UCP MLA Peter Guthrie is fed up with the “bullying and intimidation” tweeting tactics employed by senior political staffers in Premier Jason Kenney’s office..Guthrie didn’t resort to childish, disrespectful tweets to call out their bad behaviour — as is their frequent method of levelling not particularly clever cheap shots..The Airdrie-Cochrane MLA took to Facebook Monday to specifically address at length the “poor judgement” in messaging last week from the premier and his staff..“It displays the poor behavior and lack of professionalism that is plaguing this administration,” said Guthrie..“Behavior that would not be acceptable or tolerated in any workplace, let alone from a sitting government.”.He zeroed in on recent tweets by Bryan Rogers, a department chief of staff; Harrison Fleming, special advisor and deputy press secretary to Kenney; and Brock Harrison, executive director of communications for the premier..“Now that it’s being brought out into the public eye, it exposes the tactics of bullying and intimidation used by this government,” said Guthrie..The United Conservative Party senior staffers, who aren’t elected by the people paying their hefty salaries, don’t hesitate to mock and belittle MLAs voted into office..It’s arrogant and odd behaviour considering that Kenney, amid a leadership review, faces a fight for his political life while up to 60,000 members are in the process of mailing in ballots until May 11..Numerous MLAs have called for him to resign..“It is this very approach in leadership style that has driven a wedge between caucus and executive causing opinions to solidify against Jason Kenney,” said Guthrie..Last week Rogers posted a video clip that compared UCP backbench critics to gyrating clowns..“He stated: ‘LOL was expecting something new here, but turns out it’s just the same old crew,’” said Guthrie..“This was in reference to (Calgary Sun columnist) Rick Bell’s article whereby 10 MLAs, 15% of the original caucus, stated they would not be voting for Premier Kenney in the upcoming leadership review.”.The tweet was removed — after it went viral..Fleming “chimed in” to share his views on the matter..“I have a feeling some folks in the media who continually boost the sad set of sour MLAs over and over again will be very surprised when mainstream conservatives have their say. It will be interesting to see the narrative they’ve tried to build for the last year crumble to pieces,” tweeted Fleming..“Here he was referring to the leadership review in which the party continually alters parameters to favour the premier in a manner that has deteriorated trust in the process,” said Guthrie..“But what’s notable is that this is a senior member of the premier’s communication staff who feels this correspondence is appropriate.”.Then Guthrie noted a post by Harrison commenting on the MLA’s April 15 Facebook post highlighting concerns about an RCMP investigation into the 2017 leadership race, and the ability to verify the authenticity of a surge in potentially illegal block membership purchases for the current leadership review..Tweeted Harrison: “It’s difficult to overstate how absolutely insane Guthrie’s conspiracy theory is. Total desperation.”.“I think it is safe to say with this type of media strategy it is easy to understand why the premier’s office is criticized for ineffective communications and why the premier himself has developed so many adversaries,” said Guthrie..“When you have so-called high-level staffers who feel that it is appropriate to attack elected officials it should be no surprise that conflict persists.”.Other Kenney staffers have compared critics to “Putin backers” who hold “personal grudges” and “fringe views.”.Guthrie’s not alone in speaking out..“It shouldn’t go unnoticed that some of the strongest voices against this bullying have come from women in our caucus.”.“This browbeating by administration goes unchecked by the premier because it supports his objective.”.“It’s no different from the left. In their mind, it’s OK to do things that are unethical or in poor taste if it a benefit to their cause or a means to their end.”.Instead of discouraging disrespectful treatment, Kenney leads by example..“He has referred to the very UCP members that elected him as lunatics, bugs, extremists.”.“And last week he tried gaslighting people into thinking that he was too soft in what was really a veiled threat to outspoken MLAs, stating that more discipline will be required.”.Instead of achieving unity, it either causes a backlash or promotes a “culture of fear.”.Rule by fear management styles don’t tend to work out well for people, said Guthrie..“I’ll use hockey coaches as an example. John Tortorella and Mike Keenan are well-known tough guy coaches … generally not liked by players.”.“They ruled with an iron fist. And it caused animosity, resentment, and hostility resulting in negative outcomes for their teams and later led to their dismissal.”.“Today, Tortorella is a third-string commentator on TNT, and Keenan is coaching in China.”.Kenney must wait until May 18 when the leadership vote result is announced to find out if he’s headed back into the premier’s office, or will have to get a full-time gig as a radio show host..Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
