MORTON: Alberta's next chapter has begun and it's being written by the next generation of Alberta leaders

Some people say Ted Morton was the best premier that Alberta never had. Certainly, the University of Calgary professor — a leading light in the so-called "Calgary School" of political philosophy — brought his principled conservatism to the government of Alberta as a three-times cabinet minister and Senator-elect during the early years of this century. He was also a favourite to win the premier-ship in 2006 when Ralph Klein’s retirement sparked a three-way race between himself, Jim Dinning and the ultimate winner, Ed Stelmach. Morton would have used the premiership to advance elements of the Firewall Letter, as well restoring fiscal balance to Alberta’s finances.In the following extract, Morton offers an optimistic reflection upon Alberta politics today and his hopes that what he wanted to accomplish might be accomplished under the leadership of Premier Danielle Smith. His autobiography, ‘Strong and Free: My Journey in Alberta Politics,’ will be available in Alberta bookstores, starting this Wednesday."In 2019, Kenney led the UCP to a new majority government. With the PCs and Wildrose parties now united — i.e., no more vote-splitting — Kenney crushed the NDP, winning 63 seats and 55% of votes. A central issue in this election was Kenney’s commitment to hold a referendum to abolish the federal equalization program.Kenney kept this campaign promise. To minimize costs, the referendum was not held until Alberta’s next municipal elections, October 2020. When the votes were counted, 62% supported the proposal to abolish the federal Equalization Program.A second catalyst for Kenney’s stronger challenges to Ottawa was the Liberals’ victory in the October 2019 federal election On November 9 —Kenney announced the creation of the “Fair Deal Panel,” chaired by none other than Preston Manning. The panel’s mandate was to determine Albertans’ support for the reforms proposed in the 2001 Firewall Letter. Seven months later, in May 2020, the Fair Deal Panel released its report. Its recommendations included:Cancelling Alberta’s contract with the RCMP and creating our own Alberta Police Force, like Ontario and Quebec already have.Collecting our own personal income taxes, like Quebec and now Saskatchewan already do.Withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan and creating an Alberta Pension Plan, something Quebec already does.Suddenly, the Alberta Agenda was now the Government of Alberta’s agenda. But then COVID-19 hit, and all of this was put on hold. Two years later, in 2022, Kenney was pushed out as PC leader for his handling — or mishandling — of the COVID-19 lockdowns.Ironically, the anti-Kenney revolt was led by many of same former Reform Party/Wildrose members who had helped him win the UCP leadership in 2019. But then, this is basically what happened to me a decade earlier. It was my former leadership supporters — now Wildrosers — who took me down in 2012.In a hotly-contested election to choose a new leader — there were seven candidates — Danielle Smith came out of political exile to win. A central component of her campaign was her promise to enact an “Alberta Sovereignty Act” to protect Albertans from hostile federal policies. This strategy worked. And the new Smith government’s first piece of legislation, Bill 1, was the Alberta Sovereignty Act.While the Sovereignty Act helped Smith win the UCP leadership race, it was a potential liability in the upcoming provincial election, already scheduled for May 2023. To moderate voters — including many who had voted for the UCP in 2019 — it seemed overly aggressive. But notwithstanding sharp criticisms from the NDP and much of the media, Smith and the UCP prevailed, winning 49 seats, more than enough to form a new majority government.How this will work out in next four years remains to be seen. But the Smith majority government clearly marks a turning point in Alberta politics. For the first time, Albertans have a provincial conservative government that explicitly recognizes Alberta’s chronic vulnerability to harmful federal Liberal policies, and that embraces reforms that would better protect Albertans’ interests.The Alberta Sovereignty Act is now law. This culminates a thirty-year struggle to persuade Alberta’s provincial conservative party to support the reforms that Albertans have been voting for at the federal level.In her election night victory speech, Smith promised to defend Albertans against harmful federal policies, and explicitly challenged the Trudeau Liberal government to back off on their pending climate change policies — policies that would clearly hurt Alberta’s oil, gas and electricity sectors. The next day in a radio interview Smith was more explicit. Referencing Ottawa’s proposed net zero policy for provincial electricity grids and a hard new cap on oilsands emissions, Smith warned: “There’s a big fight