Kenney’s Leadership Review is a Circus – Red Deer South UCP MLA Jason Stephan

This opinion editorial submitted by Red Deer South MLA Jason Stephan

Alberta’s legislature begins with a daily prayer asking leaders to “never lead the province wrongly through love of power”.

Our political system does require reform, concentrating too much power in the hands of the Premier.

Other than elections, leadership reviews are vital checks and balances against autocratic ambitions. It is a serious matter to meddle with the few checks and balances for the public that remain.

The UCP leadership review has become a spectacle and a circus.

Fundamentally moving goalposts, after deadlines, destroys trust and integrity of process. It provides opportunities to cheat.

The party executive first chose a process that suppressed member participation. Many grassroots members and CA boards raised concerns about this, which the executive ignored and rejected.

Many are concluding the leader was losing his vote, under his preferred rules, so he metaphorically grabbed the ball and ran away.

Many are concluding these fundamental changes in process, after deadlines, seek to manipulate the outcome of the vote.

Many do not trust this new process has not, or will not, be rigged.

Last week I stood in the legislature and said:

“Some politicians label those who agree with them as the mainstream; while those who disagree with them as fringe minorities, extremists, or threats undermining stability.”

Kenney is doing what he condemned Trudeau for doing.

“Some politicians say of course we can have unity – if only you would agree with me!

That is not unity. That is ridiculous.

We are governed by laws, not by individuals, and our paramount loyalties are to principles, not office holders.”

Kenney says those who vote to change him as leader undermine unity and stability.

That is self-serving. “Stability” was also used by Trudeau as a self-serving excuse to justify his pact with the NDP.

Some politicians say vote for Kenney or there will be divisions in the party!

They are too late – divisions are upon us and sometimes this leader has increased, rather than decreased, them.

We have seen too much dividing, too much labelling, sometimes change in leadership is required to heal, to unite and move forward.

Some politicians say vote for Kenney, we cannot risk the NDP getting back in!

Albertans are tired of politicians using fear as a tool.

Conservative policies, regardless of the leader, increase economic prosperity. With oil over $100, a conservative government budget would be balanced, with or without Kenney.

The ends do not justify the means and so this leader does not enjoy the trust of most Albertans. This recent development only amplifies and reinforces those feelings.

Kenney is less popular than the party. Is it in the best interests of our party, our province, to go into an election hoping to win, in spite of the leader? Isn’t that too much to risk, as we cannot risk the NDP getting back in!

Some politicians say vote for Kenney, we need him to get Alberta a fair deal! What has he accomplished so far? If he is not fair, where his moral authority to demand Ottawa to be fair?

With Trudeau forming an axis with the NDP, we do need to prepare ourselves for the real possibility of further hostile, targeted attacks that harm Alberta businesses and families.

The Premier of Alberta needs to be respected and trusted by Albertans to fearlessly defend our interests. The current Premier does not have that.

Some politicians say vote for Kenney or you get someone worse!

More fear. To assume that any one person is the only one who could be the leader of our party is a false assumption.

There are many honest and principled Alberta men and women who would be great leaders of our party.

Politics should not be a career. It is a special opportunity to serve and having contributed one’s experiences and talents, one should step aside and allow others to do the same.

The Premier’s leadership, and now his unprecedented efforts to full out campaign and control the results of his own review have become a circus, a distraction, and a liability to the province and the party.

Confidence is lost, and for the good of the party, for the province, the Premier should be gracious, resign and support a positive leadership race for a new leader to unite the party and the province.

“Dividing and labelling others only produces contention and destroys trust.

That is not leadership.”

This is true.

“Great leaders lead in love and inspire the best in those they serve.”

This is what we need.

Related Topics:#JasonStephan #Kenney'sLeadershipReviewIsACircus #PremierJasonKenney #RedDeerSouthMLA #UCPLeadershipReview feature

Up Next

EU To Canada: Next Time Try Sending Your Best

Don't Miss

Gender Heads To The Deep End Of The Pool

Todayville

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Premier Danielle Smith hints Alberta may begin ‘path’ toward greater autonomy after Mark Carney’s win

COVID-19 / 54 mins ago

Canada’s health department warns COVID vaccine injury payouts to exceed $75 million budget

Alberta / 9 hours ago

Hours after Liberal election win, Alberta Prosperity Project drumming up interest in referendum

Alberta

Premier Danielle Smith hints Alberta may begin ‘path’ toward greater autonomy after Mark Carney’s win

Published on April 30, 2025

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta’s premier said her government will be holding a special caucus meeting on Friday to discuss Alberta’s independence.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith hinted her province could soon consider taking serious steps toward greater autonomy from Canada in light of Mark Carney and the Liberal Party winning yesterday’s federal election.

