Apparently disillusioned by the “disgusting” stuff said by Take Back Alberta’s founder and éminence grise about the president of the United Conservative Party’s board, TBA’s chief financial officer is splitting with the militant wing of the UCP and taking to mainstream media with his complaints.
Fort Macleod Town Councillor Marco Van Huigenbos showed up yesterday in, of all places, Postmedia political commentator Don Braid’s column, calling TBA supremo David Parker’s attack this week on Cynthia Moore “disgusting” and “just so raw.”
As readers of this blog will recall, Mr. Parker took to social media on Wednesday to call Ms. Moore “a power hungry tyrant” who “must be removed.” He returned to Twitter that evening with an additional rant about Ms. Moore, saying she “yelled at, harassed, bullied, and belittled regular party volunteers in her witch hunt to find anyone associated with Take Back Alberta.”
In response to all that, Mr. Van Huigenbos told the veteran Calgary Herald columnist: “This is disgusting. … There’s no way anybody can support it.”
Turning up in Mr. Braid’s column was an interesting strategy for a major figure in a group not known for its high opinion of “liberal mainstream media” – there’s nothing liberal about the Calgary Herald, of course, but never mind that for the moment.
I guess when the going gets tough, corporate media is still the place where the most eyes are likely to light on your words – especially if Facebook and Google will help distribute them.
The unexpected advocate for a more civility in public discourse is the same Mr. Van Huigenbos who faces two criminal mischief charges in connection with his activities during the 2022 convoy blockade of the Canada-U.S. border at Coutts. RCMP say he was a key participant in the blockade. He is scheduled to go to trial on April 2, 2024.
So, is this the beginning of an attempt to take back Take Back Alberta (TBTBA)?
It sounds like it to me, but I guess we’ll need to see how things play out in this subplot to the main drama of who gets to control the United Conservative Party.
Since TBA can accurately be described both as a movement and a society registered as a third-party election advertiser with Elections Alberta, there are some practical issues about who remains in control, and what their objectives are.
Elections Alberta lists Mr. Parker as the primary contact for the Take Back Alberta Society, and Mr. Van Huigenbos as CFO. Mr. Braid described Mr. Parker as TBA’s CEO. Elsewhere, he is described as executive director of TBA.
Whatever his title is, Mr. Parker was never one to be shy about what he thinks.
He was back on social media yesterday afternoon with a sly riposte to Mr. Van Huigenbos’s criticism: “I would like to thank @marco_huigenbos for his service to @takebackalberta and it (sic) inform everyone that I fogive (sic) him for his harsh words in the @DonBraid article.”
“To clarify Don’s article,” Mr. Parker continued, “Marco and I agreed that he would resign weeks ago, long before I made any public comments about Cynthia Moore.”
Well, Mr. Van Huigenbos’s clarification on that would probably be useful, too.
As for Mr. Parker’s assertion in his tweet that “this does not represent any sort of division within Take Back Alberta,” that seems, shall we say, counterintuitive.
Meanwhile, the fight between TBA (or, Mr. Parker, at least) and the remaining Jason Kenney loyalists on the UCP Board (including Ms. Moore) over who gets to take back the UCP will presumably continue in the lead-up to the governing party’s annual general meeting Nov. 3 and 4 in Calgary. Plus, of course, immediately thereafter on the floor of the AGM.
Pass the popcorn!
Two years max. Then Dani’s done like dinner!
I don’t know. I think crazy is a feature of the right, not a glitch. There will be another ignoramus to lead the parade.
You’re correct. Mores nuts and more wings! They really might not even stop grinding down, if Artur Pawlowski were (Lord forbid) Premier! But he wants the job!
Seems to me that Marco Van Huigenbos maybe protesting too much to save his own hide. Even Rudolf Hess sought to cut his own deal to get out of Nazi Germany, because A. Hitler was beginning to frighten even him. Considering Hess was the one who Hitler dictated his master plan and the manuscript of Mein Kampf to, saying that he (Hess) didn’t sign on for what Hitler had in mind is pretty rich. So, TBA is coming apart at the seems? Not so fast.
One thing that can be said of David Parker is that he’s a zealot who doesn’t mind everyone knowing that he’s obsessive about being in control. If the mission was to get lobbyist Danielle Smith to become Premier Danielle Smith, Parker was just the sort of person who was willing to wade into the whole messy business and get it done. Who knows how man bridges Parker has burned in his quest for Gilead? If any thing, Van Huigenbos’ departure and betrayal of Parker just shows how effective he (Parker) is at clearing house of the faint of hearts. We can’t have people with morals in Alberta politics now, can we?
