| Did you know that a Calgary MP was once hired by a U.S. Republican running for the Oklahoma Senate to publicly heckle his opponent? The hired heckler was so enthusiastic he even made a fool of himself and donned a Pinocchio nose. Three years later, he ran for the Reform Party in Calgary West and won handily.
Rob Anders has been representing that constituency ever since and is running again for re-election. But the juvenile, bully-boy antics are still his stock in trade. He was the only MP to rally behind Fox News – otherwise known as Bully-TV – when it sought CRTC approval for unfiltered broadcast in Canada. He was the only MP to vote against granting Nelson Mandela – whom he called a "politically correct left lib poster-boy" – honorary Canadian citizenship. The list goes on and on. If there was ever a candidate in Calgary who proves that a sack of potatoes could run for the Conservatives and win, it’s Anders.
No doubt his own party wouldn’t even wince if he was defeated. He’s publicly insulted everyone from Ron Ghitter to Ralph Klein and once ridiculed a fellow Conservative who opposed him for the party nomination as the candidate of "feminist lawyers." But this is Calgary, and most voters will enter the voting booth, look for the Conservative tag line and mark an X – all in the name of not voting Liberal, or getting those bastards in Ottawa who never listen to us.
But shouldn’t someone like Anders be held accountable at election time? Does he really deserve to ride in on a wave of blind loyalty to the party? Chances are he will, but not without a fight from one of the best political scrappers around – Jennifer Pollock. The Liberals are lying low in all the other Calgary constituencies, resigned to their fate. Last time around, Paul Martin was shiny and new; this time, he looks more than a little shopworn. But in Calgary West, the Liberals are taking on Anders in grand style. It’s not so much a pro-Liberal campaign as an anti-Anders campaign. In fact, if Pollock were to be elected, it’s hard to imagine that she would simply sit quietly in the Liberal backbench and toe the line. It’s not her style. Never has been. Think Carolyn Parrish or Svend Robinson (before he stole the ring) or Deb Gray. "It doesn’t occur to me to seek permission," she told me during an interview.
In the 1990s, when she was a public school trustee, and at one point chair of the school board, Pollock offended all of Calgary’s cosy conventions and actually got political. Instead of meekly accepting the Klein government’s funding cuts to education, she fought them. She railed against the government’s move to curtail citizens’ rights by neutering elected school boards. In the end, the school board became so fractious the education minister stepped in and fired all the trustees. Another blow to grassroots democracy. Not surprisingly, the political elites in Calgary, particularly The Calgary Herald, thought this was a good thing. The newspaper even hired Pollock’s political polar opposite from the disbanded board – Danielle Smith – to pen editorials. Power pushed hard, but Pollock stood her ground. Not an easy thing to do. Then she went to law school and was admitted to the bar last year.
Pollock’s not taking on Anders by herself. Former police chief Christine Silverberg personally nominated Pollock. Liberal veteran and general political busybody Donn Lovett is her campaign co-chair. Lovett’s racked up some winners in the past, including Dave Taylor, who beat out former Tory MLA Jon Lord in the last provincial election. He was also instrumental in the campaign that resulted in the surprise election of Joe Clark in Calgary Centre a few years back. Jon Lovink, PR whiz and former CBC executive producer, is the Pollock campaign’s other co-chair. There are plans for whacky websites and e-mail jokes about Anders, as well as the usual door-to-door jig in search of votes.
Calgary West includes the University of Calgary, Foothills Hospital and the research park. It’s full of well-educated, financially comfortable voters. Pollock lives just outside the riding, but knows the north end well since she was elected to the school board from wards in that area. "That’s why I know Rob Anders doesn’t represent the citizens and their values, their democratic style," she says. "I know the people in the area, I’ve worked with so many of them." She knows many of the people at the south end through her work with her son’s hockey league.
In any other city, Anders would have a much tougher time of it. Who could bring themselves to vote for someone who conducts national mail-outs in order to find out what people think of "homosexual sex marriage?" What is that? Or someone who helps organize a fundraising event in which participants pay to fire Uzis, pistols and shotguns at the Liberal logo. "I’m giddy, I am excited about being able to have a fundraiser down at a shooting range like that," he said at the time. Oh please. Grow up. But that’s just wishful thinking – Anders will likely never grow up.
But there is still hope for the voters of Calgary West. They could take a chance, take a stand and demand more. After all, the rest of the city, the rest of the province, will go blue. We may even end up with a Tory minority government. Surely the time is ripe to dump Anders and restore some dignity to Calgary West. |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.