KENNEY’S CHALLENGE

Jason Kenney didn’t have long to bask in the glow of the United Conservative Party’s two recent byelection wins. He has had to watch as apparent momentum gets gummed up by controversy.

Calgary-North East MLA Prab Gill first stepped aside as the party’s deputy whip after the constituency’s founding annual general meeting devolved into chaos over accusations of ballot stuffing and improper handling of votes. Gill has now resigned from caucus after a report by a retired judge into the debacle was completed.

The NDP is demanding the report be released, but remember, it was paid for with the party’s money, not taxpayers’. Keeping an internal report private is certainly not without precedent: the federal Liberals’ look into accusations about Calgary MP Kent Hehr’s behaviour has never seen the light of day.

More recently, candidate Todd Beasley was asked by the UCP to drop out of a nomination race because he had posted anti-Islamic social media posts in 2017.

These developments must be troubling to Kenney, but he’s demonstrating leadership in dealing with them head on.

In 2012, when a Wildrose candidate made disparaging remarks about gays, Leader Danielle Smith kept him on the ballot, arguably costing the party the election. Kenney has shown no hesitation in ensuring candidates meet the party’s — and the public’s — expectations.

These matters will likely soon be forgotten, but there’s an incident that is more worrisome. Kenney and Gill have been accused of improperly billing taxpayers for a partisan event.

The NDP sent a letter to Speaker Bob Wanner saying Kenney had improperly used Gill’s constituency association funds for a Feb. 23 banquet, where he called on those in attendance to help defeat the NDP government. Taxpayers were billed $7,245 for the dinner.

“The Legislative Assembly rules are very clear. These MLA funds are not to be used for partisan activities,” the NDP said in a media release. “Mr. Kenney and Mr. Gill ignored the rules. They should pay back the funds immediately.”

The UCP has promised to return the money. The problem is that what the party calls an error is reminiscent of the sense of entitlement that helped lead to the defeat of the Conservatives and the victory of the NDP in 2015.

Albertans will have no patience with a party that speaks out of both sides of its mouth — calling out government waste and then billing the public for an event that clearly contained a partisan flavour.

That’s the larger issue Kenney must address.