I will make a bold prediction and declare that this whole dust up will only embolden Parker even more to persuade Smith, or certain operators among the UCP rank and file, to use their leverage to bend Cynthia Moore toward Parker’s will. It’s not like Smith can’t benefit from having Parker more up front in the UCP — look where she is now because of Parker. And if Smith gets nervous, Parker can work on another potential premier in waiting, just in Smith starts to get cold feet.
Mo’ popcorn…
As a non-subscriber to all PostMedia channels, I rarely get to read Braid’s columns….except when DJC posts a link! What I found most interesting were the comments attacking DB as a sore loser and a shill for the NDP. Seriously?
Very seriously. The quality of comments in Braid’s column range from dull to appalling. Most I’ve seen are personal attacks on Braid himself for daring to criticize Smith–and before her, Kenney. Few actually comment on what Braid writes.
If you have a morbid interest in such trolling, try the National Newswatch web site. It’s a compilation of mainstream media headlines (with some specialist sites like the Hill Times). Many are behind paywalls, but some are accessible through the NN website.
https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/news/
Mike J Danysh: It’s really disgusting how most of the responders in the comment section of The Calgary Herald are by propping up Danielle Smith and the UCP. They are so oblivious to what is actually happening. There seems to be writing on the wall that a recession is forthcoming. This one will likely be very nasty, and last for quite some time. Oil prices are also not that impressive, and there won’t be any surge upwards, any time soon. These people who are championing Danielle Smith and the UCP are in for a very rude awakening when the costs of Danielle Smith’s election items, including all the giveaways for votes, and things that weren’t brought up before the provincial election come up, will have to be paid for, when there is no money to do so. Half of 2023 is gone, and by the fall and winter, it will get worse. Cuts are also a very strong likelihood. Covid-19 cases are like to go up in Alberta too. It is going to be really hard for a lot of people in Alberta. These people wi try and blame Rachel Notley and Justin Trudeau, but that’s a very poor excuse. Regardless, Danielle Smith could very likely be finished as premier, and whomever replaces her in the UCP could be even worse.
That’s par for the course for comments of the propaganda arm of the UCP aka Postmedia. A columnist can be a right wing shill 99% of the time but they write one article with something that could be construed as even slightly critical of The Party and they’re automatically labelled as sleeper agents of the Notley/Singh/Trudeau cabal. It’s truly mind boggling the number of hardcore UCP supporters that comment there that literally believe UCP can do no wrong. I’ve often wondered if those commentators are actually bots or paid party operatives as I want to believe that my fellow Albertans can’t really be that stupid. Unfortunately that’s likely wishful thinking on my part. At this point the UPC could bring in Goebbels’ great grandson, put him in a WWII uniform, shill for the UCP and the Postmedia faithful would still be asking us what the problem is.
Firth of Fifth: I know. There are those who can easily spot phony conservatives and Reformers, because we have been around long enough. The sheer ignorance abounds in the comment section in Postmedia newspapers.
Alberta’s War Room. $30 M hard at work. You’re welcome.
Hey, everybody, ready to spew your morning coffee at your computer screen with an unexpected laugh? In Don Braid’s column, Mr. Braid quotes Marco Van Huigenbos as saying:
“David is trying really hard to remain relevant,” he says. “I understand that, but not like this. He’s giving us all a bad name.
“We probably agree on almost everything but it’s the approach and the language and his communication style that we should lose. It makes us look like a bunch of rednecks.
Hands up everyone who never thought of TBA as a bunch of rednecks before today.
More twists! More turns! Has the gravity of the charges against MVH begun to sink in? Is it wiser to continue down the TBA path or to demonstrate remorseful actions that could be weighed in court at sentencing? Are the criminal charges an impediment for Parker’s TBA? Perhaps the reality of the TBA’s unpaid debts, mentioned by the columnist, are the real cause of the CFO’s departure. Couldn’t he be held personally responsible for those debts? Add that to mounting legal bills for the Coutts charges. Then there’s the diminishing TBA membership, if it ever really was as high as we were told. Is TBA about to become more radical or extinguish itself? Who is really pulling TBA’s strings?
Just another day in Alberta politics.
I can’t help but wonder if Marco ever gets jealous that Danielle Smith was interfering with justice on behalf of Artur Pawlowski, but never, ever mentioned Marco himself. Just sayin’….
