Peace River MLA Dan Williams’ distasteful display of beer guzzling on the floor of Alberta’s Legislature last week is just another embarrassing episode in the United Conservative Party’s sophomoric obsession with consumption of alcohol that seems to date back to the selection of Jason Kenney as the party’s first leader.
Mr. Williams, parachuted into his safe rural riding in northwestern Alberta after serving Mr. Kenney as a political aide in Ottawa back in the days the former premier was the federal minister of defence, no doubt had plenty of opportunities to absorb his former boss’s attitude about booze.
One imagines that when he’s not drinking in public Mr. Williams would prefer a better class of tipple than the politically correct Alberta Genuine Draft he guzzled in the chamber while the cameras rolled, supposedly in tribute to the Royal Canadian Legion whose necktie he was wearing at the time.
You’d never know about Mr. Williams’ history in the nation’s capital from his remarkably uninformative official biography on the Legislative Assembly’s website. You’d almost think he never did anything before running for office but work in the gravel pit in La Crete, the hamlet of 4,000 or so souls he and his wife call home.
Mr. Williams certainly shares Mr. Kenney’s opinions about reproductive rights – they’re both against them – as well as his new boss Danielle Smith’s hostility to measures taken to control the spread of COVID-19. This seems to have stood him in good stead with both leaders.
Perhaps Mr. Kenney’s attitude about booze stretched back to the late Nineties, when he was a member of the so-called “Snack Pack,” the group of not-exactly-svelte young Reform Party MPs including Rob Anders and Rahim Jaffer who specialized in heckling Liberal ministers. That, in turn, was a reference to the “Rat Pack” of Liberals, who played a similar role in opposition to Brian Mulroney’s Conservative government, although without the Reformers’ apparent affinity for caloric intake.
Then again, maybe the displays of boozing had their origins in Ontario Conservative Doug Ford’s successful if misleading Buck-a-Beer campaign in 2018.
Regardless, embarrassing drinking has been front and centre ever since The Two Jasons, Kenney and Nixon, recorded themselves in a 2019 in a video toasting each other and the monarch with cans of beer and declaring an end to the “war on fun,” as they termed consumption of alcohol in public parks.
Since then we’ve had 2021’s “Shields Up Scandal” of out-of-control boozing and associated bad behaviour behind locked doors in the Legislature Building’s cabinet offices; the boozy mid-pandemic Sky Palace Patio Party the same year that featured cheap Irish whisky and contributed to the downfall of Mr. Kenney; and this year’s day drinking with Dale and Larry video wherein Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally and his pal Larry touted a plan to serve beer in convenience stores.
Still, when it comes to disrespect for the institutions of government, young Mr. Williams’ chug-a-lug on the floor of the Legislature was unique, and Speaker Nathan Cooper’s mild rebuke of the MLA only for using a prop in the Chamber sets a troubling precedent that’s bound to be repeated.
By sound tradition, the only officer of the Mother of Parliaments in Westminster permitted to imbibe alcohol in the House of Commons is the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and then only during the Budget Speech.
Here in Canada, in theory if not in historical practice, no alcohol may be consumed anywhere on Parliament Hill, let alone in the House of Commons or the Senate.
A legislative chamber is a workplace, after all.
Well, except in Alberta, apparently.
Just when you thought the UCP was making its best effort to appear more respectable in anticipation of the upcoming election, they have apparently slipped back into bad old behavior patterns. It seems day drinking is back in fashion with a vengeance!
I previously thought this sophomoric behaviour was something tied to Kenney’s snack pack, those who never grew up and the next generation they were mentoring and might go away under new management. Well, apparently not. I suppose Premier Smith who sometimes claims to be a libertarian, can claim consistency with this anything goes behavior. Or perhaps, like our previous family values Premier who also had no children, she has not developed the skill of reigning in unruly juvenile behavior.
For a supposedly free Enterprise party, it always amazes me how many conservative politicians seem to start at quite a young age and stick at it. So much for private sector experience. In fairness, I suppose it is the best paying job they might get. I also suppose it pays well enough to buy plenty of cheap booze. Lastly, this probably also explains the quality of some of the decisions the UCP makes.
Oh for the good old days when Ralph saved some of his drinking for later in the day and in bars or restaurants out amongst the people. Despite the populist slant, the current day drinking crowd in their offices and the assembly has a more restricted club feel about it.
Hey, who are you kidding. Ralph was well known to be sloshed at night sittings. But then this is is a Canadian tradition John A. , Mitch Hepburn depression premier of Ontario, there are probably more.
Former: As I said, the rules were always honoured in the breach on Parliament Hill and the windy banks of the North Saskatchewan River. Of course alcoholic MPs sipped a wee dram now and then in the privacy of their offices on the Hill. What’s different in this case, of course, is that the MLA in question is grossly violating the tradition of decorum on the floor of the House without so much as a nod to the rules while the Speaker, in effect, doers nothing and says little. This is only going to get worse. DJC
I know that many times Klein would be discovered passed out at his desk with an empty bottle beside him and they would have to phone someone to come and get him
Puzzled by your reference to “cheap Irish whiskey” — could you read the label? Are you a connoisseur?
