CORY'S RANT： where the UCP needs to go next.
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
204.81172
Summary
Former premier of the United Conservative Party of Canada, Jason Kenney was a tireless worker and a savvy political operator with vision and ambition. One skill, though, was that of leading a party, and it was that skill that brought him down.
Transcript
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kenny's last decision as his leader of the ucp was the right decision i mean while he technically
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won the leadership review with more than 50 support he realized his position was untenable
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so for the sake of the profits in his party and likely his own sanity he chose to step aside
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if kenny had tried to cling to power despite such a weak showing in the review the ucp would have
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torn itself to pieces i mean there's no guarantee that's not going to happen still in the future but
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he couldn't sit on there with such a slim uh number support uh at that point in the end what
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many members at the ground level and even caucus concluded is that kenny just couldn't lead the
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party to victory in the next year's general election polling numbers have consistently
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indicated that rachel notley's ndp could win the next election if nothing dramatic changed within
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the ucp and the dismal fundraising numbers were telling the same story so with three years in
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power and with kenny at the helm the ucp had lost the confidence of albertans there's no guarantee
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by any means that a new leader will manage to right the boat and win the next election it's possible
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that a new leader could actually fare worse than kenny had i know some kenny loyalists are implying as much
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but the party had reached such a state internally and in public opinion they had to take a dramatic
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change in course and i agree it means you have to replace the leader i still have nothing but respect
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for jason kenny i i differed with many of his decisions and but i still felt that it was time
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for him to go it was with a feeling of regret that i came to those conclusions though i mean
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kenny worked his way to the top from being a persistent activist with the canadian taxpayers
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federation at the start of the 90s to his time with the reform party and the opposition to his
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cabinet roles with the harper government and then his uniting the progressive conservatives
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and wild rose into the ucp and becoming premier i mean kenny's trajectory had been nothing but
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upward he's a tireless worker and a savvy political operator with vision and ambition
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one skill though that just seemed to elude him and that brought him down in the end was that of
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leading a party some people have that royal jelly and some don't it's a rare trait to see
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conservative leaders who can hold it together i mean by their very nature conservative-minded
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people tend to be individualists you know we don't like being governed and we chafe
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chief under authority they're inherently the worst possible people to try and unite and hold together
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jason kenny tried and he failed the skill of being an opposition mp or even a cabinet minister
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is much different than that of a party leader communicating compromising seeking general consensus
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has to be done in a leadership role kenny on the other hand tended to be introverted even within his
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own party preferring to keep within his own tight circle of staffers he rarely compromised on any
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positions until he felt cornered and forced to do so and he didn't engage directly or candidly you
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know with his own caucus members often it created a recipe for internal party can you know discontent
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when trying to put out the fires within his own party kenny's team played political games they
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stacked nominations while disqualifying other contenders and fighting off all efforts to hold a
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leadership review at all you know through controlling the party executive and eventually pulling every
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string possible to try and stack the review itself those efforts soured the membership and watching
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those will sour the electorate when jim prentice lost the general election in 2019 it was due to
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voters expressing disgust with the political games being played the luring of danielle smith across the
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floor with the other crossers was considered by political insiders to be a brilliant coup but it was
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viewed by voters as dirty inside political brinkmanship the view shattered trust among the electorate with both
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the pcs and the wild rose parties people didn't vote for notley's ndp because they liked the socialist
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policies they did it because notley appeared more trustworthy and honest when compared to conservative
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options the new leader of the ucp will be well served to remember that lesson trust is far more
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important than policies when it comes to elections the trust with the ucp was eroding early as constant
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revelations of dirty play within their own leadership race came out people were repulsed and it just never
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improved if the next leadership race becomes mired in questionable political play notley's going to
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waltz back into the premier's chair next year the ucp needs more than just a new leader they need a new
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attitude and this winning at all costs approach from staffers and campaigners has to stop the public at
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large is no use for it and they're going to reject it at the polls kenny's tenure is finished
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i suspect whenever he fully steps down he's going to have the best night's rest he's enjoyed in a decade
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he's earned it he did what he could and it was a lot but he fell short in the end let him retire
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from public life and peace should he choose to there's a little sense dancing on his political
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grave now the clock is ticking the ucp has an opportunity to turn the ship around but it will
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have to happen quickly and they have to do it right let's hope some lessons have been learned
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as they go into the process of picking a new leader