Ralph Klein's niece, the Speaker of the Alberta Legislature, Calgary talk-show host Danielle Smith and Slave Lake town council all have negative things to say, out loud, about government Covid policies, the provincial premier and some government caucus members.
The once rock-solid base of the United Conservative Party wants to vent and a loosening of Premier Jason Kenney's grip is giving malcontents space to air grievances.
Owners of small businesses, including Natalie Klein, the owner of Bladez to Fadez Barbershop in Innisfail, are decrying the unfairness of Covid restrictions which have shuttered personal service shops, like hair salons and aestheticians.
The niece of late premier Ralph Klein went so far as to open her business and face a fine. She called the restriction illogical, saying livelihoods are being damaged by "Kenney's whack a mole approach to lockdowns."
An e-mail from Speaker of the House Nathan Cooper, the UCP MLA for Olds-Didsbury, to a constituent expressed disappointment at the way the premier failed to deal with MLAs flouting Covid international travel restrictions over Christmas. Six UCP MLAs travelled outside the country despite government directives against such trips. It took three days for Kenney to levy any sort of penalty after initially saying he simply hadn't been clear to the caucus that they shouldn't leave the province.
"The hypocrisy of this scandal has clearly undermined this government's moral authority," Cooper wrote.
Cooper also said he appreciated Albertans who had made personal sacrifices, "even in the face of restrictions that change frequently and often seem arbitrary."
Former Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith, now a radio host in Calgary, hosted the premier this week on her show. She pushed the premier, who generally gets a soft ride on conservative talk shows, on rules and restrictions which she says are harming free enterprise in the province.
Smith is bluntly in favour of as little business restriction as possible during the pandemic.
She commented after the interview that she thinks the job of a premier is to protect liberty, and not be an apologist for the bureaucracy. She didn't call out Kenney by name, but it's clear she would prefer the UCP were leaning further to the right on the Covid file.
Smith has just announced she is leaving her radio career. The assumption by some pundits is that she plans a re-entry to politics, which could be a cause for concern for Kenney.
In another surprisingly public bit of dissent, the town council of Slave Lake published a letter calling out their UCP MLA for being a poor representative of the constituency, not living in the jurisdiction and blowing off meetings on issues of importance to the municipality.
Since the MLA in question was also one of the culprits in the international travel scandal, apparently councillors felt emboldened to take a shot at a member of the governing party.
After some criticism for being missing in action when he has been in the line of fire, Kenney has taken to doing his own Facebook fireside chats and appearing on traditionally on-side radio show.
He explains that current limits on commercial freedom became necessary as Alberta's health care system started sinking under the mounting pressure of increasing Covid cases. He's conciliatory and apologetic. While he's been happy to be defiant in the face of attacks from the left, voices from the right of centre seem to have put him off his game.
No doubt Kenney has lost his swagger. Provincial pundits say they are seeing increasing caucus divisions and schisms on the right. They're already looking ahead to who will be a contender for the UCP leadership if Kenney falls.
But the disruption of Covid is such a complicating factor that it's probably premature to predict the premier's demise. How much of the current criticism is born from true disenchantment with the leadership and how much is just frustration with a protracted public health crisis should become evident by summer and fall as Covid's power diminishes.
Scandals, like the Christmas travel debacle, can blow over with careful handling. Kenney and his caucus will need to balance the urge to punish dissenters with the virtue of allowing constructive public venting.
Photo Credit: Calgary Herald
