top of page
Search

Kenney never hid his disdain for democracy

Some former UCP supporters who have grown increasingly disillusioned with the party's unscrupulous tactics claim they were duped.

That they voted for fiscal responsibility and a job-creation plan to jumpstart the economy, not an arrogant and entitled government that holds public consultations and democratic discourse in contemptuous disdain.

But they either have short memory spans, or are simply kidding themselves.

Because Premier Jason Kenney never for one second attempted to hide his scorn for the democratic process.

Before ever even being elected Alberta's premier in 2019, he proudly boasted about needing to ram legislative change through like a blitzkrieg that leaves the opposition with its head spinning and effectively unable to mobilize any meaningful effort to object.

This was around the same time of the Kamikaze-campaign, which alone should have served as a loud warning that nothing was beneath him, that he would sink as low as he needs for the sake of winning power. That the ends justifies the means.

During an event hosted in 2018 by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Kenney waxed poetic about a former finance minister of New Zealand, Roger Douglas, the architect behind his country's effort to overhaul the public sector through sweeping job cuts in exchange for state-owned enterprises to procure government services.

"He said the first and most important lesson is that you move quickly," Kenney said at the time.

"You move with speed because speed creates its own momentum. It also makes it harder for the opponents of reform to obstruct it."

Kenney went on to complain about how governments get caught up in "endless process" which includes engaging in consultation.

"We want to do as much of our consultation on the big issues now as possible so we don't get bogged down doing that in 2019 should we form government," he added.

What consultation did the UCP conduct at the time regarding the assault on doctors and nurses, expanding the coal industry, replacing the RCMP provincial police force, sweeping changes to provincial parks, gambling and then losing more than $1 billion on a risky pipeline that was far from a sure thing, or an embarrassment of a state-sponsored oil and gas industry propaganda machine that somehow becomes a bigger joke by the day?

Naturally, conservatives pretended to care about consultation when the NDP presented its proposal on Bighorn.

Yet as soon as the UCP was elected, the party made crystal clear how little it cared about due process.

This of course should have been fully expected, as Kenney had openly pontificated about the burden of public consultation and the need to ram legislation through so fast that no meaningful debate could be expected.

For anyone paying attention, the UCP's tactics are the anti-thesis of democratic discourse. Their approach is more akin to authoritarian regimes that ram their ideologies through with no regard or respect for dissenting views.

Boring and tedious as it may be, democracy is a slow slog of a process. It's not meant to move lightning fast. The whole point is to ensure all perspectives are not just heard, but considered.

What's now unfolding in Alberta was painfully predictable.

After all, Kenney not only never hid his true intentions, he actually bragged openly that under his leadership, the government would move so fast that any opposition would be left unable to organize.

He clearly holds meaningful consultation in contemptuous disdain, which means he holds democracy in disdain.

The bottom line for Kenney is power. Albertans are nothing more than stepping stones along his political career, and anyone who disagrees with him be damned.

So, voters can't really pretend they didn't know what they would be getting by casting a ballot for Kenney.

And they certainly won't have any excuses if they vote for the UCP again in 2023, which at this point feels like an eternity away.

But Kenney, despite plunging in the polls, probably remains comfortably complacent, safe in the knowledge this province will almost beyond doubt keep voting conservative regardless.

Some UCP supporters who seem to be suffering from buyer's remorse say they didn't vote for much of what the government is doing. But Premier Jason Kenney never hid his disdain for democracy. In fact, he spoke openly prior to being elected about the importance of ramming through legislative changes with such speed that no opposition can mobilize a meaningful effort to object.

1 view0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page