It didn’t take long for the attacks on our new government to begin. It never does. And over the coming weeks and months, we will also join the fray as we continue to keep magnifying glasses focused on our local politicians. But today, at the beginning of what will predictably develop into yet another complicated relationship between journalists and local MLAs, we have decided to take pause to offer our congratulations to the winners, and our gratitude to those they have replaced. Just this once we’ll say this: journalists may not always appreciate the stands politicians take, yet we still admire them for having the courage to stand up in the first place.
A warm thanks goes to the always-decent Stephen Kahn, an able MLA who set aside a successful business career to represent St. Albert since 2011. A devoted father, may he now have more time for his family.
To Doug Horner, who left the political world of the Spruce-Grove-St. Albert constituency a few months before the Tory disaster, we wish continued success in the private sector. Horner served under several premiers in several of the most demanding cabinet posts and is a man whose forthright personal integrity always appeared to shine through some difficult situations. In recent years, he always answered his phone.
To our new MLAs, who will now face the fearsome scrutiny of public life, we wish courage, thick skin and tenacity, but also the humbleness to admit when they are wrong. Hubris in a politician almost always ends up looking stupid. We expect they will spend a lot of time explaining to pundits that the Alberta NDP is a lot closer in policy to the Progressive Conservatives, than say, the party of the same name that is beholden to the longshoremen’s union on the West Coast. (Please see John Kennair’s insightful column elsewhere on this page.) With that in mind, the new government must also remember that most of its new supporters are former conservatives and will not appreciate rash moves that may in any way alienate or threaten the businesses they either work for or own. It will be a tough balancing act.
We congratulate Marie Renaud, MLA for the St. Albert riding, on an NDP win that, like so many in the province, took us by surprise. With more than 50 per cent of votes cast in her favour, it’s clear that many people also value her 14 years as executive director of LoSeCa, a St. Albert based non-profit that works with people with developmental disabilities. As someone who has demonstrated the importance of inclusion, we are also very pleased she joins a caucus in which half the members are female. It is about time. With luck, maybe she will also represent us in Rachel Notley’s cabinet.
Still there are questions. Some critics will dwell upon the fact that she lives in nearby Edmonton and not St. Albert. She has hardly set a precedent on this front. Defeated PC MLA Thomas Lukaszuk, for instance, lives in St. Albert but represented Castle Downs. But even we have wondered if she’ll move north. As it turns out, she is seriously considering the move.
Then there is Trevor Horne, a 24-year-old political science student at MacEwan University. We’d like to be able to say more about this new MLA for Spruce Grove-St. Albert, but so far we can only assume he hasn’t been keen to share his words with us. This week, we call that a rookie mistake. Come Monday, the gloves will be off. This ain’t school.
