Politics is messy and, depending how much you want to get involved, it can be downright ugly.

Though there are exceptions, Albertans don’t tend to have a lot of bandwidth when it comes to federal politics. Ottawa is thousands of km’s away and our mere 33 seats out of 334 hardly amounts to a hill of beans. Given Canada’s Parliament is riddled with one scandal after another, it’s also exhausting and depressing.  

From the beginning, our place in Confederation has been contentious. In the 1980’s it came to a head and the west wanted out. It was looking like the Alberta separatists of that generation were gaining some significant steam. If something wasn’t done, it was going to get ugly. A few Alberta federalists got together and came up with a plan. Maybe a western based conservative party would help give the west a voice in Parliament. In 1987, the Reform Party of Canada was born with Preston Manning as its leader. Stephen Harper worked hard on the project as well and, in 1993 they won 52 seats. The west was in but it didn’t take long for The Reform Party to have aspirations of winning government. That can’t happen without eastern votes so, in 2000, the name was changed to the Canadian Alliance Party with Stephen Harper at the helm.

Now there were two national conservative parties with seats in the House of Commons, the Canadian Alliance Party and the Progressive Conservative Party. In 2003, ‘unite the right’ negotiations were had and the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) was born with Harper as the Leader. So much for a western block.  

While all of that was going on federally, Ralph Klein became our premier in 1992 and really shook things up. Determined to run the province like a business, he had a mission to get us out of debt and did. Klein was also no slouch when it came to standing up to Ottawa or the anti oil and gas campaigns. Remember in 2002, when environmentalist Stephen Guilbeau trespassed onto the Premiers private property in an attempt to illegally install solar panels? Jerk.

Anyway, back in Ottawa, Calgary’s own Stephen Harper led the CPC to form a minority government in early 2006. The ‘west was in’ again but there was just one problem. A politically strong Alberta is not good for Ottawa. It’s rumored Premier Klien was paid a visit and encouraged to retire. In December of that same year, Ed Stelmach was elected the new leader.

Premier Stelmach didn’t have the same charisma or tenacity Ralph did. Now that Albertans saw what true conservatism could accomplish, we wanted more. But that was going to take someone really ready to stand up to Ottawa. Stelmach tried, but decided to step down as leader and let another take on the challenge. This is also when Danielle Smith was helping to put the Wildrose Party on the map.

From 2011-14 Alison Reford was our Premier. Prior to becoming an MLA, she advised various federal politicians and even worked for the UN at one time. Perhaps it was that experience that caused her to make the mistakes she did. Never before nor since, have we seen a Premier who felt so entitled to have anything and everything she wanted. Her spending scandals are so legendary that if she did actually do anything good for Albertans, nobody remembers.

After resigning in disgrace, Redford stayed on the down low for a while in Palm Springs, and eventually took a job with the World Bank in partnership with Afghanistan.

A former federal politician, Jim Prentice then came out of ‘retirement’ to lead the PC’s, which made him Premier in 2014. His arrogance helped the Wildrose Party gain momentum as the Official Opposition, and those in Ottawa were taking notice. Remember, a politically strong Alberta isn’t good for Ottawa.

With the help of some of his friends, including Preston Manning, Prentice convinced a number of Wildrosers to cross the floor, including their leader, Danielle Smith. Albertans were gob smacked and furious. Adding insult to political injury, before the remaining Wildrosers had a chance to regroup, in May of 2015, Prentice called a snap election. Albertans sent a message via the ballot box. Unfortunately, too many either cast a protest vote for the NDP or simply stayed home in frustration that year. Some say we split the vote and that’s true in some ridings though not all. At the end of the day, we voted the conservatives out which put the Notley NDP’s in.    

A dream come true, the NDP had no idea what to do, so they got to work destroying the province. Five months later, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals formed government and Albertans were catapulted into a politically induced recession. A mass exodus resulted and those remaining began talking about independence and separation louder than ever before. Conservatives in Ottawa were freaking out. While a politically strong Alberta isn’t good for Ottawa, Alberta’s independence from Ottawa would be catastrophic. In their eyes, anyway. The Conservatives, both provincial and federal, needed to come up with a plan.

