Women of ABpoli Hot Flashes - Bumbles be
This Week in AB
It's official - the five and a half week leadership review has begun
UCP leader Jason Kenney gave himself many fist bumps in his opening address for the Special General Meeting on April 9 that marks the official start of his leadership review.
Ostensibly, every registered member of the UCP will receive a ballot where they will be asked to answer a simple "yes or no" question: Do you approve of the current leader?"
The Party claims to have around 58,000 members - remarkably similar to how many votes were cast* in the UCP's 2017 leadership race (58,232). *Astute readers may notice my particular phrasing; until the RCMP investigation is complete, I won't suggest that number is synonymous with "members who voted".
During his speech, Kenney made yet another plea for "unity", which apparently means accepting awful leadership as the price of being a team player. It could work, but I am losing confidence that it actually will.
Yes, he set the bar low - the bare minimum required to maintain his leadership is 50 per cent plus one - but Jason Kenney has been tripping over that bar since he was elected.
Back when he was doing his "unity tour" in 2016-17 (and the reason I started showing up to the events) the overviews in the news were optimistic. People applauded, people cheered, there were standing ovations. I always felt like I was missing something after reading the public accounts.
Attending those events, including the final Progressive Conservative convention in 2017, what I heard most often was that people supported the plan to kill the PC and Wildrose parties and force voters to support the only option left.
He's proven that his plan works and now those who went along for the ride finally have the opportunity to unhitch their wagon from an unpopular person they didn't really want in the first place.
Team "Hold-Your-Nose"
“A veritable Who’s Who of Who? https://t.co/xDMS5skO68”
When the friends of Conservative governments were creating the bait-and-switch in 2016 (as noted in last week's newsletter) Kenney managed to get 50 endorsements from current and former MLAs - this week, he was offered support from 19.
Of the 19, only eight appear on the original endorsement - three of whom are registered lobbyists - another three are board members, two are former Wildrose MLAs who crossed the floor to the PCs in 2014, and not one of the 19 has been a sitting MLA since 2015.
Kenney, of course, leads Team Hold-Your-Nose and says that a leadership race will only lead to division.
He's not wrong.
It's the price he'll have to pay for scamming people with very different values and priorities into voting for a party led by a guy who didn't embody any of them.
Speaking of division...
Last week Kenney was slamming green energy, this week it's "the laptop class".
I know conservatives are generally traditionalists who come around to forward thinking about thirty years after ideas were "novel" but Albertans can't afford to dig their heels in anymore.
The latest statscan job numbers brought the nation to its lowest unemployment level since they started keeping track - with the exception of Alberta.
High oil prices continue to mask Alberta's "recovery" but some of those energy jobs may be on the horizon once again. After losing some 40,000 oilfield jobs during the 2014-15 oil glut, most of those jobs have not returned (because the jobs are linked to expansion, not production).
Suncor announced this week they are divesting from exploration in Norway and the U.K., as well as Canadian wind and solar in favour of hydrogen and biofuels. That investment could help close some of the gap in lost energy jobs but it's still likely that many long-term jobs will belong to those in the "laptop class" because the future was here more than a decade ago.
AHS CEO Dr. Verna Yiu removed as 6th wave rises
Her contract was renewed for two years in 2021 and while the powers that be tried to make it seem like Dr. Yiu's "departure" was no big deal, the press releases were yet to be written before word hit the street.
Dr. Yiu is being temporarily replaced by Mauro Chies, former Chair of Alberta Public Labs who oversaw the transition to private lab services*.
*an earlier version incorrectly stated Dr. Yiu's replacement was a UCP donor; the Chair and some members of the AHS board were listed as UCP members in 2017. Apologies.
COVID, still
Alberta's "living with COVID" is in full swing. Hospitalizations were up by almost 30 to 990, and 30 more Albertans died. Positivity rates for those who can still get tested is increasing, and COVID levels in wastewater sampling continue to rise.
Legal stuff getting its own section because: UCP
Only in Alberta?
“Ok, now things are getting serious in Alberta.
Albertans know the UCP is not interested in dealing with organizations that represent Alberta professionals in the public service. We saw it with the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), and apparently, Kenney's inner circle has treated the Alberta Crown Attorney's Association (ACAA) with the same disdain.
As a sidebar (pun intended) perhaps Kaycee Madu wasn't removed for shady attempts to interfere with the administration of justice but because his replacement, Tyler Shandro, is the Alberta Ripper (of contracts). It certainly makes more sense than Jason Kenney acknowledging his Cabinet's grotesque level of entitlement.
