While Danielle Smith continues to declare victory as she defends her defection, insisting that the Wildrose had held two premiers to account and that they had managed to shift the PCs to their position under Prentice, there are one or two things worth noting. While I spoke to other day about the problems with calling this defection a “reunification” of conservatives in the province, I think there are a couple of other facts to consider that the pundit classes keep overlooking in their handwringing about the state of democracy in Alberta now that the official opposition has been decimated. The first is that even in a Westminster democracy, there are no guidelines about the strength of the opposition. We’ve even had cases (New Brunswick, I believe) where there were no opposition parties elected, and they had to find a way of including that balance. The other fact is that nowhere in the country is there an opposition so closely aligned ideologically with the government of the day, where you have a nominally right-wing government and an even more right-wing official opposition. That puts a whole lot of context into the unprecedented move of an official opposition leader crossing to join the government ranks, as there is less of a gap to actually cross.
Author Archives: Dale
Roundup: Danielle Smith’s problematic tales
The Danielle Smith/Wildrose drama continued yesterday, as details about her decision to defect to the ruling Progressive Conservatives started spilling out, and Smith herself started giving interviews. Interviews that, well, didn’t offer a whole lot of clarity to the issues at hand. The shift in tone from when two of her former MLAs crossed the floor just weeks ago, the statements about the party culture of the PCs, about leadership changes not being the answer – all blown out of the water as Smith equivocated about all of it. There were some tantalizing hints, however, in some of what she said, talking about how the party was already self-destructing, as the grassroots membership voted against policies that would have moved them into the social mainstream rather than keeping them squarely as a protest movement of cranks and what Heather Mallick dubs “angry pyjamas.” As a leader who was increasingly disconnected from her party, she had choices of her own to make. Then comes in revelations about talks with the centrist Alberta Party to merge – in Smith’s estimation to help get an urban base for a rural protest party – and that Preston Manning had a hand in convincing the other Wildrose MLAs to cross the floor. It’s incredible to read, but I still find myself unmoved by this notion that it’s a kind of “reunification,” and that it’s all about the conservative movement as a whole. The problem with that is that it’s hard to consider the PC party as conservatives to a great extent because they’re more populists than anything, and that’s what allows them to remain as amorphous as they are and keep reshaping themselves to allow the One Party State™ to continue carrying on. That it merely absorbs the more strident fiscal conservatism of the Wildrose members is merely a sign of the times. By that same token, the federal Conservatives are also more populists than they are conservatives, if you judge by their fiscal policies, so it’s hard for me to swallow this narrative around the merger. It’s also hard to see how nine MLAs would cross out of the sake of careerism, but again, I go back to Smith’s comment about the party in a state of self-destruction. I’m sure more stories will continue to tumble out, but it’s a lot to try to wrap your head around. Kathleen Petty offers some thoughts, while Jen Gerson pitches for the leadership of the merged party – in 2042.
If Danielle Smith quit as Opposition Leader to get that sweet, sweet cabinet-minister salary, she’s in for a disappointment: they’re equal.
— Colby Cosh (@colbycosh) December 19, 2014
Roundup: Strong feelings following defections
In the wake of fairly stunning defections in both the federal NDP and the Wildrose party in Alberta are leaving a lot of hurt, angry and shaken people in their wake. With Glenn Thibeault leaving the federal NDP, his old riding association president says she feels like their work has been diminished, and a number of Thibeault’s former caucus colleagues say they’re feeling “hurt” by the departure. Over in Alberta, the Wildrose Party’s president has stepped down and a past president stepped into his place for the time being, and they insist they’re not defeated. I’m sure it will be a question as to how they decide to move forward, and what kind of leadership process they put in place in order to try and staunch the haemorrhaging that they’re feeling at present. Someone suggested that it’s something that Rob Anders could take on seeing as he’s been defeated in his quest for federal re-nomination twice, but still insists he wants to get that small-c conservative message about lower taxes out there. Then again, Alberta may be getting too liberal for Anders, which is what he blamed his lost nominations on. For many federal Conservatives, it’s more of a feeling of relief, no longer having their voter base split provincially (though how long said unity lasts is a question). The most incredible reaction to date, however, was NDP MP Linda Duncan, whose riding is in Edmonton, when she said that people in the province may be so disgusted that they’ll consider the NDP instead. I think this reaction says it best:
@journo_dale god that's adorable.
— Alheli Picazo (@a_picazo) December 19, 2014
Roundup: Onward, One Party State
The One Party State known as Alberta has struck again, and consumed its own opposition. Floor-crossings to the government, the same government that has been in power for four decades, is a long-held tradition in that process, but never before has it been to this extent, in the history of confederation. Wildrose leader Danielle Smith resigned her position and took eight of her MLAs over the floor to join Premier Jim Prentice, and his revitalised Progressive Conservatives. The five remaining Wildrose MLAs will likely remain the official opposition (though there are rumours of another resignation on the way for health reasons), leaving five Liberal and four NDP MLAs to have some semblance of opposition, as shambolic as it is likely to be. Oh, and of those five Liberal MLAs, two of them will soon be jumping ship to run federally. So yeah – opposition? Who needs it? It’s amazing to witness this all-encompasing amorphous political culture in Alberta consume itself and its own best interests, and it’s galling to see Smith justify her decision as essentially declaring victory, that with Prentice in place there is a principled conservative at the helm that she can support, papering over some of the other inherent problems that were in her party, being the split between those who were able to be socially progressive as opposed to the regressive “Lake of Fire” crowd. Jen Gerson writes about Prentice setting himself up to be a generational premier, while Colby Cosh explores what it all means in the broader political culture of the province, and how the threat of falling oil prices may have pushed things forward.
