Jason Kenney’s decision to step down as leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) once a new leader is chosen signals the pending end of one of the most tumultuous, controversial and divisive regimes seen in Alberta in many years.
Whether Kenney’s departure less than a year out from the next provincial election will end up being good or bad for the party he founded remains very much an open question.
What is known is that at least one of Kenney’s key initiatives over the past three years, a project he pushed very hard for in the legislature and in the community, should now be reconsidered in light of his sudden resignation.
The proposal that the province should form a provincial police service to replace the RCMP has been controversial from the start and remains so today.
For his part, Kenney has said many times that a provincial police service would be more responsive to the needs of Albertans.
“Why do we have to have our provincial police service run out of Ottawa?” Kenney told the Albertan only a few weeks ago. “Why can’t we have a provincial police commission on behalf of civilians overseeing the operations and the governance? Why can’t we have provincial laws for police complaints apply to a provincial police service?”
However, despite Kenney’s repeated attempts to convince Albertans that forming a provincial police service would be a good move, many opponents of the proposal have remained wholly unconvinced.
For example, the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and the Alberta Municipalities Association – which together represent hundreds of urban and rural municipalities – have both officially come out against the proposal, calling it a bad idea for Alberta.
“Based on the arguments provided by the province so far, there’s simply no evidence that a switch to a provincial police service will be worth the cost and disruption,” said Rural Municipalities of Alberta president Paul McLauchlin.
“There is no evidence provided as to why these (updates to policing) cannot be implemented within the existing RCMP arrangement.”
It’s true the government has consulted with some stakeholders about the provincial police service proposal and has announced plans to undertake a public survey.
Yet, with ordinary Albertans having so far been given no opportunity to voice opinions on the proposal, the timeline for moving the project forward before the May 2023 election has become very tight.
The post-Jason Kenney UPC will need to focus all its energies on guiding Alberta through the very turbulent economic times facing the province. And that means the controversial provincial police service proposal should and must to be shelved before it takes up any more public time or money.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
