A damaging departure.
CALGARY — Associate minister Donna Kennedy-Glans quit the Progressive Conservative caucus Monday, but declined to follow the same explosive path of last week’s defector from the Redford government.
Instead of assailing the premier as a bully — as Calgary MLA Len Webber charged while crossing the floor to sit as an independent — Kennedy-Glans lamented she was “increasingly convinced that elements of this 43-year-old government are simply unable to make the changes needed.”
Unlike Webber, who was already making plans to enter federal politics, Kennedy-Glans had recently been promoted into Redford’s cabinet.
“I really want change to happen,” Kennedy-Glans, who was the Tories’ associate minister of electricity and renewable energy, said in an interview. “I’ve given it a lot of effort to change (government) from within. I was in cabinet and it still wasn’t possible.”
Analysts say the departure of Kennedy-Glans is more damaging to the party — and Premier Alison Redford — than Webber’s longrumoured resignation, with potential repercussions for the Tory government.
“She was a star candidate when she was recruited ... heavily supported by the oil and gas sector,” said Janet Brown, a public opinion research consultant.
“You have to wonder what this means.”
Political scientist Duane Bratt from Mount Royal University said Kennedy-Glans was upset with top-down decision-making by the party and the leader. “She was clearly on the pathway to becoming a significant player in government — and then she walks,” said Bratt.
First elected two years ago in the riding of CalgaryVarsity, the 53-year-old MLA said she will sit as an independent and likely give up her party membership.
Kennedy-Glans said she’d considered the decision for nearly a year and could no longer ignore the requests by her own constituents frustrated by a lack of fiscal discipline within the government — and feelings their voices are not being heard.
The rookie MLA, who called herself a fiscal conservative, praised the Tory budget released earlier this month. “But then we have Bill 1 with a $200-million slush fund in it,” she said in reference to the government’s new Alberta Future Fund intended for major projects.
She also criticized the government’s contentious decisions around labour legislation, noting they were made by cabinet “with no consultation beforehand with caucus. That was a pretty tough decision.”
It’s estimated up to 25 Tory MLAs are considering leaving the PC caucus in a bid to force Redford out as party leader. Unlike Webber, however, Kennedy-Glans said she did not intend to “lead a parade across the floor” and that her decision is a highly personal one.
“I’ve got to feel good in my guts, I have to be able to look my kids in the eye, I have to be able to look my constituents in the eye and say that I did the right thing,” she said. “And at this moment in time, my gut and my heart and my head all say the same thing: I am doing what they need.”
Although new to the political world, Kennedy-Glans worked as a lawyer and oilpatch executive in Calgary, working with TransCanada Pipelines and petroleum producer Nexen Inc. She’s also helped establish a non-profit and has written books about corporate integrity.
Kennedy-Glans said her decision was cemented by the resignation of long-standing PC party members from her own riding association board.
She was careful to not single out the leadership of Redford as an influencing factor, but acknowledged “we’ve had conversations about the premier’s leadership for months now.”
The Calgary MLA said she did not agree with Webber’s characterization of Redford as a “bully,” noting she does not know the premier well. In fact, Kennedy-Glans said she’s only had one 10-minute meeting with the premier since joining the government in 2012.
Asked if Redford should resign, Kennedy-Glans said: “That’s up to her.”