| Premier Ralph Klein’s firmed-up departure date of October 2007 looks like yet another ploy to stave off a public revolt among the party faithful – a desperate attempt to keep everyone on board until the end of the month and the upcoming leadership review.
And indeed, it might stave off public humiliation for Ralph and provide him with job security for the next 18 months. But what about the party? What sort of damage will it inflict on itself if a majority of delegates endorse the rogue premier and leave him in control of a very wealthy government for what could be a very long year and a half?
Thanks to Ralph’s longstanding mission to dismantle medicare, Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives are already seen by many as the party that would take us back to the days when only those who could pay were entitled to receive the treatments they needed. Former premier Ernest Manning bequeathed the same legacy to the Social Credit Party. He not only fought tooth and nail to keep medicare out of Alberta, he was determined that no one else in Canada should have it either, so he undertook a national campaign to stop it. It was only when he retired and got out of the way that Alberta entered into the federal-provincial arrangements that had created a national public health insurance plan. Of course, the Social Credit Party pretty much disappeared along with Manning. Within three years of his departure, Peter Lougheed’s upstart Conservatives controlled the government. It doesn’t pay to mess with medicare.
But for the last decade or so, the Alberta PC party has been Ralph’s party, which means it’s now stuck with his legacy: the mean-spiritedness that left the disabled and the unemployable without sufficient means to live with dignity; the unnecessary and botched deregulation of utilities; the ugly and destructive industrialization of rural and wilderness areas; and the gutting of our public school system and universities.
Of course, those loyal to the party always point to the elimination of the debt as Ralph’s crowning achievement. The problem is, while Ralph knew how to cut and slash budgets, he apparently has no idea how to use money wisely. He’s like the guy who scrimps on rent and food for the family and then pumps the money he saved into VLTs.
But the worst legacy the party, and all those who aspire to replace Ralph, will have to deal with is the way party bigwigs and Tory MLAs toed the line rather than risk challenging Ralph publicly when he was at his worst. Not only did they conform, but they went out of their way to provide inane rationalizations and excuses for completely unacceptable behaviour.
Remember when, for example, his chief of staff, Peter Elzinga, insisted that Ralph wasn’t drunk when he made his infamous visit to the homeless shelter in Edmonton? He simply passed out $70 to people in need, said the former deputy premier, cabinet minister and PC party president.
Earlier this month, Ralph had a tantrum in the Legislature and hurled a bound document that he didn’t want to read (the Liberal’s health care policy) at a young page. Dave Hancock, minister of advanced education and a likely contender for the party leadership, said Ralph was just expressing his frustration. Hancock was once our minister of justice, so you’d think he’d be less inclined to make excuses for abusive behaviour. But apparently, allegiance to Ralph is more important than standing up for the people he bullies.
Ralph’s latest attempt to dismantle medicare, the so-called Third Way, is as incoherent as it is dishonest. Ralph and his minions have yet to provide sound reasons for the drastic changes they are proposing. Their public consultation strategy is a farce. The sales job they inflict on Albertans (at our expense) is full of fibs and distortions. And yet not one Tory MLA has publicly protested, or even winced. They are like lemmings that would take us over the cliff with them.
Most of the leadership candidates think the Third Way is a great idea, too. Jim Dinning, the front-runner, is already touting his version of Ralph’s reforms, as is Ted Morton. Only Mark Norris, former minister of economic development, has publicly questioned Ralph’s health care agenda. He even suggested that the government slow down and clearly explain the plan to Albertans before they ram it through the Legislature. Norris lives in Edmonton and was defeated in the last election – perhaps that explains his reluctance to rubber stamp Ralph’s latest edict.
The Alberta PCs love to criticize the federal Liberals. And yet when some of those Liberals thought former prime minister Jean Chrétien had been in power too long, they weren’t afraid to say so publicly. When some Liberal backbenchers disagreed with their party’s stand on same-sex marriage, they stood by their principles and spoke out. But in Alberta, allegiance to Ralph and the party trumps everything: the party must stay in control of the levers of power at all costs. But even the Alberta PCs can’t rule forever. And given Ralph’s latest ploy, the end is likely to arrive sooner rather than later. |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.