When former finance minister and Progressive Conservative heavyweight Doug Horner announced he was quitting politics last week it wasn’t a big surprise. Generally well-liked and respected, he had a long run and had always portrayed himself as an upstanding servant of the people – Alison Redford’s use of government planes notwithstanding. Maybe he really was just ready to move on.
Then quickly following on Horner’s heels, former health minister Fred Horne announced Friday he will not run again. Now, just a weekend later, two more former cabinet ministers have called it quits. Battle River-Wainwright MLA Doug Griffiths, who once ran both the municipal affairs and Service Alberta departments, and Red Deer North MLA Mary Anne Jablonski, a former seniors minister.
All have been faithful members of the big blue machine, and so they appear in their goodbyes, with nary a criticism of their leader within earshot of a reporter amongst them. To that, unfortunately we have to say, thanks for the memories, but let’s get real.
Premier Jim Prentice has all but called the snap spring election to sell his tough, low-oil revenue budget to Albertans – along with a likely public sector wage freeze, new taxes, and we’re guessing, deficit financing. Like he says, everything is on the table, and just like Ralph Klein needed the likes of Steve West during his own slash and burn revolution two decades ago, Prentice needs a team of hard-nosed conservatives who won’t blink when it comes to making those cuts.
In other words, Prentice needs conservatives among conservatives and in an ironic twist of fate, the 11 Wildrose floor-crossers he welcomed into the Tory fold last fall probably fit that bill perfectly. Many pundits, including Reform founder Preston Manning, have said the Wildrose and the Tories are, in effect, members of the same family anyway, and in the coming months Albertans will likely see truth continue to unfold. But while the Wildrose contingent may do his bidding, their arrival has also caused bad blood within caucus and it will be interesting to see who else leaves.
This week’s apology-for-making-people-mad by Danielle Smith to Wildrose supporters can be viewed as her attempt to win back the trust she and her colleagues squandered last fall. Whether her contrite words are believed or not, won’t be known until we go to the polls this spring, no matter how hard Prentice tries to repackage her, as he did last weekend in High River where he announced $20 million in flood relief.
But without progressive thinkers such as Horner and Griffiths, Albertans also won’t know what kind of a party they are voting for, nor what kind of a leader Prentice will turn out to be in the long run. Although he has been politically effective, he has been less so on issues sensitive and important to many citizens, such as his party’s dithering position on gay-straight alliances in high schools. Is this what Albertans want or is Prentice merely pandering to the far right?
In the coming weeks, Albertans will find out what kind of a man leads their province. One interested in taking the province forward, or one with his tastes solidly rooted in the past. Like a ’56 T-bird, it may look good on the surface, but can’t compare to the other wheels on the road. In other words, after a brief glance to the centre, Prentice appears to be in the process of returning the province to its good old comfort zone.