UCP MLA Peter Guthrie is fed up with the “bullying and intimidation” tweeting tactics employed by senior political staffers in Premier Jason Kenney’s office..Guthrie didn’t resort to childish, disrespectful tweets to call out their bad behaviour — as is their frequent method of levelling not particularly clever cheap shots..The Airdrie-Cochrane MLA took to Facebook Monday to specifically address at length the “poor judgement” in messaging last week from the premier and his staff..“It displays the poor behavior and lack of professionalism that is plaguing this administration,” said Guthrie..“Behavior that would not be acceptable or tolerated in any workplace, let alone from a sitting government.”.He zeroed in on recent tweets by Bryan Rogers, a department chief of staff; Harrison Fleming, special advisor and deputy press secretary to Kenney; and Brock Harrison, executive director of communications for the premier..“Now that it’s being brought out into the public eye, it exposes the tactics of bullying and intimidation used by this government,” said Guthrie..The United Conservative Party senior staffers, who aren’t elected by the people paying their hefty salaries, don’t hesitate to mock and belittle MLAs voted into office..It’s arrogant and odd behaviour considering that Kenney, amid a leadership review, faces a fight for his political life while up to 60,000 members are in the process of mailing in ballots until May 11..Numerous MLAs have called for him to resign..“It is this very approach in leadership style that has driven a wedge between caucus and executive causing opinions to solidify against Jason Kenney,” said Guthrie..Last week Rogers posted a video clip that compared UCP backbench critics to gyrating clowns..“He stated: ‘LOL was expecting something new here, but turns out it’s just the same old crew,’” said Guthrie..“This was in reference to (Calgary Sun columnist) Rick Bell’s article whereby 10 MLAs, 15% of the original caucus, stated they would not be voting for Premier Kenney in the upcoming leadership review.”.The tweet was removed — after it went viral..Fleming “chimed in” to share his views on the matter..“I have a feeling some folks in the media who continually boost the sad set of sour MLAs over and over again will be very surprised when mainstream conservatives have their say. It will be interesting to see the narrative they’ve tried to build for the last year crumble to pieces,” tweeted Fleming..“Here he was referring to the leadership review in which the party continually alters parameters to favour the premier in a manner that has deteriorated trust in the process,” said Guthrie..“But what’s notable is that this is a senior member of the premier’s communication staff who feels this correspondence is appropriate.”.Then Guthrie noted a post by Harrison commenting on the MLA’s April 15 Facebook post highlighting concerns about an RCMP investigation into the 2017 leadership race, and the ability to verify the authenticity of a surge in potentially illegal block membership purchases for the current leadership review..Tweeted Harrison: “It’s difficult to overstate how absolutely insane Guthrie’s conspiracy theory is. Total desperation.”.“I think it is safe to say with this type of media strategy it is easy to understand why the premier’s office is criticized for ineffective communications and why the premier himself has developed so many adversaries,” said Guthrie..“When you have so-called high-level staffers who feel that it is appropriate to attack elected officials it should be no surprise that conflict persists.”.Other Kenney staffers have compared critics to “Putin backers” who hold “personal grudges” and “fringe views.”.Guthrie’s not alone in speaking out..“It shouldn’t go unnoticed that some of the strongest voices against this bullying have come from women in our caucus.”.“This browbeating by administration goes unchecked by the premier because it supports his objective.”.“It’s no different from the left. In their mind, it’s OK to do things that are unethical or in poor taste if it a benefit to their cause or a means to their end.”.Instead of discouraging disrespectful treatment, Kenney leads by example..“He has referred to the very UCP members that elected him as lunatics, bugs, extremists.”.“And last week he tried gaslighting people into thinking that he was too soft in what was really a veiled threat to outspoken MLAs, stating that more discipline will be required.”.Instead of achieving unity, it either causes a backlash or promotes a “culture of fear.”.Rule by fear management styles don’t tend to work out well for people, said Guthrie..“I’ll use hockey coaches as an example. John Tortorella and Mike Keenan are well-known tough guy coaches … generally not liked by players.”.“They ruled with an iron fist. And it caused animosity, resentment, and hostility resulting in negative outcomes for their teams and later led to their dismissal.”.“Today, Tortorella is a third-string commentator on TNT, and Keenan is coaching in China.”.Kenney must wait until May 18 when the leadership vote result is announced to find out if he’s headed back into the premier’s office, or will have to get a full-time gig as a radio show host..Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