In a statement posted to her social media channels today, Smith, who is head of Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party, warned that “In the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province’s future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward.”

“As Premier, I will facilitate and lead this discussion and process with the sincere hope of securing a prosperous future for our province within a united Canada that respects our province’s constitutional rights, facilitates rather than blocks the development and export of our abundant resources, and treats us as a valued and respected partner within confederation,” she noted.

While Smith stopped short of saying that Alberta would consider triggering a referendum on independence from Canada, she did say her government will be holding a “special caucus meeting this Friday to discuss this matter further.”

“I will have more to say after that meeting is concluded,” she noted.

Smith’s warning comes at the same time some pre-election polls have shown Alberta’s independence from Canada sentiment at just over 30 percent.

Monday’s election saw Liberal leader Mark Carney beat out Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre, who also lost his seat. The Conservatives managed to pick up over 20 new seats, however, and Poilievre has vowed to stay on as party leader, for now.

In Alberta, almost all of the seats save two at press time went to conservatives.

Carney, like former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before him, said he is opposed to new pipeline projects that would allow Alberta oil and gas to be unleashed. Also, his green agenda, like Trudeau’s, is at odds with Alberta’s main economic driver, its oil and gas industry.

The Carney government has also pledged to mandate that all new cars and trucks by 2035 be electric, effectively banning the sale of new gasoline- or diesel-only powered vehicles after that year.

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.

Smith: ‘I will not permit the status quo to continue’

In her statement, Smith noted that she invited Carney to “immediately commence working with our government to reset the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta with meaningful action rather than hollow rhetoric.”

She noted that a large majority of Albertans are “deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government.”

Smith then promised that she would “not permit the status quo to continue.”

“Albertans are proud Canadians that want this nation to be strong, prosperous, and united, but we will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa,” she said.

Smith praised Poilievre for empowering “Albertans and our energy sector as a cornerstone of his campaign.”

Smith was against forced COVID jabs, and her United Conservative government has in recent months banned men from competing in women’s sports and passed a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.

Alberta

Hours after Liberal election win, Alberta Prosperity Project drumming up interest in referendum

Published on April 29, 2025

Todayville

News release from the Alberta Prosperity Project

Carney’s In. Now what?

You’ve been paying attention. You understand this is really bad. Worse than that, it’s dangerous. The country has somehow chosen several more years of a decade-long Trudeau Travesty…on steroids. Because this new Prime Minister has a three digit IQ, deep and questionable connections and a momentum to accelerate the further dis-integration of a nation we all once proudly belonged to. It’s untrue to say the country is dying. But it’s also not a stretch to say it’s on life support.

The era of Carney Carnage is here. While every province will experience it, there’s no secret he’s placed an extra big bulls-eye on Alberta.

It’s not personal, it’s financial.

His plan includes continuing to limit three of Alberta’s most prosperous sectors: energy, agriculture and, by extension, innovation. To acknowledge this requires we abandon our sense of romanticized national nostalgia. Nostalgia is a trap that prevents us from assessing the reality we exist in.

For instance, GDP is considered the financial heartbeat of a country. Over the past decade of Liberal Leadership, the national GDP has been an abysmal 1.1%. By relatable comparison, Mexico was 4%, the UK was 6%, Australia had 8% growth and the US was a whopping 19%.

That’s great information for an economist, but what does it mean to your pay cheque?

The everyday impact on the average Albertan —say, a teacher or mechanic— of 10 long years of 1% GDP means rent’s up at least 25%, a trip to the grocery store always stings, and driving an older car is the norm because an upgrade is out of reach. Does this sound like your reality?

We aren’t starving, but we’re not thriving, either.

Does this make sense for 4.5 million people living with the third most abundant energy deposits in the world? There’s an absurdity to the situation Albertans find themselves in. It’s akin to being chronically dehydrated while having a fresh water spring in the backyard.

The life you’ve invested for, the future you believed was ahead, isn’t happening.

If Alberta stays on this path.

So what can you, as an Albertan, do about it?

This Fall, we’ll be provided an opportunity. A life raft in the form of a referendum. It requires curiosity, imagination and courage to step into it, but the option will be there — a once in a lifetime shot at prosperity for you and your family: Alberta Sovereignty.

A successful bid means Albertans can finally paddle out of the perilous economic current that’s battered us for ten long years.

Alberta has the resources, talent and spirit of collaboration to create a prosperous future for our families and communities.
If you want your vote to finally mean something, if you feel you deserve more from your pay-cheque, grocery store visits and need greater control over your family’s future, register your intent to sign YES to sovereignty now.