In a letter to Jason Kenney on April 6, the ACAA said that its members were considering taking "drastic steps".
"We have been rebuffed by everyone else we approached in government with authority over our working conditions," the letter states.
"Your government's neglect has forced us to consider job action."
Already then.
Old news becomes new news when politicians show up
“The Anny Sauvageau civil trial has just screeched to a halt.
Now she's afraid to continue testifying.
The judge calls it "unprecedented"...#CBC #yeg @QB_Alberta”
Former Alberta Medical Examiner Dr. Anny Sauvageau is suing the Alberta government for $7.6 million for wrongful dismissal. Dr. Sauvageau was the province's medical examiner from 2011 until she was notified in 2014 that her contract was not being renewed in 2015.
Jonathan Denis was the Justice Minister from May 2012 until he resigned in April 2015 due to a personal matter that involved the courts.
Denis, as Justice Minister, was originally named as a defendant in Dr. Sauvageau's statement of claim but was removed after Denis withdrew his name during the 2015 election.
A lawyer for Denis claimed in a letter to Dr. Sauvageu's lawyer that Dr. Sauvageau "has engaged in a seven-year campaign of defamation and harassment as against Mr. Denis" and that "(Denis and his representation) have been closely watching Dr. Sauvageau's current trial and are aware that … Dr. Sauvageau's defamation of Mr. Denis has continued unabated," according to the CBC.
"Mr. Denis is a respected and renowned lawyer and business person and will not tolerate these tortious actions against him. These actions must forthwith cease and we reserve the right to refer to this correspondence should Dr. Sauvageau's defamation continue."
I'm no lawyer, but I do understand what "unprecedented" means - it hasn't happened before.
University of Alberta law professor Steven Penney agreed with Justice Sulyma's appraisal of the situation.
"If you are a witness in a civil or a criminal trial, you cannot be sued on the basis of anything you say under oath in court," he told CBC News.
"There are no exceptions. It's existed in the law for at least 100 to 150 years. And it's something that should be known by all lawyers as being a very clear rule."
Justice Sulyma has requested an appearance by Denis on Monday, April 11.
“It’s stunning and not in a good way.
People are saying...
Every two years, the Alberta Ministry of Justice gives out Queen's Counsel recognition (QC) to lawyers.
Eligible lawyers apply for the QC recognition and a committee, chaired by the Law Society of Alberta (and includes representatives from the Canadian Bar Association and department/ministry staff), compiles a list of "highly recommended" individuals and submits it to the Justice Minister - Tyler Shandro.
The Minister can add names to the list.
The NDP had paused QC appointments to review the process as there had been allegations of "political patronage".
The UCP resumed the process after being elected and Calgary-Elbow MLA Doug Schweitzer, Calgary-Acadia MLA Tyler Shandro, and Edmonton-South West MLA Kaycee Madu were beneficiaries in 2020.
Another way that lawyers in Alberta make the grade for QC appointments is when they are elected to the professional governing authority, the Law Society of Alberta (and referred to as "Benchers"), as one 2022 nominee, Moira Vane, was, but she was not chosen to receive the designation.
Vane, who is a veteran prosecutor, ran for the NDP in 2019 and was also a Special Legal Advisor to Minister of Justice Kathleen Ganley.
Canada
Federal budget 2022
The Liberals tabled Budget 2022 on April 7 to some raves and rakings.
In the government's own report, it was acknowledged that the budget helped men more than women.
Olsen Biggs' Sarah Biggs and economist and journalist Erica Ifill got together on Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen on Friday, April 8 to hash out some particulars.
CPC leadership taking some turns
Latching onto the freedom convoy was a brilliant strategy for Pierre Poilievre, at least it was brilliant enough to fill every room so far during his leadership campaign stops.
Do you know who else drew hundreds of people to a one hour speech? Derek Sloan, when he announced his bid for the Banff-Airdrie seat in 2021. Sloan challenged CPC incumbent Blake Richards, earning 2,000 votes to Richards' 43,000.
The crowd looks good on camera but what matters is having enough concentrated votes to actually get elected.
While around 46 per cent of Canadians said they "sympathized" with the convoy protesters, 66 per cent supported the use of the Emergencies Act to clear them out.
Rival contender Jean Charest chose to seek support from the majority instead and called Poilievre out for his support, saying the law is not "a buffet" from which we can pick and choose. His comments garnered condemnation from a few Alberta conservatives for repeating "liberal" attacks.
May I just point out that "law and order Liberals" hasn't really caught on yet - the more well-known descriptor is "law and order Conservatives".
Final thoughts