The Alberta Liberal party has had 29 leaders since it last ruled the province 90 years ago. The Liberals held power for the first 16 years that Alberta was a province and today, after its latest leadership race, its supporters are wondering if Raj Sherman can be the man to lead them out of the wilderness they have been stumbling around in since turning over power in 1921 to the United Farmers of Alberta.
At this point, there are more questions than answers regarding Sherman:
• Does he have the ability to lead a provincial party?
• Can he be an effective opposition spokesperson in the house?
• Does he have the charisma needed to attract enough voters in the next election to make the Liberals relevant again?
We do know this: Sherman is the most outspoken political supporter of improving the public health care system in Alberta, and as a practising physician himself he likely knows more about the system and its problems than any other MLA. And now he has the platform, as leader of the official opposition, to hopefully hammer the government until it actually fixes the system, rather than just talk about it or, as the Conservatives have been tempted to do, turn to the private sector.
As a sitting member of the legislature the former Conservative MLA is already in a better position to gain exposure — and that’s necessary to garner votes — than Wildrose party leader Danielle Smith.
Whether Sherman has enough knowledge about all the other issues and problems concerning Albertans to take advantage of that position remains to be seen. Is he more than a one-issue politician?
And does he have the conviction to stand behind his position, no matter the issue? He has been known to back-pedal on his sometimes impulsive comments — not that that makes him any different that any other politician, but as a party leader being watched closely by his own members, he can’t afford to appear soft and indecisive.
And he has to immediately stop using the phrase “dirty oil” as he did repeatedly when talking about the need to refine raw bitumen in Alberta rather than export it to the United States. Nothing will grate on Albertans — other than the anti-oilsands groups — more than that phrase.
Perhaps his most immediate challenge, however, is to unite a party that has lacked the direction and leadership needed to be taken seriously since former Edmonton mayor Laurence Decore led them to 32 seats in the legislature in the 1993 election.
Neither of his two main rivals for the leadership — Hugh MacDonald and Laurie Blakeman — gave him what could be considered a rousing statement of support after the campaign ended on the weekend. Indeed, Blakeman almost challenged his ability to be a leader, saying he would have to learn how to live on the other side of the aisle.
“He has never been in opposition, doesn’t know what it’s like to work in opposition with no funding,” she said.
That is true. But Sherman has shown the ability to attract supporters. He signed up more than 15,000 of the almost 29,000 voters eligible to cast ballots in the leadership race. He won on the first ballot with 54 per cent of the vote, but even he must be wondering where all those supporters went since only 8,640 votes were cast.
What Sherman does have working for him, is the biting comments of outgoing leader David Swann.
“I’m here to tell you that we’ll never form government — in fact, we don’t deserve to form government — until we take a long, hard look at ourselves and our actions,” Swann said.
Harsh but accurate. And if the party faithful pay attention and take Swann’s comments to heart, then Sherman’s job will be a lot easier and he may ultimately prove to be the right man for the job.
