Warren Kinsella wants to show, and grow, Alberta support in the federal government’s back yard..Kinsella lives in Toronto now but spent many years in Alberta where he was a journalist and also completed his law degree at the University of Calgary. He is a former liberal strategist and authored more than one book on political strategy..He still writes for a number of publications. Some may remember most recently that he was accused by Maxime Bernier of libel after a series of blog posts intimated that Bernier was racist. Kinsella was served on behalf of Bernier in December..He also made headlines, with his firm Daisy Group, for providing political strategy services to the Conservative Party of Canada (he also made headlines for doing the same with the Green Party of Canada, but there’s only so much time in a day to parse through headlines about Mr. Kinsella….) for a covert operation called “Project Cactus” which purportedly was a CPC attempt at disparaging Maxime Bernier prior to the October federal election..Never one to shy-away from controversial opinions – or strategy – Kinsella is currently devising a plan to confront Alberta’s adversaries, with a war room, of sorts, that exists “behind enemy lines..“Alberta, my home, has been hit hard in recent years,” Kinsella said in a recent blog post..“Bankruptcies, unemployment, countless businesses going under. Its main industry – whether you like that industry or not – has been flat-lined for half a decade. People are suffering. Families are hurting.”.Over the past five years, Alberta has seen companies divest, move, sell, and shut down with few new investment or projects starting – and fewer of those are oil and gas..As Kinsella mentions, there are a few words that sting right now: “Teck, Trans Mountain, Coastal Gas Link, Keystone, Northern Gateway” – and don’t forget Energy East..“There’s already a perception in Alberta that our voices are stifled in the (rest of Canada),” Michelle Rempel Garner, Alberta MP for Calgary-Nose Hill and signatory of the Buffalo Declaration wrote on Twitter..“Albertans have been loud and clear that they expect to be treated as equals with the rest of Canada,” Glen Motz, Alberta MP for Medicine Hat – Cardston – Warner, and another signatory of the Buffalo Declaration said on social media..One of the biggest complaints is that Alberta’s needs and priorities aren’t in Ottawa’s face – so to speak..Kinsella feels that can change..He says he wants to “create a group that isn’t partisan, isn’t corporate, isn’t government – but citizen-led.” He believes there are not just ex-pat Albertans in Central Canada –like him – but others in the most populous part of the country who feel Alberta is getting a raw deal from the feds..The Mission, he says, is to “defend and promote Alberta. Make it factual, fast and fun.”.“Alberta deserves better- it deserves fairness.”.Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean is a Senior Reporter with Western Standard.dmaclean@westernstandardonline.com.,.Twitter: @Mitchell_AB
Warren Kinsella wants to show, and grow, Alberta support in the federal government’s back yard..Kinsella lives in Toronto now but spent many years in Alberta where he was a journalist and also completed his law degree at the University of Calgary. He is a former liberal strategist and authored more than one book on political strategy..He still writes for a number of publications. Some may remember most recently that he was accused by Maxime Bernier of libel after a series of blog posts intimated that Bernier was racist. Kinsella was served on behalf of Bernier in December..He also made headlines, with his firm Daisy Group, for providing political strategy services to the Conservative Party of Canada (he also made headlines for doing the same with the Green Party of Canada, but there’s only so much time in a day to parse through headlines about Mr. Kinsella….) for a covert operation called “Project Cactus” which purportedly was a CPC attempt at disparaging Maxime Bernier prior to the October federal election..Never one to shy-away from controversial opinions – or strategy – Kinsella is currently devising a plan to confront Alberta’s adversaries, with a war room, of sorts, that exists “behind enemy lines..“Alberta, my home, has been hit hard in recent years,” Kinsella said in a recent blog post..“Bankruptcies, unemployment, countless businesses going under. Its main industry – whether you like that industry or not – has been flat-lined for half a decade. People are suffering. Families are hurting.”.Over the past five years, Alberta has seen companies divest, move, sell, and shut down with few new investment or projects starting – and fewer of those are oil and gas..As Kinsella mentions, there are a few words that sting right now: “Teck, Trans Mountain, Coastal Gas Link, Keystone, Northern Gateway” – and don’t forget Energy East..“There’s already a perception in Alberta that our voices are stifled in the (rest of Canada),” Michelle Rempel Garner, Alberta MP for Calgary-Nose Hill and signatory of the Buffalo Declaration wrote on Twitter..“Albertans have been loud and clear that they expect to be treated as equals with the rest of Canada,” Glen Motz, Alberta MP for Medicine Hat – Cardston – Warner, and another signatory of the Buffalo Declaration said on social media..One of the biggest complaints is that Alberta’s needs and priorities aren’t in Ottawa’s face – so to speak..Kinsella feels that can change..He says he wants to “create a group that isn’t partisan, isn’t corporate, isn’t government – but citizen-led.” He believes there are not just ex-pat Albertans in Central Canada –like him – but others in the most populous part of the country who feel Alberta is getting a raw deal from the feds..The Mission, he says, is to “defend and promote Alberta. Make it factual, fast and fun.”.“Alberta deserves better- it deserves fairness.”.Deirdre Mitchell-MacLean is a Senior Reporter with Western Standard.dmaclean@westernstandardonline.com.,.Twitter: @Mitchell_AB
