Gather ’round, all ye adversaries of Kenney
Last week, Jason Kenney dodged yet another attempt to have him turfed from the Progressive Conservative leadership race on a technicality. By all accounts, the former Conservative cabinet minister appears to be set for victory at the March 18 leadership convention, after which it’s a long slog of right-wing unification and — if all goes according to plan — a seat in the premier’s chair come 2019. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a whole bunch of people who despise every fibre of his being. However, if the Liberals have taught us anything, it’s that in Canada, holding power is sometimes about having everyone hate you just a little bit. Below, a quick summary of Alberta’s various Enemies of Kenney. Tristin Hopper reports.
THE NDP, OBVIOUSLY
Kenney has vowed to repeal the Alberta carbon tax, farm safety legislation and basically any other NDP policy that he’s attributed to their “radical ideological agenda.”
Naturally, the NDP objects to this characterization. Of course, every time Premier Rachel Notley says something Kenney-specific, his supporters get to gloat that the NDP are “scared.” So many New Democrats, like other Kenney opponents, have taken to avoiding any mention of the K-word.
OLD SCHOOL PCS RESISTANT TO ELECTION
It’s difficult to properly illustrate the sheer volume of scheming and skulduggery required to serve for nine years as a Harper Government cabinet minister. They ran repeated minority governments in hostile territory, and they didn’t do it by being nice. Meanwhile, Alberta was until recently the proud home of one of the most calcified political organizations in Canadian history. The thing about a 44-year Progressive Conservative dynasty is that you could spend your entire political career without really having to bloody one’s fists from doorknocking or stay up all night pouring over polling data. Thus, when Kenney buses in a bunch of supporters to swamp a convention, for instance, accusations of “not fair” are not far behind.
PROGRESSIVES WHO SAY HE’ S OUT OF TOUCH
Former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk has said that “when” Jason Kenney wins the leadership, the first thing he’s doing is cutting up his PC membership card. Former PC MLA Ron Ghitter has said much the same thing, arguing that the “progressive” side of the Progressive Conservative party is being gutted. Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, in turn, has criticized Kenney’s “understanding of who Albertans are.” The allegation is that Kenney is a regressive, out-of-touch ghost from the musty corners of the Reform Party. Kenney, in turn, is pleading the Stephen Harper strategy: “I don’t actually care about social issues, just let me run the books.”
FRINGE TYPES WHO SAY HE’ S PRO- MUSLIM
This may be hard for much of Canada to imagine, but there are Albertans who see Jason “Take Off That Niqab” Kenney as a bleeding heart liberal. Kenney’s well-acknowledged specialty is taking conservative politics to rooms full of people in dastaars and hijabs. He’s also trashed right-wing fanatics as “lunatic trolls” and was even a public opponent of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration ban against Muslim majority countries. Thus, if you’ve been hitting Facebook a bit too hard lately, you might well wonder why Kenney is currying votes at mosques rather than devising plans to send them back to wherever.
PCS WHO RESENT HIS EMERGENCE
In some of the dustier corners of Canada, there remain stubborn senior citizens who still raise the Red Ensign outside the house rather than acknowledge “Lester Pearson’s Maple Leaf Rag.” Similarly, there are PC stalwarts who blindly rage against their grand old party being thrust into the inevitable purgatory into which all former Alberta dynasties must go (hello, Alberta Liberals, United Farmers and Social Credit). This faction also includes old-time Brian Mulroney supporters who never really got over the shock of seeing the Party of Joe Clark bludgeoned together with the Party of Stockwell Day.
BRIAN JEAN
It is technically wrong to put Wildrose leader Brian Jean on a list of people who “hate” Jason Kenney. There may not be room in Jean’s wild mysterious heart for the emotion we call “hate.” But Jean’s opposition to Kenney is more traditional. He similarly wants to become the leader of the future United Conservatives of Alberta Party (actual name pending), and is busy telling anyone who will listen that Kenney would just screw it up. Wildrose supporters will back a united right “as long as they have me as leader … It’s very humbling,” Jean said this week.