Jason Kenney is in trouble. There is a significant revolt in his caucus. Don Braid reports:
It’s out in the open — a full-blown revolt against Premier Jason Kenney’s COVID-19 policy by 16 UCP caucus members.
This is very serious business for Kenney; a crack that could become a chasm at the heart of government, just as the virus itself is again spreading quickly.
The MLAs’ joint letter “to Albertans” on Wednesday says: “After 13 painstaking months of COVID-19 public health restrictions, we do not support the additional restrictions placed on Albertans yesterday, and will continue advocating for a transparent path forward that provides certainty to Alberta families, communities and businesses.”
These UCP politicians, mostly from rural and small-city areas, also level a devastating allegation that repeated attempts to communicate have been ignored.
“For months, we have raised these concerns at the highest levels of government, and unfortunately the approach of government has remained the same,” the letter says.
The signees include some high-profile members — Tracy Allard, the former minister who was ejected from cabinet for holiday travel to Hawaii; legislature speaker Nathan Cooper, who represents Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills; Angela Pitt from Airdrie-East, Miranda Rosin from Banff-Kananaskis, and 12 more.
Politicians on the right have seen the pandemic as primarily a political problem, not a public health problem. And that frame simply leads to insanity.
The Alberta Revolt once again underscores the fact that modern conservatives live in an Alternate Universe.
Image: Redbubble