The front runner for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada at the time was Jason Kenney but, desperate times call for desperate measures. Chosen to take a short hiatus from federal politics, Kenney was sent on a mission to ‘save’ Alberta. He could return to federal politics later, and besides, what better platform could one ask for. In 2017, Kenney won the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives. Taking a page out of the federal conservative playbook from decades prior, ‘unite the right’ talks began. The Wildrose, now led by Brian Jean, joined forces with the PC’s and the United Conservative Party of Alberta was the result. The details of how it all went down aren’t without controversy, including how Kenney won the Leadership. In April, 2019, many Albertans held their nose while voting and Kenney became Premier.   

Six months later, the Trudeau Liberals won the federal election again. Despite having the UCP government, Albertans knew that wasn’t enough and the independence movement exploded. Never before had it been so tangible and this is where it gets a little crazy. Wexit became a household name and before long the Wildrose Independence Party (not to be confused with the original Wildrose party) was gaining momentum across the province. Polls showed support had passed the tipping point, reaching 25% support for the party and even higher than that for independence. Conservative parties, both provincially and federally but mostly federally, were freaking out. This was not how things were supposed to go and Kenney really had his work cut out for him now.

What is the best way to kill a movement? Attack it from within. And that’s what happened. It wouldn’t be long before the Wildrose Independence Party (WIPA) spiraled creating a vacuum. Part of the WIPA diaspora created the Unity Project and then changed its name to the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP). The independence movement and appetite for it continued to grow despite the independence parties gasping for air.  

Kenney continued to make mistake after mistake after mistake and Albertans were not happy with the UCP at all. He had failed his mission. Capitalizing on this emotion, Take Back Alberta showed up to help mobilize Albertans and many came together to bring about change in the UCP leadership. With the Alberta Sovereignty Act in hand, Danielle Smith became our Premier. Singing a few good lines from the Separatist songbook, UCP membership and support was growing and attendance at the next AGM was record breaking.

This was great for Albertans but, remember, a politically strong Alberta isn’t good for Ottawa.

Our Premier stood even stronger and began pushing back harder against Ottawa. Travelling to other countries, she put Alberta on the map including attending COP28. Talk continued about having our own police force and pension and as the months went on even more separatists joined the UCP, including yours truly.

Maybe because the acronym was the same, I’m not sure, but the Alberta Prosperity Project narrowed its focus to sharing the advantages of having an Alberta Pension Plan and started touring the province to educate the people. Take Back Alberta has had a few ups and downs but now encourages Albertans to concentrate on Municipal and School Board elections. Give credit where it’s due. These political organizations have managed a great accomplishment. Albertans are paying attention, getting involved, and more are acknowledging Confederation isn’t what it seems.

As we’ve seen, every time Albertans mobilize to do something that is good for us, forces come in to sabotage. Trojan horses and wolves in sheep’s clothing are the tried-and-true method. The horses are usually Albertans with ties to Ottawa. Prentice, Manning, Harper, and Kenney are all examples. The wolves are usually Albertans who infiltrate the various grassroots political movements after being promised some pie in the sky reward.  

Looking back to when Danielle Smith was leader of the Wildrose Party in 2014, the conservative movement was strong and the next provincial election was hers to win. However, Premier Prentice and Preston Manning, both federalists, talked her into a terrible decision that put Albertans and Alberta into a tailspin. Was that tailspin on purpose? I think so.

Fast forward to today with Smith as Premier, Alberta has been doing pretty darn good and feeling rather scrappy toward Ottawa. We should have known an attack was coming but instead let our guard down.

While at an event recently, our Premier ran into Preston Manning and Stephen Harper. Very shortly after, out of nowhere, former Premier Alison Redford is handed a board position. Albertans have long memories. We have forgiven Danielle. We have not forgiven Alison. This wasn’t a good move.

Almost to the day of this announcement, also out of nowhere, the 1905 Committee appears. Renaming one of Wexit Alberta’s old Facebook pages to help get its message out, part of that message is questioning our Premier’s decisions and track record.

Is this a coincidence? Whether it is or it isn’t, there’s no denying it follows the pattern. Alberta starts doing well (this time really well), conservatives in Ottawa get nervous, and suddenly there’s mayhem. It’s hard not to wonder who is bankrolling these various ‘grassroots’ political organizations that tend to fizzle out once the Alberta dust up settles.

Now that we’ve identified the problem, how do we solve it? Albertans clearly have no appetite to simply fall back in line with whatever the federal conservative party wants us to do. Blowing up a provincial party over a leaders’ bad decisions won’t get us anywhere. So, now what? We go with what we know works.  

