Ford: Smith’s Policies Are Renowned Relics Of Alberta’s Legacy Of Western Resentment

.

By the end of the week, Albertans will know if they are facing the future or ready to relive the past.

.

The time in the past will depend on which UCP candidate wins the party’s vote.

.

The ranked-choice voting system used by the UCP seems ultimately fair, but offers banality if there is no clear winner on the first count. (Think of such forgettable premieres as Harry Strom and Ed Stelmach.)

Nothing I say or write now will alter the decision made by members of the United Conservative Party. Most of the votes are inside, although there will be voting in person tomorrow. At the end of the day, Danielle Smith will find herself either the prime minister of Alberta or a former politician whose fatal mistake was believing that the people of this province don’t remember the past.

That his politics seem a little crazy is because most of us don’t understand libertarianism beyond the simplified notion that it stands for freedom of choice and freedom from unspecified government intervention in our lives. Smith is a true blue libertarian.

.

His so-called Law of Sovereignty is nothing new. It just has a new title and audience. What else was the 2001 Firewall Charter? It was written and signed by Stephen Harper, who would become Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015. It was sent to then-Prime Minister Ralph Klein and proposed to “protect” Alberta from “intrusions” by the federal government.

There were seven signatures on the letter, including three professors from the University of Calgary. They would have built a metaphorical firewall over the province. We would have become Fortress Alberta, Canadian in name but not in influence, intent or interest. For all intents and purposes, we would be wedged between California and Colorado, with American influence, but not really.

.

There is little to suggest that Brian Jean, if he emerges as the new prime minister, would be more conciliatory than Smith in his attitude toward Ottawa.

I conjecture all this, but if we do not remember the past we are condemned to relive it, paraphrasing the Spanish philosopher George Santayana.

That past has a shiny new face that masks old and worn problems born of Western resentment and rooted in the social conservatism of Social Credit.

Smith has no history of living and working outside the comfort of Canada, no education beyond the University of Calgary and its cozy Calgary School, which promoted a kind of Republican politics. It was libertarianism without social justice, a form of populism that would see issues decided by referendum, with the loudest and most vocal citizens setting the agenda for everyone. Sounds good, but that’s actually why we have elections, so governments can do their jobs and citizens can do theirs.

.

In Alberta, it’s a way of thinking that was shaped by the rise of Social Credit and its anger against eastern interests.

Full disclosure: I worked with Smith and she is everything her fans give her credit for. She is smart, personable, articulate, and passionate about her beliefs. Never underestimate her. But never forget that she represents old Alberta under a new banner.

The roots of such discontent lie in rural areas that continue to distrust big cities and big government, even as they benefit from the facilities and services that thrive in modern cities, even as most of our population lives and works in an urban setting.

Listening to hard-line conservatives talk about freedom and rights and getting government out of our lives sounds appealing. That is until one realizes that not all of us are strong enough, earn enough money, have powerful and influential friends, and can adequately provide for our own retirement.

.

The test of a civilized society is not how it treats the “deserving”; a civilized society cares for the last of its citizens, those who are not worthy of our charity, but who are entitled to the umbrella of care. To do that, we need governments and their social safety net.

We don’t do it for them, we do it for ourselves. Those who believe in the Bible can reread the Parable of the Talents: to whom much is given, much is expected. That is the kind of government we deserve.

This is the government that I expect, not the government of resentment and rebellion.

Catherine Ford is a regular columnist for the Calgary Herald.