Imagine blowing the separatist dog whistle and fomenting resentment against Eastern Canada while accusing others of being divisive and unpatriotic.
With a straight face, no less.
Such shameless gaslighting is so stupefying it leaves one dizzy with disbelief. Goebbels would undoubtedly be proud.
Before the pandemic, Alberta’s premier was happily entertaining separatist sentiments, even if publicly, he pretended not to support actually seceding from Canadian confederacy.
Of course self-proclaimed Wexiteers have in the wake of the pandemic become suddenly much quieter. Perhaps it has finally dawned on them that the sobering reality that standing sovereign and totally isolated, Alberta would quickly crumble to pieces without federal help during a time of crisis, such as the one we’re currently enduring.
The same man who during his service as a cabinet minister of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper assisted in conjuring up the now-demonized equalization formula, suddenly took issue with transfer payments after being elected Alberta's premier. And he did not hesitate to point a divisive finger of blame at pretty well the entirety of Eastern Canada in a shameless show of opportunistic political posturing.
Kenney undeniably excels at pandering to his base.
This is the same man who believes allocating government funding for green energy development is an egregious affront to so-called free market enterprise and who will turn blue in the face prattling on about government interventionist meddling in business, while turning around without batting an eye and unironically funnelling billions of tax dollars to prop up the oil and gas industry. The fact that private companies and international investors consider such ventures too risky be damned, because ideology.
The prime example being the premier's spectacularly failed gamble on Keystone, which he wasted little time resorting to laying the blame on everybody but himself, despite the fact the project was never guaranteed to get off the ground.
Consistency in policy positions is apparently no longer part of conservative dogma.
Perhaps it never was.
But to give our premier credit where due, he is quite vehemently committed to his rhetoric. When others might concede to valid arguments and admit fault, he doubles down and antes up.
In true Trumpian style, Kenney has mastered the art of dismissing, denying, deflecting and then attacking critics.
Driving this point home, Kenney railed against criticism from Green Party Elizabeth May and Bloc Québecois leader Yves-Francois Blançhet’s comments that the oil patch’s gravy train days are long gone and that Canada needs to prepare for a vastly and rapidly evolving landscape.
“Leaders should be seeking to bring us together, not to divide us,” proclaimed the same guy whose government has essentially lost the trust of educators and physicians across the province after undemocratically tearing up agreements and ramming through controversial ideological changes with little to no meaningful consultation with either the public or professionals serving on the front lines.
Kenney might as well pull a page right from George Dubya’s playbook and defiantly declare, “If you’re not with us — you’re against us!”
Such a woefully underdeveloped and juvenile mindset leaves a lot to be desired for any adult, never mind the so-called leader of almost four and a half million people.
Politicians with a shred of integrity and capacity for diplomatic tact and decorum should of course not cling to narrow-minded, black and white absolutist and ideological worldviews, but rather be capable of nuanced reasoning that recognizes the world is a complicated arrangement of shades of grey.
Leaders should also be able to respond to criticism and address the points raised, instead of instantly resorting to launching an indignant, self-righteous tirade of tired old ad hominem attacks against the messenger.
I would submit that people who express concerns about the prospects in the troubled oil patch and want desperately to ramp up efforts to diversify the economy to reduce our dependency on such a volatile commodity roller coaster and build the foundation for a stronger future for all Canadians, are in fact the true patriots.
Not those with their heads stubbornly buried in the sand and their heels still imbedded deeply in the dying dream of $120-plus a barrel that largely remains alive only courtesy of being on taxpayer-funded life support.
This premier and his government’s uninspiring and utter lack of vision will only hamstring us in the long run.
Kenney can try to shoot the messengers all he wants.
He can bloviate all he wants as he blames everybody else.
But that won’t stop the tides of change from coming, and coming they are.
We can be ready, or we can be caught with our pants down while petulantly playing victims and blaming the world for our woes.
The choice is up to us.