Roundup: A surprising defection
The NDP have lost another MP, but this time the defection is very surprising. Sudbury MP Glenn Thibeault has decided to leave federal politics and run for the provincial Liberals in that riding. Thibeault said that it was a long decision making process, and that he felt the Liberals’ plans for the region were something he felt strongly about, but then he hinted to CBC Sudbury that he was not seeing eye-to-eye with the federal NDP, and that’s when the warning lights go off – especially because Thibeault was caucus chair until a couple of weeks ago. He wouldn’t elaborate on that fact when later asked about it on Power & Politics, but it is still a big klaxon that all is not as it seems in the NDP caucus. Remember this is the caucus that is always united and solidarity in all things. When cracks form below the surface, it’s always a bit of interesting Kremlinology, and while clues may be hard to come by as to what the divisions are, the fact that they are present does add more grains of salt to the constant assurances that the party has never been more united – a phrase they trot out every time they lose another MP.
Senate QP: Youth voting and Santa
The final sitting day of 2014, and the Senate’s Routine Proceedings carried on quickly after a number of very sad and tearful statements about topics like the attack in Peshawar and a suicide that highlighted the need for assisted suicide laws. And then it was time for Question Period.
Senator Eggleton led off, asking on behalf of an Ottawa resident who wanted to know what the government is doing to help encourage youth vote. Senator Carignan praised the Fair Elections Act, and said that it would increase voter turnout. Eggleton pointed out that the law limited the kinds of education outreach that Elections Canada could engage in, and wondered how that made things better. Carignan insisted that it was the role of parties to engage people on the basis of ideas.
Roundup: Challenging the empty seats
A Vancouver lawyer has decided to launch a constitutional challenge about the fact that the Prime Minister has refused to fill the 16 vacant seats that are currently in the Senate, and it’s about time. In some provinces, half of their allotted seats are vacant, which has a real impact on their representation, all because Harper is both smarting from his string of poor appointments in 2008 when he elevated Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau to the chamber, but also because he’s petulant and is pouting after the Supreme Court gave him and his reform proposals a black eye (and with very good reason). And because of the pace at which justice unfortunately moves in this country, this challenge may not even be heard until after the next election happens, and a new government may be in place that will actually make appointments – imagine that! But either way, it would ne nice to get some kind of jurisprudence on the record, so that if other future prime ministers decide to be cute and not make appointments, there will be some common law in existence to show how it’s a constitutional obligation and not an option.
Senate QP: 200 or 2000 Syrians?
It was a late Monday evening sitting, part of the final push to get things though before breaking for the Christmas holiday. Once again, Routine Proceedings sped through to get to Question Period, so much so that it caught the lead Senator for the day off-guard, as she was conversing with a Senator on the other side of the Chamber.
Once she rushed back to her desk, Senator Jaffer asked about the low numbers of Syrian refugees that have been brought to Canada. Senator Carignan, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, insisted that Canada has offered protected to all kinds of Syrians. Jaffer asked about the fact that only 200 have come over, but Carignan insisted that it was closer to 2000 — 1900 to date. Jaffer disputed that figure, before noting that she was recently in Turkey to visit the camps there, and wondered what more Canada was doing, but before Carignan had a chance to reply, they had to break to ring the bells for a scheduled vote.
Roundup: Just a communications problem
If you listen to the government and their spokespeople, the problems at Veterans Affairs don’t have to do with management or resources, but rather that they’re simply not communicating their programmes effectively to newer veterans. At least, that’s the argument that Conservative parliamentary secretary Erin O’Toole was trying to put forward on the weekend. O’Toole – who isn’t even the parliamentary secretary for veterans, but rather international trade – his status as a veteran, plus the ineptitude of both the minister and parliamentary secretary for veterans is why he’s being put forward on the file – was charged with trying to sell this message on The West Block last weekend, to much incredulity. And Tom Clark asked him point blank if that means that the answer is more money for advertising, no matter that they’ve already been spending more on advertising than they’ve saved on closing those veterans service centres around the country. I have a hard time seeing how this is at all a winning strategy because is smacks so much of victim blaming to those veterans who can’t get the help that they need and are entitled to.
Roundup: Another unhappy premier
He still won’t meet with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, dropping by Toronto for a meeting with new mayor John Tory on Thursday instead, and yesterday, Stephen Harper met with Paul Davis, the new premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. That meeting, however, did not go happily as the premier is accusing the PM of changing the rules unilaterally regarding their agreed-upon compensation for fish processing losses under the EU trade agreement in such a way that the province will never see those funds. So, still trying to win the province over, I see. Meanwhile, PostMedia imagines how the conversation between Harper and Wynne will go when it eventually does happen, and Paul Wells has some thoughts on the affair as well:
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