| Is it just my imagination, or are Calgary conservatives desperately looking for a leader? Someone to carry the torch for them. Premier Ed Stelmach is still Ed Who? as far as most Calgarians are concerned. They’re not exactly rallying around him. And there doesn’t appear to be any other high profile Tories to rally around either. Ralph Klein was the face of conservatism here for over 15 years. Before that he was a popular mayor. Everyone knew Ralph, or felt like they did. He was the local face of the Alberta Conservatives and the government.
If Jim Dinning had won the party leadership he would certainly have provided a local face for the party. He’s a Calgarian long associated with local politics and business. That might be why so many people outside Calgary voted against him – there seems to be a real Calgary backlash going on out there. Nevertheless, Dinning’s vanished too, and along with him any party connections he might have embodied for Calgarians.
Joe Lougheed, the son of former premier Peter Lougheed, another Calgary Conservative icon, ran for president of the party recently. He was defeated by someone from the Edmonton area, however. Lougheed Jr. also had the potential to rally Calgarians.
Ralph has gone underground, Dinning’s vanished, the Lougheeds have been rebuked by the party, and most Calgarians can’t name a local provincial cabinet minister, let alone ordinary MLAs. For the record, Calgary has three cabinet ministers. They are: Ron Stevens (justice and attorney-general); Ron Liepert (education); Greg Melchin (seniors and community supports). However, these are low-profile guys. None of them seem destined to become the Calgary face of the Alberta Conservatives. As well, there’s certainly no enthusiasm here for the new premier, for either his style or his policies.
The morning after Stelmach spoke at the Premier’s Dinner in Calgary (the party raised over $800,000, so it’s not in a coma yet), I attended a breakfast meeting at the Chamber of Commerce. People who had been to the dinner were openly complaining about Stelmach’s boring speech, his lack of vision. This was at the Chamber of Commerce – the core of Calgary conservatism – and they were not impressed.
A couple of weeks later I was having my hair worked over at an inner city salon and all the talk was about high rents, lack of decent housing, the cost of any household repair (should you in fact be able to find someone willing to do such a thing), traffic jams and the possibility of a bus drivers’ strike. One young woman had recently returned to Calgary and quickly found herself well paying work. However, she and her husband couldn’t find a place to live. There was the 40-year-old trailer in Airdrie that was going for $200,000, but they wisely decided to give it a pass. She figured they would be living with her parents until the parents sold the house or died. At least they have relatives to take them in.
Calgary may be a great place to get work, but to many people it doesn’t seem like a great place to live anymore. Seniors, the disabled and young people are shunted out of apartments by landlords who want more rent, or want to condo-ize and collect quick cash. Hospitals are jammed, nurses and doctors overworked. To get decent daycare, parents must go on waiting lists before a child is even born. Most businesses can’t find enough employees, so the notion of service to customers has gone out the window. Customers have to wait patiently in line and then fight for every crumb they (over) pay for. This isn’t a booming economy, it’s an out-of-control economy. The Klein government revved it up with overly ambitious oilsands projects and then ejected itself from the driver’s seat. No wonder so many of us feel like roadkill.
I’m not sure what this means for the provincial Conservatives in Calgary come the next election. Will Stelmach get back in the driver’s seat and slow things down, bring some sanity back into our lives and emerge a hero? Will the Conservatives find a strong Calgary persona that locals can rally around? Or will Conservatives stay home in droves during the next election, too apathetic about their own party but not inclined to vote for another? Will Kevin Taft and the Liberals be able to capitalize on Calgarians’ antipathy to the new premier?
Mayor Bronconnier has certainly been capitalizing on it. His angry outbursts about lack of provincial funding for transportation, housing and other civic projects have resonated with many Calgarians. No one dared take on Ralph – he was too much of a local hero and powerbroker. Stelmach is more distant, much more vulnerable. So it’s not surprising that Bronconnier has dared to take some shots at him. Trouble is, he’s rallying Calgarians around these issues, around the need to fight for Calgary and its rapidly expanding population. The Stelmach government, on the other hand, just doesn’t seem to get it.
Gillian Steward is publisher of Alberta Views. |
Copyright ©2007 FFWD. All rights reserved.