PCs face fallout from female candidates’ exit from race
A day after both women running for the provincial Progressive Conservative leadership dropped out of the race, the party was facing the fallout over allegations of bullying and suggestions it had turned to the “far right” at its weekend convention.
Donna Kennedy-Glans and Sandra Jansen both announced Tuesday they were withdrawing, with Jansen saying she had been driven from the race by harassment, both online and at the Red Deer convention, from supporters of leadership contender Jason Kenney.
In a statement, Kenney said personal attacks had no place in his campaign.
“I condemn any disrespectful comments or conduct directed at people in public life. Such conduct is even more egregious when directed at women. We need more women involved in politics, and a civil public discourse is important to achieve that goal,” said the former Conservative MP, who is running on a platform of merging the PCs with the Wildrose in a new party.
“If anyone supporting my campaign has made personally disparaging remarks about other candidates, I would ask them to apologize and to participate in a positive and respectful manner.”
Jansen was not available for an interview Wednesday but in her Tuesday statement said that insults had been scrawled on her nomination forms and that she and her supporters had been jeered at and accosted over her pro-choice position on abortion and support of protections for LGBTQ children in schools.
Premier Rachel Notley weighed in on the issue at a legislature news conference Wednesday, noting the withdrawal of the two candidates meant “yesterday was not a great day for women in politics in Alberta.”
“The allegations ... are deeply troubling. I anticipate the Conservative party will look into them and take them very seriously and report back,” she said.
“If a party or a campaign cannot conduct itself in a way to ensure the most basic of rules around inclusivity, for instance anti-harassment, then quite frankly that party or that campaign is not equipped to govern the province.”
The PC party has promised to investigate the accusations.
In an interview Wednesday, Kennedy-Glans said she had not been harassed during the convention but saw bullying aimed at Jansen that was “very disturbing.”
However, the former CalgaryVarsity MLA said the convention had not been a receptive place for herself and her team — fiscal conservatives and social progressives — as supporters of Kenney pushed “very conservative, right-wing policy frameworks” on issues such as the carbon tax.
“There is no doubt that in that room we were outnumbered and out-resourced by the far right,” said Kennedy-Glans.
“For Progressive Conservatives, for centrists ... it just seemed to me this leadership race is not going to be about those kinds of ways of doing politics.”
Kennedy-Glans, a longtime Tory, said she’s considering whether she still fits in with the party.
“That’s what I’m evaluating,” she said.
The other candidates in the leadership contest — Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke, Calgary lawyer Byron Nelson and former St. Albert MLA Stephen Khan — are all opposed to a party merger and have vowed to rebuild under the PC brand if they win the election.
Khan, the last candidate to submit his nomination papers before Thursday’s deadline, said in an interview Wednesday that he was angry to hear the allegations made by Jansen, the MLA for CalgaryNorth West.
While no one made comments to him, Khan said there was a climate of “hostility’ fostered by Kenneysupporting delegates over issues such as education.
He cited a policy resolution that appeared to repudiate legislation passed by the former PC government mandating gay-straight alliances where requested in schools, which was passed in a panel with the backing of Kenney supporters Saturday. It was withdrawn without debate on Sunday, however.
“What we need is some honest reflection,” said Khan.
“And what I mean by honest reflection is, you’ve got one guy who’s positioning himself as the unity guy and, in every respect, all he’s trying to do is divide people and break up a party.”
Starke and Nelson also said Wednesday they were very concerned about the accusations, though they did not personally witness any incidents.