As to “no alcohol on Parliament Hill”: I was in the Parliamentary Press Gallery 1969-74, and in those days the clerks were our bartenders. MPs, ministers, and especially their political staffers would drop in regularly for a cold one and some informal chat. It was the most open “secret” imaginable, with pushcarts of beer cases being regularly delivered.
I gather that at some point in the intervening years, the bar shut down. I also recall seeing that the government staff for the gallery has somehow grown to 13 from the two clerks in my day. Scandalous!
The Irish Whiskey the boys’ were drinking that day and is the same Irish Whiskey I drink when I have a hankering. JJ&S. It’s the same Irish Whiskey they were unloading when Joey was killed in the great 1955 movie ” On the Waterfront.” It’s good Irish Whiskey in my opinion…but cheap. You see they were drinking the regular whiskey with the regular label. JJ&S also sells the black label,red label etc. Of course as we all know the price goes UP accordingly. To say the whiskey is ” cheap ” isn’t refering so much about the whiskey but rather the drunken, covid law breaking lout MLA’s who were caught drinking it.
Sine Metu
I see the use of alcohol by our “leaders” as a minor offense, the crime is what they have done to the legislature. They have changed a place of debate and majority opinion to a theater where actors play to the electorate. Beer, ear plugs, canned answers repeated over and over again, all are props in the theater and nothing more. The legislature has become a place that is all about numbers, majority. When you are in the majority your opinion counts, you don’t have to discuss, negotiate, debate. You win the argument by strength of numbers not the strength of your argument. That is the crime.
With the world on the brink of nuclear Armageddon and financial collapse not to mention we’re all going to sink into the sea any minute (thanks climate change), Mr Williams is only doing what any sensible man would do in these circumstances. So lay off him.
What aboutism deluxe
As Sargent Hulka would say ” Lighten up Francis “
One of the first bits of wisdom mentors will tell new teachers is to set a strict tone at the beginning of the school year. Once set, you can ease off a bit later, but it is really hard to tighten things back up if you start too easy going.
In retrospect, I believe this is advice Jason Kenney would have been wise to follow when he first became premier. When the new legislature first sat down after the 2019 election, Kenney was the leader of 63 government MLAs, of which 47 had never sat in the legislature before. So what kind of tone did Kenney set for his new MLAs who were still sitting in awe of the place? A month into the first sitting he hands out earplugs – essentially making a mockery of the place. I do wonder how much the earplug incident contributed to the ‘Shields Up’ gang attitude that they could do whatever they wanted, with impunity.
Bob: Sources with knowledge of bottle shapes say it was Jameson’s Irish. The event went to the trouble of publishing a much blown up image of the bottle. Sources with knowledge of Irish whiskey say it’s cheap. Perhaps we’ll just have to agree to disagree. DJC
Green bottle with a red cap appears to be Jamesons. The same characteristics as the bottle in the cabinet to the left and rear of Dreeshen Jr. in picture he posted of himself with what looked like a polystyrene cooler on his desk.
I thought Jason Kenney described it as being ‘budget’. As I remember it was the large econo size bottle.
They’ve sunken to such depths of depravity that it’s hard to say what they’ll do next in the legislature. Maybe screen a porno flick, because misogyny and “props”?
Obviously they consider their base hard-core addicts. The problem for Dan Williams and the rest of the known UCP boozehounds caught up in various drinking scandals is that this is not a gravel company out in the sticks where no one is watching. Alberta is essentially a large corporation with billions of dollars moving in and out. Take the $20B handout to oil companies for well cleanup, or the billions gambled away on a pipeline bet that imploded. How many of these impetuous decisions were alcohol-addled?
Contempt is the UCP mantra. Remember the MLA who said the UCP intended to drain the treasury? Between their day-drinking and incompetence, that dream of theirs is coming to fruition. This is not the behavior of competent executives. The legislature is a bar, and they belly-up to it while the province goes belly up. Would you want your banker behaving this way?
I suspect soon one of the retiring UCP MLAs will set up a 7-11 franchise in the Legislature rotunda and Members will be able to imbibe at will.
It looks like Dan Williams is letting beer run down his chin from the corners of his mouth. Very poor technique.
Wasn’t the Snack Pack also known as The Lardy Boys?
This is as disgusting as it gets. Little children from an elementary school were visiting the Legislature that day, and that is what they saw. The UCP seem to be emulating their hero, Ralph Klein, right down to the love of booze that he had. Ralph Klein made a fool of himself many times, because he was drunk. The love of booze, the very bad oil royalty rates, and bad corporate tax rates, the pricey shenanigans, the disregard for public services, such as healthcare and education, increased utility and insurance costs, and the list could go on. Albertans never seen to learn when they support these pretend conservatives and Reformers.
