BLUE STORM The Rise and Fall of Jason Kenney Edited by DUANE BRATT, RICHARD SUTHERLAND DAVID TARAS and BLUE STORM ARTS IN ACTION SERIES EDITOR: Jennifer Pettit, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Mount Royal University Co-published with Mount Royal University ISSN 2371-6134 (Print) ISSN 2371-6142 (Online) This series focuses on illuminating, promoting, or demonstrating the fundamental significance of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences to public well-being and contemporary society—culturally, spiritually, socially, politically, and economically—with the aim of raising awareness of the essential skills, perspectives, and critical understandings of societal issues these disciplines cultivate. No. 1 Understanding Atrocities: Remembering, Representing, and Teaching Genocide Edited by Scott W. Murray No. 2 Orange Chinook: Politics in the New Alberta Edited by Duane Bratt, Keith Brownsey, Richard Sutherland, and David Taras No. 3 Signs of Water: Community Perspectives on Water, Responsibility, and Hope Edited by Robert Boschman and Sonya L. Jakubec No. 4 Blue Storm: The Rise and Fall of Jason Kenney Edited by Duane Bratt, Richard Sutherland, and David Taras BLUE STORM The Rise and Fall of Jason Kenney Edited by DUANE BRATT, RICHARD SUTHERLAND and DAVID TARAS Arts in Action Series ISSN 2371-6134 (Print) ISSN 2371-6142 (Online) © 2023 Duane Bratt, Richard Sutherland, and David Taras University of Calgary Press 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 1N4 press.ucalgary.ca All rights reserved. This book is available in an Open Access digital format published under a CC-BY-NCND 4.0 Creative Commons license. The publisher should be contacted for any commercial use which falls outside the terms of that license. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Title: Blue storm : the rise and fall of Jason Kenney / edited by Duane Bratt, Richard Sutherland, and David Taras. Names: Bratt, Duane, 1967- editor. | Sutherland, Richard, 1964- editor. | Taras, David, 1950- editor. Series: Arts in action ; no. 4. Description: Series statement: Arts in action, 2371-6134 ; no. 4 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20220445184 | Canadiana (ebook) 20220445273 | ISBN 9781773854168 (softcover) | ISBN 9781773854175 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781773854205 (EPUB) | ISBN 9781773854199 (PDF) | ISBN 9781773854182 (Open Access PDF) Subjects: LCSH: Kenney, Jason, 1968- | LCSH: Premiers (Canada)—Alberta—Biography. | LCSH: United Conservative Party. | LCSH: Alberta. Legislative Assembly—Elections, 2019. | LCSH: Alberta—Economic conditions—21st century. | CSH: Alberta—Politics and government—2015- Classification: LCC FC3676.1.K46 B58 2023 | DDC 971.23/04092—dc23 The University of Calgary Press acknowledges the support of the Government of Alberta through the Alberta Media Fund for our publications. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. This book has been published with the help of a grant from Mount Royal University Library, through the Mount Royal University Library Open Access Fund. Cover image: Colourbox 6153926 and 8364348 Copyediting by Tania Therien Cover design, page design, and typesetting by Melina Cusano In memory of David Taras v CONTENTS Preface xi I. Setting the Scene xv Introduction: Jason Kenney and the Perfect Storm 1 Duane Bratt, Richard Sutherland, and Lisa Young II. The 2019 Election 17 1 Two Combative Leaders, Two Disparate Parties, and 19 One Bitter Campaign: The 2019 Alberta Election Graham Thomson 2 The Alberta 2019 Election Online: A Turn to Two Party 35 Electoral Dominance? Peter Malachy Ryan and Kate Toogood 3 Standard Error: The Polls in the 2019 Alberta Election 59 and Beyond Brooks DeCillia III. Inside the United Conservative Party 81 4 Divisions among Alberta’s “Conservatives” 83 David K. Stewart and Anthony M. Sayers 5 Albertans and the Fair Deal 105 Jared J. Wesley 6 Policing and Alberta’s United Conservative Party 127 Government Doug King vii 7 Playing the Populist Victim: Women, Gender, 145 Representation, and the United Conservative Party Melanee Thomas 8 Kenney’s Ride: Albertan Neo-Liberal Myths and the 169 Symbology of a Blue Dodge Ram Chaseten Remillard and Tyler Nagel IV. Oil and Gas Policies 187 9 Alberta’s Climate Policy: Public Kenney versus Private 189 Kenney Duane Bratt 10 Jason Kenney, Energy, and Pipelines in the 2019 Alberta 211 Election: A Study in Hubris Jean-Sébastien Rioux 11 Just Our Facts: The Energy War Room’s Adventures in 233 Branded Content Brad Clark V. Alberta’s Fiscal Situation 257 12 The Long Slide towards Fiscal Reckoning: Managing 259 Alberta’s Finances in an Age of Decline Trevor Tombe 13 Always More Than It Seems: Rural Alberta and the 281 Politics of Decline Roger Epp 14 Cultural Industries under the United Conservative 301 Party Richard Sutherland viii Contents VI. Health Care, Education, and Public Sector Policies 319 15 Bitter Battles: The United Conservative Party’s War on 321 Health Care Workers Gillian Steward 16 Education and the United Conservative Party of Alberta 341 Charles F. Webber 17 Riding the Roller Coaster: Post-Secondary Education in 361 Alberta under Kenney Lisa Young 18 Labour in the Time of COVID 385 Lori Williams VII. COVID in Alberta and Ontario 413 19 Comparing the Kenney and Ford Governments 415 Jonathan Malloy 20 “With Comorbidities”: The Politics of COVID-19 and 435 the Kenney Government Lisa Young VIII. Conclusion 467 21 Conclusion: States of Uncertainty 469 Duane Bratt and Richard Sutherland Contributors 477 Index 483 Contents ix