After nearly a year gathering dust on a shelf, Kenney Government proclaims politician recall law and its sister act
In a press release yesterday, the United Conservative Party Government announced the Recall Act and its sister act, the Citizen Initiative Act, would both come into effect on April 7.
Cabinet orders yesterday filed by Justice Minister Tyler Shandro made the announcement official.
The Recall Act and the Citizen Initiative Act were passed by the Alberta Legislature on June 15, 2021. They received Royal Assent on June 17.
They have been gathering dust on a shelf somewhere in the Legislature Building ever since, unable to be used against Mr. Kenney or abrasive ministers who had made themselves unpopular like Kaycee Madu, who sponsored the bill as justice minister when it was introduced, or Mr. Shandro. Both ministers have been shuffled like a deck of cards.
But under the heading “giving Albertans a stronger voice in democracy,” Premier Jason Kenney, Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver, and Mr. Shandro were all assigned anodyne quotes in yesterday’s press release about how this was yet another promise made, promise kept.
The two acts will give Albertans “greater say in the democratic process” and “are among the most important democratic reforms in Alberta history,” Premier Kenney said in his official quotes. Both these claims are pretty dubious propositions when you actually think about the legislation.
Back in May 2021, the NDP Opposition made the case that the Recall Act did the opposite of what it was supposed to do. In fact, said Edmonton-Whitemud MLA Rakhi Pancholi at the time, it “makes it effectively impossible to recall current UCP MLAs.” (Emphasis added.)
The act “is toothless and fake because the UCP knows that a genuine recall act could put many UCP MLAs in danger,” tweeted Calgary-Bhullar-McCall MLA Irfan Sabir the same day. “Jason Kenney thinks he can deceive Albertans simply by passing a bill that says ‘recall’ on it.”
The NDP MLAs’ claim was based on the fact that since the bar in the Recall Act seems too high to ever get an MLA recall motion onto a ballot, it renders the whole process meaningless except as a way of generating a few headlines and leaving inattentive voters with the impression that they’re the boss.
The act gives the organizer of a recall petition for an MLA only 60 days to gather signatures from 40 per cent of the eligible voters in their constituency – so, for example, you’d need to get nearly 20,000 legal signatures on petitions in two months to skid Calgary-Acadia’s MLA, who happens to be Mr. Shandro.
The Recall Act also applies to elected municipal officials and school trustees. For municipal officials, a petition organizer would require signatures from 40 per cent of the population in the municipality or ward.
For school board trustees, the organizer would have 120 days to get signatures from 40 per cent of the eligible voters in the school district or ward, perhaps a somewhat more manageable task.
Once that hurdle has been passed, though, a simple majority would theoretically be enough to remove the politician.
As for the Citizen Initiative Act, which the government used to call an “on-ramp to the legislative process,” it would supposedly let petitioners force the enactment of new laws or amendments to old ones.
It would require promoters of petitions to add or amend a law to gather signatures from about 280,000 people in two thirds of all electoral districts within 90 days. A constitutional referendum would require about 560,000 signatures in the same time frame.
So this still sounds like grandstanding unlikely to result in any meaningful change not desired by the government of the day, which has the tools in the bill to checkmate any proposal it doesn’t want enacted.
Expect this act to be used only by right-wing lobby groups working hand-in-glove with right-wing governments that don’t want to look too responsible for ideologically motivated legislation. Taxes to support public transit would be a particularly vulnerable target.
As their popularity declined with Alberta voters through the pandemic, Mr. Kenney and his MLAs came under steady fire for not bringing the legislation into force.
Combined with the steady repetition of the promise made/promise kept mantra by Mr. Kenney, his ministers and MLAs, yesterday’s development seems likely to fuel more rumours that an early election is in the wings if the premier manages to survive his April 9-May 14 leadership review mail-in vote.
Should a government MLA face a serious recall threat after the next election, Alberta voters can expect the Recall Act to disappear just as fast as one with the same name did in 1937, when Premier William Aberhart found himself facing a revolt by his own Social Credit supporters.
