Actions, as the saying goes, speak louder than words.
Before becoming Alberta’s premier, Jason Kenney sang a lovely tune espousing the need to “raise the bar of civility and decorum in the legislature.”
That was a promise the now premier made to supporters last year during a speech after he was elected MLA of the Calgary-Lougheed riding.
More recently, however, the UCP leader has been spinning different stories after facing stiff criticism from a stunt he pulled during a late debate on a contentious bill to erode labour rights that will allow the government to halt union wage negotiations.
Announcing massive tax cuts for profitable billion-dollar corporations requires no debate, and apparently, neither does a slap-in-the-face bill to workers. And don’t expect the UCP MLA’s to lead by example by offering to freeze or even roll back their six-figure compensations, generous benefits and pensions, which are among the highest in the country.
But I digress.
After gleefully distributing earplugs to members of his caucus, Kenney initially claimed the clearly intentional slight was merely in jest.
Later, Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Jason Nixon reportedly declared during question period that no one had actually plugged their ears.
But even if no one among the UCP’s ranks put the earplugs in, which members of the Opposition contest, the mere act of distributing them was not in good-faith.
Then, confusing the matter even further, Kenney eventually stepped away from his original “it was just a joke” defence and completely changed his story. Apparently, the premier says he was supposedly acting to defend one of his members who was suffering from tinnitus and was being subjected to a shouting NDP member.
Yet even if the premier’s dubious claims of tinnitus are to be taken seriously, why then was every member given earplugs, instead of just the one with a legitimate medical condition?
And perhaps even more importantly, why have so many completely different versions of the same incident been spun in the face of backlash?
Even the house speaker, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper, agreed the NDP was right to be upset over the earplug stunt. But he stopped short of finding Nixon in contempt for deliberately misleading the house.
If nothing else, this debacle is a demonstrably far cry from past promises to restore — nay “raise the bar” — on decorum and civility.
Regardless of the premier’s thoughts on the Opposition’s tactics, he should put his money where his mouth is and take the high road, refraining at all costs from resorting to such disrespectfully childish theatrics.
