David Staples: Court Bruising Candidates’ Comments During UCP Leadership Debate

Breadcrumb Trail links

1. Politics
2. Columnists

Publication date:

July 29, 2022 • 23 hours ago • 3 minutes read • 63 comments Candidates, left to right, Todd Loewen, Daniel Smith, Rajan Sawney, Rebecca Schultz, Leila Ayer, Travis Toews and Brian Jean attend the Alberta United Conservative Party debate of the leadership candidate in Medicine Hat, Alta., Wednesday, July 27, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh Photo by Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

Article content

Advertisement 2

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

Article content

There was plenty of verbal body-slapping and linguistic face-slapping in Medicine Hat on Wednesday night for the first debate of the United Conservative Party leadership campaign.

Here are the seven most memorable quotes from The Bruise Affair:

1. Daniel Smith on the dysfunctional dynamics of Albertans in Canada: “We always lose when we go up against Ottawa. They take all our money and give it back with conditions. They steal the rest and use it to win votes in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

That’s a harsh assessment, but with an aggressive Trudeau government imposing its will on so many aspects of our lives — from what straw we can use to drink from a cup to how much fertilizer farmers have to use on their crops — Smith has the right .

Advertising 3

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

Article content

2. Brian Jean for his belief that we don’t need more government spending, just better managed services. “We should be a boring government that you forget is there because you don’t get in the way.”

That’s the best description I’ve heard of the small government favored by traditional conservatives. It could also be a winning recipe for centrist conservative candidates like Jean or Travis Toews, two less interesting but also less incendiary candidates than Smith.

3. Smith, after taking a beating from other candidates for his controversial statements on cancer treatment, hit back at the Kenney government’s handling of COVID with lockdown restrictions and vaccine mandates: “When you look at the last two years of the COVID lockdown , I have not heard any apologies from the cabinet ministers who forced this on us. I would like to hear an apology there.

Advertising 4

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

Article content

4. Rajan Sawhney, who was in Prime Minister Jason Kenney’s office, in response: “It’s easy to make such remarks when you’ve never been in government in that capacity and never had to make such difficult decisions. “

Smith’s attack on the COVID file is a huge part of her popularity, but I appreciate Sawney’s response. Had Smith been in power, she would have faced the same shortage of intensive care beds that forced Kenney’s blockade-hating government to impose multiple restrictions on people, facilities and businesses. A tragic choice had to be made between the competing harms of lockdown and the impact of COVID. There’s no need to apologize for these tough decisions.

5. Travis Toews, on the key issue of the UCP campaign. “How can we best position this party to be successful and defeat the NDP in 2023? Unity is mission critical.”

Advertising 5

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

Article content

Mission critical? Phrases like that make Toews look like a flight instructor from a Top Gun movie. We’ll see how that sells to voters.

6. Sawney on the Dangers of Smith’s Proposed Sovereignty Act. “Canada is headed down a dangerous path led by the destructive policies of the Trudeau Liberals. We can react impulsively with anger. That would feel good. But it’s risky. I lived through the economic turmoil caused by the unstable and unpredictable government. The answer is not to threaten sovereignty or secession. And I’m going to say something, and I want everyone to listen carefully: a Daniel Smith win today means a Rachel Notley win tomorrow.”

7. Smith, on her push for a Sovereignty Act where Alberta would ignore federal laws deemed to harm Alberta and abrogate our jurisdiction: “It imposes legality on a lawless Ottawa… Ottawa has created chaos. Ottawa canceled our projects.

Advertising 6

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

Article content

Moments later, she added that the Kenney government failed in part because Albertans lost confidence that Kenney could effectively stand up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “For me, that’s the central question of this campaign: Who will face Ottawa?”

For that matter, I will suggest that Smith is the right leader, but at the wrong time. Alberta should not take any violent or radical approach in its battle with Trudeau.

Current events have already caught up with the Ottawa Liberals and the NDP. Energy and supply shortages, high gas and food prices, rising debt, interest rates and inflation are already leading to dissatisfaction with left-wing economic policies.

This will make an increasing number of Canadians more amenable to policies that lead to prosperity and security, such as more pipelines, more oil, gas and nuclear projects and high yields from agricultural fields.

Why engage in a risky battle against Trudeau when he doesn’t have to, when his own voters will reverse his policies?

Alberta doesn’t need Smith to reinvent the wheel right now. We just have to keep moving, which could be a big boost to the aspirations of stable leaders like Gene or Toews.

Share this article on your social network

Advertisement 1

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

Sign up to receive daily breaking news from the Edmonton Journal, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

By clicking the signup button, you agree to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

Thanks for signing up!

A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your spam folder.

The next issue of the Edmonton Journal Headline News will be in your inbox soon.

We encountered a problem registering you. Please, try again

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments can take up to an hour to be moderated before they appear on the site. Please keep your comments relevant and respectful. We’ve enabled email notifications – you’ll now receive an email if you get a reply to your comment, there’s an update to a comment thread you’re following, or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.