In this episode, Western Standard reporter Nadine Wellwoodwoodwood is joined by Cypress-Medicine Hat Independent Member of the Legislative Assembly Drew Barnes to discuss Todd Loewen's letter calling for Premier Jason Kenney to resign.
00:00:00.000It's my duty to speak up on behalf of my constituents, to speak up with their ideas, their concerns, and the direction that they'd like to see Alberta go.
00:01:17.260You know, Todd Loewen, in the time I've worked with him, is a solid, solid conservative, hard worker, very respectful, excellent representative of his constituents.
00:01:28.880So think of the frustration, the desire for change, you know, how he must have felt when he actually went public calling for Premier Kenney to resign.
00:01:39.980It's a reflection, you know, it's a reflection, you know, it's a reflection, you know, in his letter, he said of what his constituents were saying.
00:01:45.280It's a reflection of what I'm hearing around Alberta every day.
00:01:48.760And yeah, so I mean, so when Todd Loewen, you know, a respectful, solid conservative got to the point where he felt the need to go public, you know, asking for a resignation, it kind of says where Albertans are at.
00:02:02.980You know, Albertans, you know, asking for Premier Kenney to pivot, to be more transparent.
00:02:10.820And, you know, I'd like to sum it up this way.
00:02:14.400You know, polling right now in Alberta shows that in Alberta, that Premier Kenney's popularity is the same as Justin Trudeau's.
00:02:23.740You know, that should be a signal, shouldn't it?
00:02:37.120I'm so honoured to represent Cypress Medicine Hat and Albertans.
00:02:41.280In less than 24 hours, we've had hundreds of people phone, email, text, direct message.
00:02:48.460And the response has been, first of all, overwhelming in support of myself, my position and my statement.
00:02:56.800We did have a statement saying this is an opportunity to speak even louder for, as an independent member of the MLA, to speak even louder for grassroots conservatives, for all Albertans.
00:03:08.660Albertans who right now, Nadine, are feeling very, very strongly that their ideas are not getting to the cabinet or not being debated on the floor of the legislature.
00:03:17.420So this is my opportunity to even do better for that.
00:03:21.620And so I'm very, very honoured and grateful that so many of the representatives reached out and said they're pleased with this and are behind me.
00:03:30.500So you have been typically quite critical and outspoken regarding Jason Kenney's decisions, especially around these no more lockdowns and whatnot.
00:03:39.580But even before that, he was a fair deal panel.
00:03:43.460But yet yesterday, you were surprisingly silent, quiet on this, and you didn't come out in support or in opposition of Todd Lowen's letter.
00:03:54.980And yet there was another MLA who did so.
00:03:57.720And yet you were the one who was expelled from caucus.
00:04:04.040I, you know, to me, I guess it means, you know, even though Premier Kenney had been saying that he welcomed dissenting public discussion of government ideas and direction for this to have got to that level.
00:04:17.520I, I guess he, I guess he didn't, you know, I, I'll say it again, you know, we were in a situation where when I'm not in cabinet, I'm a, I'm a, not a member of the government.
00:04:31.560It's my duty to speak up on behalf of my constituents, to speak up with their ideas, their concerns, and the direction that they'd like to see Alberta go.
00:04:43.060You know, at times I said, yeah, the, the government's on the right track.
00:04:47.080I think back to when they came out with the regional approach to the COVID restrictions and lockdowns initially, when it was regionally based and in Cyprus Medicine had, I think we had eight cases.
00:04:58.000You know, that's what I was saying at that point.
00:04:59.940Then when the lockdown tightened and changed and became, you know, more, more, more complete across Alberta, I changed what I was saying, because that's what my constituents were saying to me.
00:05:10.760So, so yeah, you know, again, it, you know, MLA Lowen got to the point where he felt he needed to do something.
00:05:18.160That's indicative of where Albertans are at and Albertans feeling that the Premier Kenney hasn't met their expectations.
00:05:24.860And yeah, I, I guess, I guess I have to be focused on speaking out in a different way as an independent MLA.
00:05:35.660And I am absolutely prepared and happy and optimistic to do that.
00:05:40.140So obviously you're going to be moving forward as an independent, but you're remaining.
00:05:49.000I spent some time last night talking to my wife and my family.
00:05:52.800I have three adult boys and then I'll be talking to my constituents to get some support and direction and some feedback from them.
00:06:00.940And, and then at that point in time, I will make the best decisions at this point in time.
00:06:07.800It looks like for the foreseeable future, I will be happy and honored to be an independent member of the Alberta legislature for 50,000 people of Cypress Medicine Hat.
00:06:18.640One of 87 people paid to speak on behalf of 4.4 million of us.
00:06:40.580I just think yesterday in what was a seven or eight hour meeting and voting and time, if at the premier at some point would have acknowledged that, that he's part of the problem.
00:06:51.540You know, Albertans are saying to me daily that the Philly hasn't met expectations, that democratic reform hasn't happened, that there's been too much, you know, government's gotten too big.
00:07:05.040There's been too much cronyism, too much, you know, insiders getting opportunities, you know, and those are the things that instead we could have spent some time team building, building unity, talking about, working on, understanding each other better.
00:07:18.500Instead, we spent the day ejecting myself and MLA Lohan from caucus.
00:07:26.620And, you know, again, it was a surprise.
00:07:31.120How we got here over two years, you know, we've seen a steady and consistent drop in the UCP polls since election.
00:07:39.520We've seen a steady and a consistent drop in Premier Kenney's popularity.
00:07:43.720To me, that only suggests that you need to pivot, you need to change.
00:07:51.360Maybe the best change, maybe one of the easiest would be to start giving caucus more involvement and more direction and those kind of things.
00:07:58.660Those of us that weren't in cabinet, of course, different now with me as an independent.
00:08:03.220And again, I thought some acknowledgement that some pivoting would be beneficial for Albertans would have went a long way, but didn't happen.
00:08:14.880And on that note, you know, this has got to feel a little bit like a betrayal of some of your colleagues.
00:08:24.800There's, you know, they voted in a majority majority to have yourself and MLA Lohan removed.
00:08:33.560You know, where are they at with that?
00:08:35.400Because you had 17 people who stood up against no more lockdowns.
00:08:39.900And, you know, where were they yesterday?
00:09:23.880You know, again, it's unfortunate that seven or eight hours was spent on that rather than Alberta families and free enterprise and communities.
00:09:35.400And again, my goal going forward will be to be the voice of grassroots, conservative Albertans that care about a brighter future for our kids and our grandkids, our economy, our communities, our relationship with our Canadian provinces.
00:09:54.500You know, COVID sometimes feels like it's overwhelming everything.
00:09:59.780And we've got so many challenges with COVID, mental health, spiritual health, physical health.
00:10:05.480But there's a lot of Cypress Medicine Hatters that still speak strongly about the need to really push stronger against Ottawa with other Canadian partners like Saskatchewan for a better deal for Alberta families.
00:10:19.740And, you know, so I look forward for the chance to do that.
00:10:23.800Well, MLA Barnes, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today.