Alberta's House Leader and minister of environment and parks, Jason Nixon, has finally openly admitted what we've all known too well since his government won the 2019 provincial election.
The UCP is a "private club."
"We should not be getting involved in managing the affairs of private clubs, which is what a political party is," he told reporters during a press conference in response to concerns that a new bill will allow parties to buy memberships for people without their permission.
In his own words, Nixon apparently unironically described political parties as private clubs, not to be confused with public institutions, and therefore should not be made to suffer the indignity of government interference.
There's a lot the minister expects us to unquestioningly ignore in that egregiously misleading and oversimplified statement.
Let's roll with and entertain this flawed assertion a little further, shall we?
Declaring that political parties, which literally exist only to take power in the seat of government's legislative and executive branches, should not be interfered with by the public institutions they're trying to take and hold control of, is arguably an open admission that the UCP wants only to run the government like its very own private club.
Finally, words that actually align with the party's actions.
See no further than the Sky Palace 2.0 COVID edition, and the recent unsurprising revelations about disgracefully uncouth and booze-filled, behind closed doors good ol' boys behaviour.
If a political party is a private club, what does that mean when it is elected to run the government and bestowed the power to define public policy?
Does the party take with it that entitled attitude of "we're a private club" when supposedly pledging to act for the greater public good before proceeding to act in self-interest and intending to reward only loyalists and yes-men, while disdainfully disregarding basically anyone else, especially those who disagree?
Because that doesn't sound as though it would be in the public's best interest. The best interests of the party, to be sure. But certainly not the average person.
And yet just when one might think the minister couldn't possibly with very deliberate intent actually articulate out loud an even more profoundly clumsy metaphor, he still finds a way to surprise!
"What would we do next? Start to interfere with the membership process of cross-country ski groups, or the local fish and game club or the local church? Of course not,” he said without a hint of irony.
I'm not quite sure what's more bewildering.
This woefully inadequate excuse for indefensibly underhanded anti-democratic tactics, or the fact he apparently actually expects anyone but the most ardent elements of the base to buy it?
Surely the esteemed minister who clearly values integrity, transparency and honesty recognizes full well that cross-country ski groups, local fish and game clubs and other volunteer organizations aren't vying for control of the government's budget to live large on at the taxpayer's expense?
It's worth repeating that the sole purpose of a political party is to secure the position of power to heavily influence if not outright dominate public policy-making, including control of the budget, which by extension affects the lives of millions.
So, yeah.
It shouldn't be deemed unreasonable to expect at least a shred of accountability and transparency for "private clubs" that want to control public policy, or at the very least influence it heavily.
Some people are already wondering how they can determine if their name was used to buy a party membership on their behalf without their knowledge or consent.
Checking the party's online membership lookup service, one needs to provide a postal code and membership number, which might be hard to do for someone who isn't even sure whether they've become unwitting party members.
Alternatively, one might try contacting the UCP and simply asking to verify one's membership status. According to the party website, general inquiries can be directed to 1-888-465-2660 or emailed at info@unitedconservative.ca.
Mr. Nixon, and probably the whole party save perhaps the three dissenters for that matter, needs to be reminded that while the UCP is indeed a private club, they are also vying to maintain their grip on power to dominate public policy, with little to no regard or patience for any opposition or meaningful debate.
And that as such, political parties should be expected to face more scrutiny than volunteer organizations that want only to help their communities and not just land some cushy publicly-funded position that comes complete with the best benefits and golden parachute.
The comparison between a cross-country ski group and a political party is frankly insulting, albeit admittedly not particularly surprising.
But at least now we know what many have suspected since the unscrupulous Kamikaze campaign that burned Brian Jean during the UCP's leadership race.
The UCP first and foremost considers itself a private club.
Everything else, is secondary.