Kenney poking his nose into the UCP leadership race
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Summary
Jason Kenney enters the race to lead the United Conservative Party of Alberta. Jason Kenney is a former premier who served as premier of Alberta between 2015 and 2018, but is now running for the party leadership.
Transcript
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Most Albertans, we shudder at the prospect of a return to four more years of living under an NDP
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government. A number of factors led to that disastrous election in 2015. I mean, there was
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mistrust, bad campaigns, and of course, a divided conservative movement. But the Wildrose Party and
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the Progressive Conservatives battling each other throughout the campaign that allowed the NDP to
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slide up the middle and win a majority government. So I mean, it took a lot of compromise and a lot
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of work. But the factionalized conservatives of Alberta managed to pull it together under
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the United banner with the UCP in time for the 2019 election. And with a single conservative
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option to look at, voters happily tossed the NDP to the curb and gave the UCP a solid majority.
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And Jason Kenney deserves full credit for pulling all of that off. He was integral. He had the vision
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and he got it together. Now though, Jason Kenney could be the one who fractures the movement all
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over again as he wades into the leadership race for the UCP. It was unprecedented as it is, you know,
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for Kenney to remain on as a party leader as the race was held. I mean, that was already odd. Party
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leaders have been known to stay on after announcing their resignations, but that's usually when the
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leader's willingly choosing to resign, you know, on their own terms. When the leader's been tossed
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out by their own members as Kenney had been, they tend to move on into the background after that.
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Well, whether it's an interim leader or an upcoming incumbent, it's usually recognized that the
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leader stays out of the leadership race. They certainly hold their views, but they keep it to
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themselves. Kenney has broken that convention now though, as he went on a tirade about Danielle
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Smith's proposed Sovereignty Act. Kenney did this on a weekly radio show where he's supposed to be
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speaking as the premier. If it's going to turn into a platform for the leadership race, maybe it's time
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for that show to come to an end as well. The Sovereignty Act now, I mean, that's the main plank of
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Smith's campaign. And in light of her apparent status as the front runner of the race, I'd say to say
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the proposal appeals to many, if not most, of the members at this point. And whether or not it's
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workable or desirable will be determined by the members. If they select Smith, it would then head
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to the legislature for debate. Then it could be embraced, demanded, or scrapped by our elected
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officials. Kenney still doesn't understand that his tough talk and weak actions when it came to
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dealing with Ottawa is what led to his ouster from the party in the first place. Members have had it with
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limp-wristed reactions to federal overreach, and Smith has offered them a lifeline. Members wanted
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to see something, anything, that the province can do to stand up to Ottawa. They're frustrated to the
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point where it doesn't matter if it's legally viable. They're ready to go on the offensive with
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a hostile federal government after years of failed defensive actions. And the Sovereignty Act offers
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a possible tool for that. If the Sovereignty Act fails, well, true secessionism is really going to
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rise as people are going to feel they're out of options. Maybe Smith's proposals were irresponsible.
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Maybe other candidates have better plans. Whatever the case may be, though, having the outgoing
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premier weighing in right now is fostering new divisions in a party that desperately needs to
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maintain unity. Leadership races can usually be heated and divisive. If they're held responsibly,
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though, they don't need to lead to the fracturing of the party. It was no secret that Kenney and the
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establishment in the party support Travis Taves in the leadership. Again, though, Kenney should have
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been keeping it to himself. With such heated rhetoric coming from the outgoing leader, supporters of
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Taves and Smith are going to be more deeply entrenched in their views and taking them more
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personally than ever. Now, no matter what candidate wins, it's going to be all the more difficult for
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them to consolidate their leadership and unite the members in time for a general election that's less
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than a year away. The UCB right now is lucky. There's no alternative conservative parties well
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established right now. The Wildrose Independence Party is ripping themselves apart with infighting and
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won't be in any position to seriously contest the next election. And the other registered conservative
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leaning parties really are unheard of. This can't be taken for granted, though. Seven months is an
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eternity in politics and a lot can change by election time. I can't see a new entity winning
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the next election, but one could manage to cause enough division to lead to another notly term in
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office. Kenney's no novice political operator. He knew how serious it would be if he stepped into
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the leadership race. One has to start wondering at this point, is Kenney have the best interest of the
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province and the party in mind right now? Or is he just hoping that nobody will succeed where he failed?
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We're heading for some hard economic times. The last thing Alberta needs is to sink into another four years
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of high spending socialism under Notley. I'd hope Kenney could go out with dignity. It doesn't look that way
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and that hope's fading and we all could be paying the price for it.