coming up.”In one sense, this is history repeating itself. In the 1920s, Premier Brownlee and his UFA government had to fight with Ottawa to gain provincial control of Alberta’s natural resources. In the 1980s, Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed went to political war with Ottawa over Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program and won the addition of section 92A to the constitution — explicitly affirming exclusive provincial jurisdiction over the development of natural resources. Alberta has never won any concessions from Ottawa by asking politely. We have had to fight for them.But in another sense, Premier Smith and her newly elected UCP majority government are unprecedented. It’s been a long march, but there is a historical line — covered with blood, sweat and tears — from my 2006 leadership campaign to Danielle Smith’s 2023 victory. The same reforms that were on the periphery of Alberta provincial politics twenty years ago are now front and centre. And so are some the key players.Almost all the people in UCP’s 2023 “war room” were involved in my 2006 leadership campaign. Rob Anderson, Danielle Smith’s top advisor, was then a law student at U of A in 2006, and he organized our campus membership sales. (His father, Calgary lawyer Robert Anderson, was on my 2006 fundraising and steering committee.) Another second-generation player was Lauren Armstrong, whose father, Sam Armstrong, was my 2006 campaign director. Lauren is now with Navigator, the influential national consulting company. Rob Griffith, Mat Gelinas, Bill Bewick and Dustin van Vugt — all key members of my 2006 campaign — were also in the UCP 2023 war room. And of course, their boss, now Premier and party leader, Danielle Smith had been one of the eighteen people at the 2003 meeting in Red Deer where I first announced my intention to run for the PC leadership when Klein resigned.[The Smith UCP victory] reflects a qualitative change in Alberta politics: that the Western alienation/Fair Deal movement is here to stay. In Alberta politics, there have always been angry populist rump parties that could garner ten percent of the votes in provincial elections. But both the national and local media could and did dismiss them as single-issue wingnuts that lacked in any intellectual substance. With the new United Conservative Party, this is no longer possible.There are direct links, both in term of policies and personnel, between the UCP and the so-called “Calgary School.” (The same is true for the federal Conservative Party of Canada.)Starting in the 1990s, the “Calgary School” has been recognized nationally and even internationally as an important “influencer” in both Alberta and Canadian politics. More recently, our voice has been strengthened by the policy scholarship of Dr. Jack Mintz, founder and director of the new School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.In 2020, I co-edited a book with Mintz and Tom Flanagan — Moment of Truth: How to Think About Alberta’s Future — which has become the handbook of the Fair Deal movement. In addition to our own chapters, Moment of Truth includes chapters written by recognized, senior scholars and leaders from across Canada. It cannot be dismissed as “fringe,” and neither can the UCP. Viewed from a different perspective, the Alberta sovereignty movement now has what Quebec has had for the past forty years.The mainstream media found the Smith-UCP victory alarming. And they should. The Fair Deal movement is here to stay. Not only will Smith have the solid backing of her caucus, but also support from some allies in the rest of Canada. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is clearly a soulmate. His government has already enacted the Saskatchewan First Act and plans to start collecting personal income taxes. Saskatchewan acted before Alberta to protect parents’ rights, as has New Brunswick. The Quebec government — always a staunch defender of provincial rights — has recently supported Alberta’s constitutional challenges to both Bill C-69 and the federal carbon tax.And then there is the man who now leads the Conservative Party of Canada and intends to replace Trudeau as Canada’s next Prime Minister — Pierre Poilievre. Poilievre broke with precedent and publicly endorsed Smith and the UCP prior to the May 2023 provincial election. This was not a surprise to many of us. Both Smith and Poilievre began their political careers in the heady Reform Party politics of Alberta during the 1990s. They have both been part of the long march. They both understand that the West wants in, not out. But they also understand that we want a new deal — a fair deal — from the rest of Canada. The next chapter has begun. And it will be written by the next generation of Alberta leaders." .Ted Morton's autobiography, ‘Strong and Free: My Journey in Alberta Politics,’ will be available in Alberta bookstores, starting this Wednesday, September 25.