Alberta’s original Recall Act had been one of Mr. Aberhart’s election promises in 1935, and it must have seemed like a good idea at the time.
When it was turned against him in his Okotoks-High River Riding, though, it was swiftly repealed by his supporters in the Legislature. In the next general election, Mr. Aberhart prudently switched to a more reliable urban riding in Calgary.
I’m not buying this gimmick by the UCP at all. Why? Because I think it’s just going to be a tool by the UCP to further create a one party state in Alberta, and be used to remove any politicians, municipal, or provincial, that oppose what the UCP is doing. The UCP’s claims that they are supporting democracy is a stretch, because we know how they got into power was most likely from not abiding by the rules.
Can’t you just imagine the lies these fools will be telling their ignorant supporters about the NDP? As the former MLAs taught me these Reformers will do anything or try anything to get re-elected. I certainly believe them and it’s ignorant seniors they target.
During the Klein years I was a card carrying conservative and a card carrying liberal using it to attend meetings to see what lies these reformers were spreading. At everyone I intended about 85 % of audience were seniors believing every lie they fed them. The other 15 % were like me fed up with what they were doing to us , and the lies they were spreading.
The liberals were sitting back doing nothing figuring the screw up by Klein would automatically get them elected apparently not realizing how many stupid seniors there were and so easy to fool. The problem was many conservatives were saying, like my father was, I only vote conservative and Klein isn’t a conservative so I won’t vote. They wouldn’t help us kick him out. Klein’s father Phil and daughter Angie tried to help us.
The biggest problem with recall legislation, in the many forms what it has taken, is that it is impossible to get the process going.
The timelines are too short to implement the process, the standards for recall are often too high to breach, and the mechanism to resistance the recall action takes precedence over the recall itself. The RPC had there own notion of recall that was so convoluted that it could never work. Finally, it was accepted that the only effective recall was election, every four years.
Worse, the partisan protections that are designed to protect incumbent MLAs or MPs are always effective. Rod Anders’ own riding was trying to have him recalled since he was first elected. But the process for an internal recall of a RPC/CRAP/CPC MP was filled with hurdles and amazing inconveniences designed to just make the whole process too much to endure. Anders and his special brand of crazy stuck around, until he finally lost his nomination, in the aftermath of his riding’s reorganization. It took nearly twenty years to kick Anders to the curb — there’s a recall process for you.
Kenney sold his loyal MLAs on being able to protect them from their own stupid shite. Any claims of effective recall legislation being offered is just more gaslighting meant to save Kenney’s own hide.
Is there some new sort of strategy to keep Jason Kenney in place as premier? I can see it now, as he goes door-knocking, telling people that there’s no danger in electing a dud, because duds can be recalled. But why waste a vote and elect a dud at all?
Will this be another one of those things that people can “sign” without their knowledge or consent? Will children age 14 and up be allowed to sign? This being Alberta, the questions are reasonable. Twitter is on fire now that people have realized their names could be used surreptitiously to purchase UCP memberships and vote at the leadership review.
Another bit of tricky stick handling by Vladimir Kenney. Had they enacted this a year ago, there is a good possibility someone may have taken them up on the offer and tried to kick Kenney out.
Just proves again and again Kenney has more tricks up his sleeve than a magician on Las Vegas Boulevard.
I suspect that many Albertans have alternate, more effective recall plan in mind.
A general election.
