Wildrose members, dissatisfied with the Mr. Jean’s underwhelming recent stagecraft in the Legislature and the media, have been muttering about a rebellion, perhaps a prudent decision has been made by his strategists to get the review over with now while there’s still some relief about the party’s survival in the general election rather than after another year of wooden performances by the leader.
Certainly picking hills to die on like fighting for the right to sleep in till noon before coming to work, not to mention calling New Democrats liars for keeping their promises, can’t be impressing too many people, even within Wildrose ranks!
So at a time and in circumstances when a strong performance by the opposition could have had business groups piling onto the Wildrose bandwagon, instead we have the NDP’s Oct. 27 budget getting pretty decent reviews from folks in many surprising places.
This gives the government of Premier Rachel Notley momentum that could count for a lot later.
Example: “This budget signals we have a government willing to listen and capable of taking a measured approach to managing the province’s finances,” said a news release from … wait for it … the Alberta Chambers of Commerce! “This is what Albertans and business needs right now,” President Ken Kobly concluded in the release.
It’s unlikely just now Mr. Jean’s foes in party ranks could muster enough votes on this coming Friday the 13th to force him to quit. If this keeps up, though, next year might be a different story. So perhaps now that the grumbling has grown audible, Mr. Jean’s strategic brain trust has decided they’re smarter to go for it immediately than wait till next year, when, significantly, they’ll have no choice.
As for the Wildrose Caucus, I can’t imagine it’s in a very happy place this week, especially after the dumbness about not wanting to start work at 9 a.m. becoming the party’s No. 1 battle. Remember, most of the caucus’s 22 members represent ridings populated by the kind of people who still get up at 4 a.m. to milk the cows, even if they don’t do the milking by hand any more.
Now, think about this: Derek Fildebrandt, Mr. Jean’s pick as finance critic, arguably the second most important position in the opposition shadow cabinet, is known to be ambitious. He’s also the one responsible for complaining that by keeping its promises the NDP was misleading voters, and then picking a fight with the Globe and Mail when its reporter didn’t report the story the way he thought she should.
So there’s probably an argument as well for getting the review out of the way while Mr. Fildebrandt, a potential alternative leader, is still hopping around the room because of the self-inflicted wounds to both of his feet.
Finally, there’s the matter of a merger with the Progressive Conservatives. A case could be made that a merger is more likely to succeed to the advantage of the Wildrose Party if it happens sooner than later, given the way the two parties are performing now.
I wouldn’t be surprised if conservative godfather Preston Manning is burning up the phone lines trying to do something to fix the Opposition’s lame performance. This would be especially true nowadays with some business leaders reporting back that – ahem! – they’re not really all that unhappy with the NDP.
What's with that Wildrose leadership review? (Inquiring Albertans want to know!) | rabble.ca
Certainly picking hills to die on like fighting for the right to sleep in till noon before coming to work, not to mention calling New Democrats liars for keeping their promises, can’t be impressing too many people, even within Wildrose ranks!
So at a time and in circumstances when a strong performance by the opposition could have had business groups piling onto the Wildrose bandwagon, instead we have the NDP’s Oct. 27 budget getting pretty decent reviews from folks in many surprising places.
This gives the government of Premier Rachel Notley momentum that could count for a lot later.
Example: “This budget signals we have a government willing to listen and capable of taking a measured approach to managing the province’s finances,” said a news release from … wait for it … the Alberta Chambers of Commerce! “This is what Albertans and business needs right now,” President Ken Kobly concluded in the release.
It’s unlikely just now Mr. Jean’s foes in party ranks could muster enough votes on this coming Friday the 13th to force him to quit. If this keeps up, though, next year might be a different story. So perhaps now that the grumbling has grown audible, Mr. Jean’s strategic brain trust has decided they’re smarter to go for it immediately than wait till next year, when, significantly, they’ll have no choice.
As for the Wildrose Caucus, I can’t imagine it’s in a very happy place this week, especially after the dumbness about not wanting to start work at 9 a.m. becoming the party’s No. 1 battle. Remember, most of the caucus’s 22 members represent ridings populated by the kind of people who still get up at 4 a.m. to milk the cows, even if they don’t do the milking by hand any more.
Now, think about this: Derek Fildebrandt, Mr. Jean’s pick as finance critic, arguably the second most important position in the opposition shadow cabinet, is known to be ambitious. He’s also the one responsible for complaining that by keeping its promises the NDP was misleading voters, and then picking a fight with the Globe and Mail when its reporter didn’t report the story the way he thought she should.
So there’s probably an argument as well for getting the review out of the way while Mr. Fildebrandt, a potential alternative leader, is still hopping around the room because of the self-inflicted wounds to both of his feet.
Finally, there’s the matter of a merger with the Progressive Conservatives. A case could be made that a merger is more likely to succeed to the advantage of the Wildrose Party if it happens sooner than later, given the way the two parties are performing now.
I wouldn’t be surprised if conservative godfather Preston Manning is burning up the phone lines trying to do something to fix the Opposition’s lame performance. This would be especially true nowadays with some business leaders reporting back that – ahem! – they’re not really all that unhappy with the NDP.
What's with that Wildrose leadership review? (Inquiring Albertans want to know!) | rabble.ca
