Health Care Act, is better known as the abortionclinic “bubble zone bill.”

If approved by the legislature, the new law will keep anti-abortion protesters 50 metres away from clinics (as well as away from hospitals and even the offices and homes of those who provide abortions).

It will be passed, of course, not only because it has the support of the majority NDP government but also because the official Opposition UCP literally runs for the exit whenever the bill is discussed.

It should be renamed the “UCP repellent bill.”

My colleague Paula Simons wrote a column Thursday excoriating the “craven cowardice” of UCP Leader Jason Kenney and his entire caucus for refusing to debate the legislation.

A few pages further on, we ran an editorial condemning the action of the Opposition members as “a disgraceful dereliction of their duties as MLAs.”

Both Simons and the editorial are spot on.

Ethically speaking, the normally combative and opinionated UCP members are cowards for running away.

Politically speaking, though, their actions are perfectly understandable. Even defensible.

For Kenney and other antiabortion MLAs in the UCP caucus, Bill 9 is a trap deliberately set for them by the NDP.

Yes, the bill is needed to prevent zealous anti-abortion activists from continuing to harass women entering and leaving abortion clinics.

And that is no doubt the new law’s main purpose.

But the legislation might as well be written on flypaper.

The NDP is desperately hoping this issue will stick to the UCP.

Kenney, a devout Catholic, personally opposes abortion, as do some other members of the official Opposition.

The government was hoping Bill 9 would flush out the social conservatives like water birds in hunting season.

But Kenney is refusing to make himself a sitting duck.

He has said he would never let his personal feelings on social issues drive policy. He denounced the NDP tactics as game playing and announced he will abstain from voting on the bill.

He insists his members are free to vote their conscience on Bill 9.

And it would seem based on Tuesday’s scoot to the exit that all UCP members have decided that when it comes to Bill 9 discretion, even cowardice, is the better part of valour.

Angela Pitt, the UCP’s deputy house leader, did make a few comments to decry the legislation as a cynical attempt by the NDP to draw the official Opposition “into a debate on an incredibly contentious social issue.”

She declared, “I will not take this bait.” And left.

Later, Pitt offered the laughable excuse that she and her colleagues walked out because of heckling from the NDP members.

If UCP MLAs are going to run every time they’re heckled, they’ll never set foot in the chamber again.

They should stick to blaming the NDP for playing games.

For her part, the bill’s sponsor, Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, took special aim at Kenney: “He’s not going to stand up for women who have asked that government take action on this. To me, that is essentially saying you refuse to stand with women.”

At least that’s how the NDP would like to shape this battle.

But it’s difficult to have a fight when the other side doesn’t show up. Do they lose by default?

Maybe in the short term, but this won’t be an issue in the long term. And certainly not when the NDP is a little more than one year from the next provincial election.

It’s similar to the gay-straight alliance issue last fall when the NDP introduced Bill 24 to make it illegal for a teacher to “out” a student for joining a GSA.

The UCP fought the bill, saying it trampled on parental rights. But once the bill passed the UCP abandoned the issue.

Now, the UCP is abandoning social issues at the get-go.

That’s not to say Kenney didn’t do himself harm this week.

In an oddly tone-deaf video, he went on Facebook to offer a segment entitled, “The Biggest Women’s Issue in Alberta.”

“I’ll tell you what I think the most important women’s issue is in Alberta …”

Oh, boy.

Kenney says it’s the economy. OK, but I’m not sure a middleaged white guy is the best person to tell women what it is they want.

Next time Kenney feels the need to mansplain, he might want to, um, abstain.