I suppose a bit of UCP housekeeping here, to proclaim these laws. It seems unusual this wasn’t done sooner, but I suspect Kenney and crew were afraid this would have been used against them despite the high threshold. Now that he has a leadership review vote, it makes this a bit more academic for him, which perhaps leads to another point related to the recall law – there are already various other ways to deal with an unpopular leader. Of course, some parties have a survival instinct, some don’t and some leaders are more determined than others to hang on any way possible. So I suppose it remains to be seen how effective the UCP leadership review vote is in dealing with their unpopular leader.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the recall law is getting the threshold to trigger it right. Make it too low and you are faced with a lot of nuisance recall votes and all the costs, time and energy that go into that. It could become a big distraction to governing. Make it too high, as seems to be the case here, and the law becomes somewhat meaningless. I suspect an appropriate window for the threshold, while subject to some debate, is actually fairly narrow. I also wonder if it is really needed, there are other ways to deal with MLAs, cabinet members and leaders who do something embarrassing, offensive, stupid or illegal. Often with MLAs or cabinet members it is in the self interest of parties to remove such people from their position, or the person may be persuaded to resign. However interestingly, this doesn’t seem to have been done much by the UCP.
Perhaps with its high threshold, this recall law will end up being a somewhat benign thing that will just be left in place by future governments. However, given the contentious leadership review process, could it become a weapon for the anti Kenney faction of the UCP and much like with Aberhart, turned against its proponent? Now wouldn’t it be ironic if Kenney narrowly survived a leadership review vote, an internal party process that may be easier for him to control, but fail to survive a recall vote?
Since it seems that there is a sucker born every minute in Alberta, more of the routine smoke and mirrors from the UCP all mouth and no trousers, 3 Card Monte gang; where, “The mark has no chance whatsoever of winning, at any point in the game.” is simply business as usual for the habitual UCP, Jason Kenney style hustlers.
Apparently, the suckers like it that way.
BC has had recall legislation for some time. I read somewhere (here? CBC?) there have been a couple of MLAs actually recalled, and at least one who quit his job before his constituents could fire him. So there’s at least a small chance this this thing could actually work–if, repeat IF, enough voters get mad enough.
But the UCP version? Nah. Just another “dumb, useless promise made; dumb, useless promise kept.” It’s the usual sleight-of-hand by Kenney & the Klowns to distract the gullible from the dumpster fire rollin’ down the highway toward Red Deer…oh, wait, that’s been cancelled. It’s gonna be a million mailbox fires all over Oilberduh.
The so-called “Citizen Initiative” thing is more likely to produce some kind of result, but I’d be astonished if it was anything good for ordinary citizens. The requirement for signatures from two-thirds of all electoral districts is a pretty high bar to clear. Still, less than 5% of the population (say 10% of adults) isn’t that many if you’re just asking folks to agree that, “Yeah, let’s make ’em squirm, I’ll sign that!” Remember, friends and neighbours, it’s easier to get people to hate than to get them to love.
This latest announcement is merely more smoke and mirrors, another attempt to distract the ever-angry Base from their latest mad at Jason Kenney.
These reform party idiots just don’t get it. Daniel Smith wants back in like Brian Jean and wants to become leader of the UCP. How many times does she have to be defeated before she wakes up? It shows how stupid they consider Albertans to be, sadly they are right.
Both recall and “citizen initiatives” are unhealthy for our parliamentary democracy and good governance.
– Recall, if effectively implemented, could run the risk that elected officials might find themselves voting in their own, narrow parochial interests — and those of their constituents — rather than for the greater good of the body politic. If a legislative or budgetary measure is in the public interest at the provincial or national level, but may be detrimental to some local interests, will MLAs or MPs be reluctant to support it for fear of being recalled by a subset of angry, motivated constituents?
– “Citizen initiatives” fly in the face of responsible government, which is a foundational principle of our parliamentary democracy. What is the fate of a government that holds a referendum on an issue that should be a matter of confidence for the legislature or the House of Commons? They also fly in the face of the principle of legislative or Parliamentary control of the public purse: as we have seen in the States, government by referendum can starve governments of the revenues they need to operate, without the legislative branch having any say in the matter.
The American system is already paralyzed by its lack of responsible government: no Canadian government at either the federal or provincial level has ever needed to “shut down” over the failure of a budget presented by the Executive to be approved by Parliament — because when a budget is defeated here, the government falls and the people get the final say, not through an irresponsible referendum but through a general election.
Both of these are bad ideas improperly imported from south of the border, and should just be sent back there along with their proponents.