The Alberta NDP has nothing but my sympathy. Not only have they lost their eminently qualified leader, Rachel Notley, they also have to contend with Premier Danielle Smith’s majority UCP government and the seeming popularity of that government—despite, well, everything. For example, the premier’s having been recorded in a phone chitchat with a defendant in a current criminal case didn’t harm the premier a bit, not even her suggestion to the fellow that she’d have a chat with the prosecutors—which she said she does weekly. Another example: her declaration, away from the nuisance of the Legislature, that a large pharmacy chain will soon be dishing out medical advice, thereby neatly resolving Alberta’s doctor shortage. Also her threats to overrule municipal governments on important issues such as Calgary’s outrageous decision to act against the plastic straw and the swizzle stick. Also the UCP will protect parental authority in the classroom on such vital issues as kids changing their names. “But, teacher, I like being called Bob better.”
Ms. Smith’s concept of being premier is that she has limitless authority within the boundaries of Alberta. And the problem for the local NDP is that many Albertans seem to like that. Let’s face it, there are historical precedents. William Aberhart telling the Edmonton Journal and other newspapers what they could and could not write about him. Ralph Klein letting private clinics do a few surgeries here and there. (“Oh, and by the way, the patients can stay the night.”) Let’s face it: Alberta has a long history of liking governments with a little dirt on them.
So what are the implications for the Alberta New Democrats in their search for a new leader? Don’t they need to outflank the UCP in some fashion? Thanks to having broken the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta’s 44-year winning streak in 2015, the NDP has a crowd of qualified potential leaders: folks with experience sitting in the government benches, former cabinet ministers. But is a record of competent governance the way to go? Quality as a politician and person may not be enough—or it may be too much.
Based on what Albertans seem to value, the NDP should maybe pick a leader with a history of actually creating pollution
Here are a few suggestions, then, based on what Albertans seem to value in a leader. The NDP should open its mind to a broader definition of qualifications. For instance, on healthcare, instead of looking for the usual type, people with experience in the delivery or administration of public health, maybe the NDP could include people who’ve made quick killings importing TV-advertised weight-loss drugs—or people who helped Smith procure $80-million worth of potentially dangerous, at best useless, Turkish Tylenol.
As far as dealing with the environment and the ever-controversial issue of climate change, the NDP should maybe avoid people with a history as an environmentalist (worse yet, people with advanced university degrees relating to the environment) and instead pick someone with a history of actually creating pollution. Real on-the-ground (and under and above ground) experience. There’s a lot of talent in that area here. When the UCP government deftly converted the Polluter Pay principle to Pay the Polluter, Albertans hardly seemed to notice. The NDP should take note.
Something else the Alberta NDP must take into consideration is the western world’s veer to the political right. Somehow people who have always enjoyed the rights, comforts and protections of democratic forms of government are flirting outrageously with what we used to call “fascism.” How does this concern the NDP leadership race? It might not. But one should perhaps take note of Smith’s joining one-time Fox News personality Tucker Carlson onstage in Calgary. At the event, she was smilingly and willingly photographed in the company of three icons of the political right. The evening’s guest speaker, Mr. Carlson, was one. An ex-convict who abandoned his Canadian citizenship for a seat in the British House of Lords was another. Plus an academic who has used his freedom of speech to define a female body part in crude and offensive fashion. Smith’s broadness of mind knoweth no bounds. Again, this hasn’t seemed to hurt her politically.
So how does a more moderate party choose a leader in an era when people are asking themselves “What was so terrible about Hitler?” The political left mustn’t try to outflank the right. That would be absurd and against their ideals and morality. But maybe they do need to put a little “Trump on their stump.” Maybe the new NDP leader should be less polite, even outrageous…? A shouter, given to wild arm gestures. Maybe the person should be careless with the truth. Trump has proven that 30,000 lies while in power, and a startling array of criminal charges against you, do not keep you from retaining the Republican nomination or from having a second go at being western democracy’s principal defender.
In any case, I wish the Alberta NDP the best of luck.
Fred Stenson’s many books include the novels Who By Fire, The Trade, Lightning and The Great Karoo.
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