After weeks of rumours, St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse threw his hat in the ring to run for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party on Tuesday.
If elected, he’ll certainly have a lot of work ahead of him. The ailing party currently boasts just one seat in the legislature and has a small membership.
But even campaigning to become leader is a lot of work. This is a concern for St. Albert citizens, because Crouse intends to continue as mayor while campaigning to be Liberal leader.
Crouse is already a busy man and he works tirelessly for the city. He also serves as chair of the Capital Region Board. By jumping into a provincial leadership race, he’s taking on another task, which further divides his focus.
That’s not to say that Crouse shouldn’t seek the leadership. If he wants the job, he has the right to enter into the race. But how can he serve two masters? He’s actively seeking people’s support to become Liberal leader. It could affect interactions with citizens, on one side or the other. Citizens might feel that choosing to support his leadership bid could give them influence with the mayor. There’s also the issue of campaign fundraising – can he take money from a business in St. Albert while he is also serving as mayor? This could open up any number of accusations. Perception is important.
University of Alberta political scientist Dr. Jim Lightbody said he believes Crouse continuing to be mayor of St. Albert while campaigning for the leadership of the Alberta Liberal Party is an ethical issue.
“You cannot be a full-time mayor, and take down a full-time mayor’s salary, while you’re campaigning for the Liberal leadership,” he said. “It is essentially unethical.”
To avoid any potential conflicts while running for Liberal leadership, Crouse must take a leave of absence. Then he can focus on the race and focus on meeting people all over the province – something a person seeking to eventually be the leader of this province, should do. Crouse himself acknowledges his biggest challenge is that he is not well known across the province.
“I’m not connected in the provincial world so the biggest challenge is going to be finding who to talk to and building a team of enough people who will be able to reach out,” Crouse told the Gazette.
The mayor’s role can be filled by the deputy mayor until the leadership race is over in June. There would be no need for a byelection when an election is already scheduled for this fall. Should Crouse fail to win his leadership bid, he can come back and finish out his term on council.
Crouse has already got an eye to what he wants his next role to be, so he might as well focus on that goal. Trying to balance being a mayor, serving on the Capital Region Board and running for a provincial party leadership is too much for one person to do. If he wants to take a run for the Liberal leadership he should take a leave of absence as mayor.
