PHOTOS: Scenes from yesterday’s mirror-meme rally at the Legislature, including shots of NDP Finance Critic and former leader Brian Mason in full flight, above, and Alberta Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman, below him.

So much for Jim Prentice taking the advice to be like Ralph!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOne of the notable things about Ralph Klein was his ability to admit from time to time that he was wrong or had done something wrong.

It was part of the man’s charm, and one of the keys to his political success, as he most famously demonstrated after his slurred rant at the Herb Jamieson Centre men’s hostel in Edmonton on Dec. 12, 2001 – just another night of over-the-top drunkenness in a life that had seen a few of them – and the renowned apology that followed.

Two days after The Incident – in which a sloppy drunk Mr. Klein berated some of the hostel’s residents and threw pocket change at them before skedaddling in his government limo – the premier held a tearful news conference, apologized and promised to try to quit drinking.

Whether or not he actually quit was the topic of a certain amount of controversy at the time, but he was never again seen in public with a drink in his hand. As a result of the apparently heartfelt apology, ordinary Albertans forgave him, and lickety-split.Ledge3

This highlights a couple of differences with the latest occupant of Mr. Klein’s old office.

We wouldn’t expect a tightly controlled, impeccably groomed and gym-toned politician like Jim Prentice to show up snockered at the men’s shelter to berate the occupants for being poor, and that’s just as well, but he also seems to have a problem admitting fault when it would be the most appropriate and sensible thing to do.

In this, I suspect, Premier Prentice is following the advice of professional political advisors like the ones at Navigator Ltd. and on his own staff, who on the political right nowadays follow the precedent and advice of the U.S. Republicans and hold that a politician must never admit to being wrong, and must therefore never apologize for anything.

Ledge6To admit error – to flip-flop in the lexicon of American politics – is to show weakness, and weakness is blood in the water to cranky voters, or so goes the theory. Mr. Klein proved it was baloney, at least in Alberta.

Such fear of flip-floppery, though, would explain part of Mr. Prentice’s reluctance to apologize and thereby admit the obvious – that he insulted a lot of Albertans when he blamed them for the province’s current financial situation in his now-famous mirror moment last week. His exact words: “In terms of who is responsible, we need only look in the mirror.”

Half-heartedly in his defence, there would have been a certain amount of risk to the premier in saying sorry and admitting that it wasn’t ordinary Albertans who demanded the tax regime that has contributed mightily to the province’s present fiscal state, but the 43-year-old Progressive Conservative Government Mr. Prentice leads.

Blaming ordinary Albertans was, in fact, what Mr. Prentice was doing when he accused us of wanting the best of everything but not being prepared to pay what it really costs.Ledge4

After all, the key point in Mr. Prentice’s program for Alberta – presumably at the heart of his still-to-be-detailed Ten Year Plan – is maintaining by far the lowest business taxes in Canada, continuing to tilt the income tax field heavily in favour of the wealthy and giving away our resources to foreign energy companies.

Business-taxpayers, extremely rich people, foreign energy corporations and the market-fundamentalist “think tanks” and AstroTurf groups they bankroll support such policies, of course, and they are the sorts of people Mr. Prentice obviously likes to hang with.

But reasonably scientific polling shows such policies are not a priority for a significant majority of Albertans, although you can see why Mr. Prentice might be reluctant to admit it. After all, his claim is a key part of the yarn that his advisors have spun to preserve those policies in the face of oil prices that have, inconveniently but not unexpectedly, cycled lower.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAA poll by Environics Research Group in February 2013 showed 72 per cent of respondents said they favour returning to a progressive income tax and abandoning Alberta’s so-called flat tax.

Environics also reported 78 per cent of the poll’s respondents favoured higher taxes on corporations and high-income earners, and that 71 per cent agreed with the statement that Albertans are not getting their fair share from the sale of resources.

Still, an apology, however qualified, would have been a more diplomatic way to deal with the problem encountered suddenly by Mr. Prentice when he ad-libbed the remark about mirrors on a radio call-in show last Wednesday, and it would certainly have made the problem go away more swiftly.

Instead, the premier chose to pretend that he hadn’t really said what he said, that he didn’t mean it, and that he was taken out of context. A lawyer’s answer every one.

It’s important to remember that it is possible to be taken out of context, and journalists often do this, so it is a plausible excuse. But in the case of Mr. Prentice’s remark, the facts, his intentions and the context are all clear.Ledge10

He said it on the air and was heard by thousands of people. A recording of his remarks is still available from the CBC.

While only Mr. Prentice knows what he really meant, the meaning of his statement seems plain on its face, and moreover is consistent with the message box he’s been using for weeks.

And he was properly quoted at length by almost everyone who covered the story. His broader context is also clear. Again, there’s nothing different in this comment from what he’s been saying except that he made his meaning explicit, rather than implicit.

So the entire set of excuses does not wash.

Lerge7Under such circumstances, his failure to apologize has fuelled a popular meme – ordinary citizens literally holding up mirrors to mock and shame Mr. Prentice by reflecting back the economic sins of his PC government.

About 350 people* with hand mirrors – and a few daring ones with large wall mirrors – showed up on the steps of the Legislature yesterday afternoon, not bad for an event that was organized on social media over two days.

I suspect this will continue throughout the coming election campaign, with mirror toting citizens at every appearance Mr. Prentice makes.

It’s too late now, but it all could have been avoided with an apology, even a tearless one. But unlike Ralph Klein, bank vice-presidents, lawyers and former members of the Harper cabinet like Mr. Prentice don’t do apologies, do they?

This post also appears on Rabble.ca.

* I counted them off, as I’ve done with crowds for years, and I’m confident this number is very close. The Edmonton Journal, which consistently underestimates crowds at events I have attended, said 150. I assume this is the result of not knowing how to estimate the size of outdoor crowds, which always look smaller than they are, and not malice.

Join the Conversation

3 Comments

  1. It is pure and utter arrogance on the part of Jim Prentice.

    He reminds me of former Labour Minister and MLA for West Yellowhead, Ian Reid who was also infamous for his air of superiority and condescending attitude.

    When questioned by a constituent about the cost of a global tour to study changes to Alberta’s labour laws, Reid pulled a quarter out of his pocket, flipped it towards the surprised questioner and said “Here is your quarter back”.

    As with the mirror reference, the issue grew legs and resulted in many other voters writing in or calling asking for their quarter back. It culminated with an editorial cartoon in the local paper picturing a long line of voters waiting as Reid handed out quarters from a coin dispenser.

    Like Prentice, Reid was unrepentent and lost his seat in the next election.

  2. To state so succinctly what the root causes of Alberta’s fiscal problems are: “maintaining by far the lowest business taxes in Canada, continuing to tilt the income tax field heavily in favour of the wealthy and giving away our resources to foreign energy companies.” Well done Dave!

    And a trip down memory lane with THE incident was good too. Was it that long ago? I didn’t agree with most of his politics, but Ralph was in touch with the word regret on occasion, and that did indeed have public appeal.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.