Plenty of decorum if you like gladhanding and lavishing allotments of treasury bills in Calgary why not re-open the trading post trade market for that #Unity_Beer FYI- ear buds supplied by OHS #ableg
Beer chugging in the Alberta Legislature, although groundbreaking, is not enough. A man could enhance his reputation and feel super strong by downing higher octane when the cameras are rolling. To inspire Mr. Williams and likeminded UCP members, I offer this ditty from our friends to the south.
“They call it that good old mountain dew
And them that refuse it are few
I’ll hush up my mug if you fill up my jug
With that good old mountain dew.
Well my Uncle Snort he sawed off and short
He measures four foot two
But feels like a giant when you give him a pint
Of that good old mountain dew.
In other words, possessing all of the streotypical qualities necessary to “Make Alberta Great Again”, with another round of bathos on the house for good measure:
1. “I dreamed I was in a Hollywood movie and that I was the star of the movie. This really blew my mind.”
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LARx7M9s15w
3. “The difference between him and the other boys at such a time was that they knew it was make-believe, while to him [and the UCP, more generally] make-believe and true were exactly the same thing.”
Don’t forget Devin Dreeshen, getting drunk in his office with his UCP buddies on a regular basis and swearing at his former girlfriend, also a UCP employee, when she raised concerns about the bad boy environment around her. And then she was fired for having offended Dreeshen, son of a federal Tory MP and someone who had spent a year of his life working to elect Donald Trump. Once the scandal became public, Kenney pushed Dreeshen out of Cabinet. But Destructive Danielle has rehabilitated him.
Ah, didn’t he also do a video with a bottle or two of cheap vino poking out from behind his chair, whilst using a beer cooler as podium?
Back in the days of the Ye olde ROC, Presto Manning to maintain a uniform sense of unimpeachable conduct among the RPC MPs. Thus, it was declared that there shall be no imbibing of intoxicating spirits, nor any other threat to reasonable discourse and sobriety. Oh, and McDonald’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Needless to say, the strict regime on food and drink imposed by the always sound as a preacher Manning caused a loud and imposing ruckus. No doubt under threat of being ousted, Manning relented and also for the open bar to be opened. The expense accounts rejoiced.
CONs have always had an unhealthy attitude toward alcohol in any form. Drinking to excess and the grave is all about the FreeDUMB that they seek to safeguard. As for one’s health, hope you got cash, because the CON way is always expensive.
At least one Conservative Candidate died of cancer of the esophagus. Check the causes for this cancer.
I don’t know about you, but my favourite UCP booze hound is Devin Dreeshen. I mean he’s the new John A MacDonald ffs! Day drinking in your legislature office, then hitting on your legislative assistants? Then being censured and kicked out of cabinet, only to be brought back into cabinet for Dani’s happy hour? That’s the Trifecta! This boy is our new Ralph Klein in waiting! UCP! The only party in Canada that may soon have and need a breathalyzer behind their metal detector as they enter the leg! But it’s not their fault! They’re so put upon here in this godless land! Why that would drive anyone to drink! https://youtu.be/sRnxr4XF9yA
Pogo— Soggy bottoms it is !!!!!!
Hahaha, gold star for you ….
If the politically experienced and savvy Jason Kenney couldn’t control them Smith has no chance. All will unravel in time. In then meanwhile maybe a pipeline from a brewery directly into the Leg?
Alberta seems to have been fertile ground for alcohol abuse by politicians over the years. But I think there are a few Rob Fords in this Franken party we need to watch out for! I won’t name them, because our host knows, like I do, it’s slander if I don’t have cell phone footage of them smoking crack with hookers. But? Keep a weather eye out. They can’t help themselves! https://youtu.be/KQRuu_PghAk?t=1
Well, now we have to decide if Danielle Smith is leading the Take Back Alberta Party, or the Alberta Chug-a-lug Party.
I haven’t thought of Roger Miller since a first year class introduced to me to him as a novelty singer song writer, but it fits! Perfectly! https://youtu.be/Pkdci55adqk?t=5
Pogo: I’m totally impressed with with your choices;
“fertile ground ” =stampede days with Ralphy shloffing around in s’it kickers , sparkles ….
and Ghost Chickens looks like something from a Saturday night with a certain Calgary pastor …
Is this what constitutes as news? I would like to know context and full story as to why this happened, because to my knowledge it is not a regular theme (at least openly).
Let’s be real for a moment and try to be honest. I would not know exact percentage of daily and frequent alcohol consumption by MLA’s and MP’s, but knowing people, I would venture a random BAC % or office/car/briefcase inspections would be met with a lot of fear from a significant number of representatives! At least Dan didn’t hide it. Not like much gets done in a days work there anyhow. Might as well have some fun!