Politics is a funny sport.
In June 2015, Alberta’s last airlift hero resigned the very night he won his seat but not his premiership. Jim Prentice left federal politics to lead Albertans to the Promised Land by winning the leadership of the Alberta Conservative Party. The voting rules of the party had twice allowed third-place contenders to win the leadership when the top two candidates split the vote. The party was brought to the brink of annihilation and Mr. Prentice parachuted in to save Albertans from themselves. Perhaps it was too little, too late. Perhaps the die was cast.
In 2015 he called a snap election, sung the siren’s song to the Wildrose Alliance, won his seat, but lost the election to Rachel Notley. On the night of the election, he stepped down as party leader and walked away from his position in the Legislature. His desire to offer public service to the people of Alberta didn’t extend to being a mere MLA apparently.
Not to force parallels, but the candidacy of Mr. Carney, another Alberta parachutist politician, in the current federal election brings to mind the story of Mr. Prentice.
Remember, too, that Mr. Prentice started his national political career as a Liberal and switched to the Conservative Party to gain his seat in Alberta.
I suppose we could throw in the parallels with Mr. Ignatieff who also came to save us and then left when “success” was not as he defined it. The Liberal Party seems to have a penchant for looking outside Canada to find its leadership. That is less an indictment of Canada than a bad look for the party.
The parallels that exist between the political careers of Mr. Prentice, Mr. Ignatieff, and Mr. Carney makes one wonder what Mr. Carney will do if he is elected to Parliament but not as prime minister? Does his dedication to improving the lives of Canadians require control of the Prime Minister’s Office or will he still offer his intellect and services even if as only an unadorned member?
Is it his ambition to offer his services to the land of his birth if not his habitation in whatever capacity comes to him or must those services only be offered at a magisterial level?
Is his sudden appearance on the political scene driven by a desire to serve or by a desire to have his ego served?
Should the election not go the way he desires, will the call of hearth and home overwhelm his desire to serve? Will he forsake Canada and return to his home in New York?
Politics may be a sport for those who would be king, but it is not for those of us who must suffer the extravagances of inflated egos and poorly latched promises.
What will Mr. Carney do in the event of electoral failure? Someone should ask him the questions.
“Mr. Carney, will you serve the entirety of your electoral term should you win your seat but not the Prime Ministership? Will you continue to live in Canada whatever the electoral outcome?”
I would love to hear the answers.
But I think I already know what they are.