If the Premier of Alberta isn’t doing his/her job, then either that leader needs to either get back to the business of doing what’s right for Albertans despite any and all opposition from Ottawa, or, we need to identify someone else who will. That’s the first thing. The second is, we do what we have always done when there’s a need or a crisis. We come together. So what if a politically strong Alberta isn’t good for Ottawa. That’s their problem. What we can’t do is allow trojan horses or wolves in sheep’s clothing to divide us again. Instead, let’s use this time to unite and make Alberta so politically strong, Ottawa can do nothing about it.  

Hope to see you at the AGM.               

These last few years have done much to garner peoples’ attention on several topics, not the least of which is politics. Trust in the federal government is at an all-time low and, provincially, depending which province one lives in, it’s the same. Thankfully, Albertans have fairly solid representation with our provincial government, freeing us to focus on other matters. Municipal politics and the activities therein are getting noticed and, in a lot of cases, what we are seeing is not good.

When we elect a Mayor and Council, there is an expectation that we can trust them to make proper decisions for our communities. Every municipality has a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) hired by Council who oversees and manages all the operations of that municipality. It is a very powerful position, not to mention lucrative. Even small municipalities often pay their CAO’s multiple six-figure salaries.

One of the many duties of these appointed bureaucrats have is to work with heads of the various departments and come up with Area Concept, Structure, and Development Plans. Outside consultants are very often brought in to help create them. Those plans are then presented to Council for review, discussion, and to be voted upon. Sometime later, the CAO and his/her administration go back to Council asking them to pass Land Use Bylaws to facilitate those plans. This all sounds well and good until it isn’t, which is what many municipalities are experiencing now. Additionally, municipal departments come to Council seeking funding to cover their budgets without a lot of transparency as to where all that money is going.

We have over 300 municipalities in Alberta and, thank goodness, not every municipality is being run poorly or inefficiently. However, if your property taxes continue to climb (looking at you, Edmonton), and debatable decisions are being made while questions are left unanswered (looking at you, Edmonton, Calgary, and others), that is not good.

There are currently a number of municipalities in our province being investigated and/or potentially audited for various reasons. We have also seen recall petitions circulated. We also found out the legislation around recall is severely lacking and will, therefore, be revisited. The political problems municipally can be overwhelming making it hard to know what to do or where to start.      

It used to be that holding public office was an honor. When the people put their trust in you, it should not be taken lightly. It also used to be that those who worked for the government were called ‘civil servants’. Their job was to serve the community within their government role or position. Yet, in a very short period of time, government ballooned into a system of departments, bureaucrats, and unions, insulating everyone within from outside scrutiny. While the tendency is to blame ‘the system’, it is the people within the system creating the problems.

What really makes this sting is that the people creating the problems, while wasting stupid amounts of ‘government money’ on projects, are the same people sitting in the bleachers beside us at community events on Saturday and sharing a pew with us at church on Sunday. We run into them at the grocery store and local coffee shops. They are our neighbors, family members, and friends.

So, what’s the solution?

Just about every piece of information you could ever want or need about your municipality can be found on its website. Take some time to click around and learn about what plans your CAO and municipal administration have come up with. Learn which councilors voted for and against the various motions. Find out what is going on in your community, what decisions are being made, and why. And don’t stop asking questions of your elected officials. Email, call, go to public hearings.

Too many of us, myself included, sat back for far too long and let ‘others’ do what we should have been doing. Now, in many cases, things have gone off the rails. The good news is there is no problem that can’t be fixed through civil civic engagement. We have already seen this in action in several of our municipalities. The people spoke, Mayor and Council were forced to listen, changes were made.

Letting outside consultants use unelected bureaucrats to determine the future direction of our municipalities isn’t good. Watching our elected officials vote upon and decide our future is excruciating. We need to take that power back by coming together to create the communities we know we need and want. A future with our local interests at heart rather than aligning with the schemes and plans of three letter agencies who couldn’t find our communities on a map.

If you breath and pay taxes, politics affects you. We all do both, so we are all affected. It can be very frustrating, there is no getting around that. Nevertheless, we have an obligation to protect and secure our future politically.

There is an art to civil civic engagement. As we continue networking with each other, creating municipal allies across the province, change will happen. It will take time and effort, but Albertans are worth it. We may even make some surprising connections and friendships along the way. I know I have and am better for it!