EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says he “can’t wait” for the results of his leadership vote, which he is confident he will win, and urges all parties to the internal party dispute in the meantime to stop their public attacks.
Kenney also reiterated that if he wins the May 18 review and remains leader, dissenting caucus members will have to stand up to dissenting members who fail to line up and support him and his United Conservative party.
“I can’t wait for us to finally put this behind us on May 18 with the leadership review vote,” Kenney said Saturday on his province-wide radio show.
“I would ask everyone, regardless of their views on the future of the party, to try to keep it in, stay focused and let the members decide and then we’ll go one way or the other.”
Kenney said he is hearing from members who want the PCU to “act together.”
Kenney needs at least a 50 percent plus one majority to remain the leader on the vote or a leadership race must be called.
Nearly 60,000 party members are receiving ballots that must be mailed in by May 11, with results to be announced May 18.
Kenney said this week that he has probably been too tolerant of public dissent from caucus members and once again suggested that if he wins there will be a reckoning.
“I am hopeful and confident that I will get an endorsement,” Kenney said Saturday.
“And I will read it as an endorsement of unity, discipline (and) moving forward into the future focused on the key priorities of Albertans, not internal party politics.
“I hope that all our colleagues in the caucus will respect the democratic decision of the members.
“Our caucus has shown in the past that there is a limit to our willingness to accept constant attacks on government, equipment and confidentiality.
“You cannot operate as a government without at least a basic level of professionalism, discipline and unity.”
Kenney has faced pushback from some caucus members for more than a year.
He has been criticized for his decisions on COVID-19 and for running what they call a deaf top-down administration with little regard for grassroots input. Kenney’s position has not been helped by low popularity and fundraising figures.
That criticism has been mostly muted, limited to public Facebook posts and attacks that didn’t specifically mention Kenney.
Exceptions include Rep. Todd Loewen, who called for Kenney’s resignation a year ago and was immediately expelled from the caucus. Kenney critic Drew Barnes was also kicked out at the same time.
In recent weeks, as Kenney’s leadership review saw the rules changed at the last minute from an in-person vote to a vote by mail, the criticism has become more vocal and sharp.
Backbenchers Peter Guthrie and Jason Stephan have called for Kenney to resign. Guthrie has dismissed Kenney’s truck-driving persona as a cruel gimmick to voters.
Stephan told the camera this week, without naming Kenney, that the unit is not about following the leader off a cliff.
Leela Aheer, fired from cabinet last year after criticizing Kenney, says UCP’s name has been tainted by corruption.
Vice President Angela Pitt has characterized the government as a closed circle of decision-makers who despise dissenting voices.
MP Richard Gotfried has said the government has stopped listening and is not focused on what is best for Albertans.
Brian Jean, who recently won a UCP by-election on a promise to try to oust Kenney, said it says a lot that Kenney is presenting himself as the unit’s best hope while his affairs manager simultaneously attacks the elected members of the Kenney caucus.
Jean was referring to Kenney’s problem manager, Bryan Rogers, who derided critics of Kenney as clowns on Twitter on Friday while employing an image of grease-painted circus performers from the television show “The Simpsons.”
Kenney himself, in a leaked audio recording, called his critics “lunatics” and “nuts” and compared them to insects attracted by the bright light of their party’s success.
The leader of her government house, Jason Nixon, has painted Jean as a supporter of the opposition NDP.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on April 23, 2022.
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