The party is off to a good start. Now what?
I was sitting in a north Edmonton hotel ballroom with about 500 or so others last Saturday afternoon patiently waiting for the Wildrose Alliance party (WAP) to announce its new leader when I noticed the old guy sitting in front of me was surveying the room with a smile on his face.
We got to talking. His name was Mac and he’s the kind of guy who looked like he’d voted conservative his whole life which indeed he has. He had a face as wrinkled as an unmade bed meaty hands that were accustomed to doing the kind of work I wouldn’t dare attempt and a ratty old ball cap worn in that old-man style – sitting lopsided atop his head.
“There’s something happening here” he said to me with a slightly conspiratorial smile. Yep he said the WAP gathering reminded him of the early days of the Reform Party the western grassroots movement that changed the face of Canadian politics.
Here’s the kind of guy the Tories have counted on for 36 years of uninterrupted power a guy who always votes for a conservative-leaning party. Yet here he is working on forming a party that takes direct aim at the Conservatives.
Only time will tell if the WAP is the 21st century version of the Reform Party but it’s off to an impressive start.
With an overwhelming victory (6295 votes to 1905) for Danielle Smith over far-right-winger challenger Mark Dyrholm the WAP has an important piece of its evolution in place. Politicians always talk about the grassroots but without a leader to cling to those grassroots tend to shrivel and die. A Dyrholm leadership would have branded the party a fringe outfit with little populist appeal; this guy is wa-a-a-y out there. But with Smith – just 38 telegenic and already a bit of a media darling — there is a fresh right-wing party with an appealing new leader to challenge the Tories on their right flank.
I was expecting to find a room full of belt buckles and cowboy hats but this gathering wouldn’t have looked out of place at a Tory or Liberal convention. There was lots of grey hair but also lots of earnest-looking young professionals in suits lots of prosperous-looking middle-aged men and women lots of everything except minorities (I saw exactly one non-white face which is not to say there weren’t more but they were not noticeable).
There was no outward vibe of right-wing nuttiness.
I chatted with a twentysomething couple and asked them what it is about the WAP that appeals to them. They both said they were fiscal conservatives and were opposed to big government. I asked them why they didn’t support the Liberals and their answer was simple — they’re big government types just like the Conservatives. Since we were in public and they seemed nice I refrained from reminding them that the Liberals haven’t been in power in Alberta since 1921.
But they inadvertently pointed out a major hurdle the WAP faces. The fact the Liberals have no track record in Alberta doesn’t matter — Liberals are big spenders big government types and that’s all there is to it. Once your reputation is cemented in the public’s mind no amount of spin or rebranding can change it. The WAP is in a position to define itself before the public does and that is one of the biggest challenges Smith faces.
Albertans like right-wing parties (we’ve had nothing but right-wing parties in government for nearly 75 years) but not too far right. If the WAP goes all Rush Limbaugh they’re screwed.
While plenty of people inside and outside of the media will be prepared to paint the party as a far-right wing fringe Smith took the offensive. In her acceptance speech she said “Instead of fixating on how right-wing we should be let’s focus on how grassroots we can be.
“Our grassroots party is about common sense ideas timeless ideas that reflect the mainstream values of average Albertans."
Just what are these “timeless values?” The only piece of literature from the party available at the meeting included right-wing gripes like “remember when you didn’t have to worry about being dragged in front of a kangaroo court merely for saying what you believe?” complaints that “governments have been eating away at your freedoms” and a demand for an education system that “focuses on teaching real knowledge and life skills not just “feel good stuff”. In her speech Smith made three mentions of “private property rights” — one of those right-wing buzz phrases that speaks to the party’s core (I guess; I have no idea what it means) but isn’t the kind of thing neighbours talk about over the fence unless they’re in an argument about property.
Is the WAP the real thing or just the flavor of the month? They’re doing astonishingly well in the most recent public opinion polls but with a leader in place and lots of media attention they will be under scrutiny like never before. If the WAP goes too far right it will allow the Tories to paint themselves as moderate centrists. The Tories remember will do anything to win.
The WAP is at a critical juncture in its short history. If Smith can dampen any far-right proclivities the party has vastly improve its communication and present a “compassionate conservative” face to the electorate they just could be a game changer in Alberta politics.
Maurice Tougas is the former Liberal MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark.
