University of Calgary political science professor Barry Cooper believes the biggest failure of Jason Kenney’s premiership was mishandling the pandemic..In an interview with Western Standard, Cooper said he was surprised Kenney received a 51.4% vote in favour of his leadership..“The vote was a surprise, it was that close. I thought it would be about 60/40 against him, partly because he's done such a poor job, but mainly because a lot of the people who joined the Conservative Party did so precisely in order to vote against him. [He received] 17,000 votes, that's a lot..“If he did not win by at least 60% — maybe more — his position was untenable, and partly within caucus, but also among Albertans more generally.”.Cooper said Kenney’s leadership strengths were mismatched for the times and circumstances he faced, leaving both his party membership and other Albertans feeling let down..“They're really very disappointed in his leadership. It took a kind of leadership that he just didn't have. He's a micromanager and he likes to get along. Normally, those two things don't go together, but they do with him,” said Cooper..“He was sort of backed into a corner and he made some really dumb decisions. Like, why he kept Deena Hinshaw in her position … is just a mystery. And then turning over, effectively, the social and economic fate of the province, to this badly educated MD from the University of Alberta — it just boggles your mind. I mean, there's absolutely no sense to that at all. It's his job to take care of the province, not this medically trained bureaucrat.”.Cooper, who co-authored a book on COVID-19 with Barry Navarro-Genie, entitled COVID-19 The Politics of a Pandemic Moral Panic, believes the failures of the medical officials were apparent and demanded a leader who would act differently..“Keeping her [Hinshaw] there? That was absolutely absurd. He's the premier for God's sake. And, this was not a medical problem. It was a social and political problem, all the COVID stuff. And it was way blown out of proportion as a medical problem too, and for reasons I'm not entirely sure, but it certainly was to the advantage of the medical establishment. The college, the people in the med schools in here, and at the U of A, that gives them a platform to sound off on. They're basically just professors, but they'd like to see themselves on TV, I guess,” Cooper said..“They literally didn't even know the medical science. I mean, I can read this stuff. And, they ignored about half of the medical science out there in order to give these alarmist prognostications about which they had no better information than you or me. It was just ridiculous.”.Kenney, who was named by Maclean’s magazine as the hardest-working MP in the House of Commons in 2011, got little chance to hit his stride as premier. An economic slump lingered under bad oil prices, followed by a pandemic that only increased the challenges. Challenges from within his party and without escalated until his resignation came — just at the time he might have thrived..Regardless, Cooper says easy times never prove how well someone can take charge..“That's not a test of leadership. If things were normal, we'd still have [former premier Jim] Prentice. It’s difficulties that allow individuals to show what they can do. And it's like saying what we want is what [former Ontario premier] Bill Davis used to say, ‘bland works.’ But it only works if the times are bland; Machiavelli could have told him that. And when they're not, then you need somebody who can rise to the occasion. .“And that was Jason's biggest problem. He never rose to the occasion. He could have done all kinds of stuff, but he didn't.”
University of Calgary political science professor Barry Cooper believes the biggest failure of Jason Kenney’s premiership was mishandling the pandemic..In an interview with Western Standard, Cooper said he was surprised Kenney received a 51.4% vote in favour of his leadership..“The vote was a surprise, it was that close. I thought it would be about 60/40 against him, partly because he's done such a poor job, but mainly because a lot of the people who joined the Conservative Party did so precisely in order to vote against him. [He received] 17,000 votes, that's a lot..“If he did not win by at least 60% — maybe more — his position was untenable, and partly within caucus, but also among Albertans more generally.”.Cooper said Kenney’s leadership strengths were mismatched for the times and circumstances he faced, leaving both his party membership and other Albertans feeling let down..“They're really very disappointed in his leadership. It took a kind of leadership that he just didn't have. He's a micromanager and he likes to get along. Normally, those two things don't go together, but they do with him,” said Cooper..“He was sort of backed into a corner and he made some really dumb decisions. Like, why he kept Deena Hinshaw in her position … is just a mystery. And then turning over, effectively, the social and economic fate of the province, to this badly educated MD from the University of Alberta — it just boggles your mind. I mean, there's absolutely no sense to that at all. It's his job to take care of the province, not this medically trained bureaucrat.”.Cooper, who co-authored a book on COVID-19 with Barry Navarro-Genie, entitled COVID-19 The Politics of a Pandemic Moral Panic, believes the failures of the medical officials were apparent and demanded a leader who would act differently..“Keeping her [Hinshaw] there? That was absolutely absurd. He's the premier for God's sake. And, this was not a medical problem. It was a social and political problem, all the COVID stuff. And it was way blown out of proportion as a medical problem too, and for reasons I'm not entirely sure, but it certainly was to the advantage of the medical establishment. The college, the people in the med schools in here, and at the U of A, that gives them a platform to sound off on. They're basically just professors, but they'd like to see themselves on TV, I guess,” Cooper said..“They literally didn't even know the medical science. I mean, I can read this stuff. And, they ignored about half of the medical science out there in order to give these alarmist prognostications about which they had no better information than you or me. It was just ridiculous.”.Kenney, who was named by Maclean’s magazine as the hardest-working MP in the House of Commons in 2011, got little chance to hit his stride as premier. An economic slump lingered under bad oil prices, followed by a pandemic that only increased the challenges. Challenges from within his party and without escalated until his resignation came — just at the time he might have thrived..Regardless, Cooper says easy times never prove how well someone can take charge..“That's not a test of leadership. If things were normal, we'd still have [former premier Jim] Prentice. It’s difficulties that allow individuals to show what they can do. And it's like saying what we want is what [former Ontario premier] Bill Davis used to say, ‘bland works.’ But it only works if the times are bland; Machiavelli could have told him that. And when they're not, then you need somebody who can rise to the occasion. .“And that was Jason's biggest problem. He never rose to the occasion. He could have done all kinds of stuff, but he didn't.”
