Braid: Two-party leadership hopefuls are coming to Stampede

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Welcome to the Calgary Stampede all visitors, including the two busloads of politicians seeking to win party leadership.

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On Saturday night, all of the remaining federal Conservative leadership candidates will be on display at Heritage Park, for the Calgary Conservative Stampede BBQ.

Several aspiring provincial leaders from the UCP will also appear. More than 1,000 people are expected, at $165 a ticket.

Patrick Brown, now deposed from the federal race under vague circumstances, will not attend. But speakers include Pierre Poilievre, Jean Charest, Scott Aitchison, Leslyn Lewis and Roman Baber.

Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ontario, was ousted for an alleged financing offense with no details given and thus no way to defend himself.

In some corners, this is considered a setup to clear the way for a head-to-head battle between Charest and Poilievre. There is also talk of expurgating the feared progressivism.

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It is well known that Brown was selling a lot of memberships in ethnic communities. It was unlikely that he would win, but he was not insignificant either.

The federal and provincial parties have ejection seats, but they work differently.

While Brown was not given any details about his expulsion, Raj Sherman, the Edmonton ER doctor, heard first hand that he cannot run for UCP because he made a donation to the rival Alberta Party.

Sherman also hit the UCP, but it doesn’t matter. He had been leader of the Alberta Liberals after serving as a PC MLA, another poisonous point in an application.

But Charest was the leader of an actual Liberal government in Quebec, after serving as Canada’s deputy prime minister as a Progressive Conservative. The Fed Conservatives are fine with him, at least so far.

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Candidates who come to Alberta always try to excite Albertans without breaking the bank elsewhere. In that sense, it is said that Charest could have something dramatic to say about channeling and equalization.

A big question for all of them is whether, as federal politicians, they would support provincial leader hopeful Danielle Smith’s proposal to strike down federal laws that do not fit Alberta’s UCP.

Next Monday, the annual Premier’s Stampede breakfast at the McDougall Center will draw a crowd of provincial candidates.

Smith intends to be there. Also Leela Aheer, Brian Jean, Todd Loewen, Rajan Sawhney, Rebecca Schulz and Travis Toews.

It’s not known if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will show up in Calgary during the Stampede, but details of visits are usually held back until fairly late for security reasons.

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However, the federal government sent an offering: $10 million to help Stampede recover from the pandemic.

Last year saw an $8.3 million operating loss in the bizarre Stampede held just after Prime Minister Jason Kenney declared Alberta “Open for Summer.” That was right before another massive COVID outbreak.

The main federal liberal presence could be Calgary Skyview MP George Chahal, who has breakfast on Sundays from 8 to 11 am at the Genesis Center.

At provincial and federal rides throughout the city, most MLAs and MPs will hold their own Stampede events.

They will be conservative issues with just four exceptions: Chahal and Calgary’s three provincial New Democrats: Joe Ceci, Kathleen Ganley and Irfan Sabir.

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NDP Leader Rachel Notley will be in Calgary on Thursday and Friday, and again Monday through Thursday for NDP barbecues and community events.

Surely she hopes that in July 2023 she will host the McDougall breakfast again.

Kenney will host for the last time as prime minister, surrounded by people who love his job and federal colleagues from the world he used to inhabit.

With its long lines of Calgarians waiting for free pancakes, breakfast is usually a relaxed gathering with plenty of political talk. This time the pancakes come with a lot at stake.

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald.

Twitter: @DonBraid