Jason Kenny is going home to Alberta. What's that mean? Michael den Tandt writes:
One possible answer is that Kenney has already been there, done that, having effectively put Harper over the top in 2011 with his tireless outreach to new Canadians (the former PM gave partial credit for the victory to Kenney, explicitly, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in September of 2014). Another is that Kenney may be bored, at 48, and craving a big new challenge. And a third reason — perhaps the key for an ambitious, driven man such as this — may be that he doesn’t believe the Conservatives can defeat Trudeau in 2019, regardless of who leads them. If the Liberals are in for the long haul, say two consecutive majorities, he’d be years cooling his heels on the back benches in the prime of his political life.
Consider what has happened to the Harper Party in the last two years:
And here’s where all that gets us: Stephen Harper’s perennial ministerial heavyweights, in no particular order, were Flaherty, John Baird, James Moore, Jason Kenney and Peter MacKay. With all five gone (MacKay may yet declare for federal leader but has not done so) and Harper himself, of course, gone, the party truly has entered uncharted territory.
The party which once ruled with an iron fist will be wandering in the desert for quite awhile. And there's no Moses in sight.
Image: screenrant.com
14 comments:
With Jason Kenny being a member of the committee studying Electoral Reform I must wonder which item will receive priority. I suspect the 'party leader' thing will override the electoral thing, which given his preference may be a good thing!
The Conservative Party of Canada only came into existence to give a power base and organizational structure to Stephen Joseph Harper, the master chess player.
Without him it's a purposeless shell of no distinction beyond a few sherds and shreds of his capricious, darkhearted mutterings.
The party stands for the shade of Stephen Harper and will for the foreseeable future.
Despite the brand name, Dana, the party was and is the Harper Party. Without him, it faces an existential crisis.
I suspect that Kenny would have argued for no change, Rural. So the best solution is to change Kenny.
This is not a good time to be a federal Tory with aspirations, Owen. Unless he screws up very, very badly, Trudeau appears to be a shoo-in for a second term. Electoral reform will dampen Trudeau's prospects of a majority but it will extinguish any hope of a new Tory government getting installed. For Kenny it's better to be a big fish in a small pond... if the PC's disastrous experience with Jim Prentice hasn't left them leery of big-talking guys on white horses riding in from the east.
I'll be willing to bet that there are members of the Alberta party who are suspicious of Kenny, Mound. It'll be interesting to see if they'll hire another Harper refugee.
That Kenny is considered a heavy weight shows how light the Tory party really is.
I agree, Steve. The party has always been the source of an extraordinary amount of hot air.
The reform/alliance/cons is the "House That Harper Built." Pearson when he was PM paved the way for Pierre Trudeau to become the Liberal leader. That is what Prime Ministers who are concerned about Nation Building do. Harper paved the way for no one.When Harper lost, he left the scene, including his job as an MP. No longer having control,Harper jumped ship. With no one left to obey and no kool aid to drink Harpers cult, like all leaderless cults will eventually fall apart.
Having betrayed others during his rise to power, Pam, Harper was always afraid that others would do to him what he had done to others. Therefore, he never did any succession planning.
Funny, questions abounded in the MSM after the last election about the "relevance" of the federal NDP but not so the "Conservatives".
I think the "Party of Harper" says it all.
At the convention in Vancouver, commentators were saying that the party was in good shape, Anon. As long as it remains the Harper Party, its fortunes will be bleak.
.. folks need to aquaint themselves with what Jason Kenney 'stands for' .. if anything other than his own peculiar values mythology policies fallacies.. or stuff that a political evangelical animal gets directly from his 'maker' via polls, rumor, back channels or wizards..
I use the term evangelical lightly.. being hard pressed to believe anything Jason Kenney trumpets as real .. for all I know, he holds devil worship prayer meets in hotel rooms across the land.. with nymphets, altar boyz.. attendant.. But the proclivities of the public servants are none o my biz.. & I don't give a shite if he prays nightly to a spagetti monster.. or an orangutan .. or a cicada.. have at it dude..
I hope the partisan pustule who either lives with his mommy or thrives in hotel rooms, goes back to Alberttawa & pimps to his black heart's content.. mumbling about whatever churns his dull imagination.. a fitting sequel to ms Redford.. or Prentice.. p'raps he can enlist Tom Flanagan, Ken Boessenkool or the big carp Stephen th Harper to Unite th Blight.. and twist Wishful Westerners into pretzels over fracking for Gawd... the Redeeming Tar Sands.. and LNG for blessed BC
That phrase "partisan pustule" is catching, salamander. Its alliteration is part of its appeal. But its real strength lies in the fact that is captures the man so accurately.
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