“I’m not leaving the mayor’s job and I won’t leave the mayor’s job even if I become the leader.”
– Nolan Crouse
Well, St. Albert’s most guarded secret is out. Our mayor is throwing his hat into the ring to run for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party. And as expected all of the pundits are coming out throwing roadblocks in his path.
Sure he could resign and spend all of his time on this endeavour but let’s get real – the party leadership at this stage is a volunteer position, and the Liberals have only one MLA, Dr. David Swann, who is also serving as interim party leader. Surely, if Swann can hold down two jobs and sit on several legislative committees, Crouse can as well. There is also the question of how much is there for a single MLA party to do at this stage, two years before an election. Granted, there will be a ton of work to do once a new leader is chosen in building the Liberal party up to fight the next election in 2019.
Of course there is always the issue of conflict of interest. Yes, there could be potential conflicts with regard to fundraising, but Crouse will have a team behind him with a proper fund-raising committee that will presumably be at arm’s length. Even if he does win the party leadership, how much influence does a party leader with one sitting MLA in the legislature really have?
Let’s face it: anyone that wants to get ahead in this world cannot isolate himself or herself in a single endeavour. Most of today’s leaders have held several positions, both volunteer and paid, which serve to broaden their outlook and prepare them for political or other leadership opportunities.
Nolan has shown throughout his tenure on council and as mayor, that he is hard working and does not leave matters unattended. He is obviously well respected in the capital region through his service as chair of the Capital Region Board. Unless a big name candidate comes forth he has a good chance of winning the leadership race and could potentially be the only candidate to put his name forward.
It was actually imprudent that the Liberal Party called the leadership contest at this time as many of their potential candidates are likely to be currently sitting members of a municipal council. This places many potential candidates in a similar situation as Crouse in that any municipal candidate who resigns before mid-April will force a costly byelection.
Anyway, I think it’s great that Nolan has thrown his hat in the ring. It will be ironic if he wins the leadership, and Stephen Khan becomes the new leader of the PC Party. We will then have an interesting contest in St. Albert. It’s also a little ironic that one of Crouse’s antagonists on council, Bob Russell was also Liberal leader back in the 1970s.
Despite these ironies and the platitudes of the critics, let’s put the petty politics aside and wish Nolan Crouse well in his bid for the Liberal leadership.
Ken Allred is a former St. Albert alderman and MLA.