That conservatives in Alberta would resort to infighting instead of good governance immediately after a general election is a surprise to no one who pays attention, except the conservatives themselves.
Exactly right, NeilK. The vipers are fanging each other. The only real surprise is that it’s so public, so soon.
Hey DJC, Happy Canada Day. 10th paragraph, “Since TBA can accurately described both as a movement”, need a “be” either before or after “accurately”.
Also the end of the sentence is a bit awkward, “who remains in control, and what their objectives are”, possibly “who remains in control, and what that person’s objectives may be” flows better (feel free to disregard, as I know you generally compose this EOD, and as is expressed frequently by your readers, this blog is a beacon of sanity in a soon to be PostStar world ).
Thanks you, Dave. Done. DJC
So when you draw your water from the sewer it has a bad taste?
Maybe people aren’t bad but just on a very flat learning curve.
On a side note, I think any criminal violation should negate your immigration/ new citizen and be gifted with deportation.
Once again, as merely one more example of a fairly straight forward representational reality [devoid of the deliberately managed appearances and illusions that are used to manipulate an audience, i.e., propaganda and the story telling of the David Parker swindle, hustle, or scam for example] how difficult can it really be to:
connect the dots [??] without missing the forest for the trees and confusing maps and territory? All of the players, string pullers, and audience manipulators are united within the organized framework of a singular, focused ideological goal. The absence of disagreements between human actors concerning the process and its minutiae would be highly unusual.
[1. To draw connecting lines between a seemingly random arrangement of numbered dots so as to produce a picture or design.
2. To draw logical inferences connecting items of information to reveal something previously hidden or unknown.]
where parsimony and the explanation [theory, model] constructed with the smallest possible set of elements is most probably the most accurate and a fairly correct interpretation of ‘ what is’, as opposed to ‘what ought’.
Therefore, “TBA registered as a Third Party Political advertiser on February 2, 2022. Filings show Parker personally donated $12,749 of his own money to the organization. The organization’s website is virtually identical to that of the Vancouver-based Pacific Prosperity Network, a right wing group funded by the founder of Lulu Lemon, Chip Wilson. They’re so similar, Take Back Alberta actually lists the Pacific Prosperity Network’s phone number and email address as points of contact on their website — neither organization responded to questions about their relationship from PressProgress.”
https://pressprogress.ca/here-are-the-right-wing-political-action-groups-organizing-to-help-danielle-smith-win-albertas-next-election/
“Pacific Prosperity Network, or PPN, launched last year and works behind-the-scenes to help right-leaning, free-enterprise municipal and provincial candidates get elected. PPN is backed by Vancouver billionaire and Lululemon founder Chip Wilson, who recently sent a letter urging other wealthy people to contribute $50,000 to $200,000 each to PPN, saying he’d donated $380,000 to the cause.”
https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/dan-fumano-rise-pacific-prosperity-network-compared-to-us-pacs
Well, weekend comics, and it’s not even Sunday.
Here we are celebrating Canada day…
with PP’s tweet— “Happy Birthday to the greatest place on earth “…..but Skippy, i thought Canada was broken…
and from Danielle :”I’m so grateful to be living in the best country in the world” ….umm you mean the one you want to separate from ??
Okay boys and girls, can you say hypocrite?
Just a side note, which may or may not have anything to do with Marco going to the C.Herald , Elon Musk’s latest move about restricting people from accessing Twitter. I found out I couldn’t read the page unless I registered**, and his(EM) reasoning for it was was, how shall I say, suspect. So unless you’re registered, you can only read the ‘headline ‘ but none of the comments.
And how many bots did that affect. very curious indeed??
**, oddly enough, my first thought was ” is this a conservative party thing “…
Since bots can tweet, they must be able to log in to twitter so I doubt the recent change affects them. Maybe Twitter will do something worthwhile for a change and purge the bots, but I don’t think it has happened so far.
My twitter account is suspended, so I cannot read anyone’s tweets now, although people online may find ways around that. It’s nice to still find some conversations on the internet!
Thanks, Randi-lee, knowing this will save me the trouble of clicking Twitter links. Is Elon desperate for revenue for his vanity web site? More registered users means more salable user data.
I got kicked off Facebook for making a login but not using it for three weeks. Either somebody hacked my password, or my heinous crime was three weeks of NO CLICKBAIT. Anybody wanna bet?
Pass the popcorn indeed. Generally speaking a party leader has reasonably firm control over their party. Policy may well be passed by a convention, but if the party leader has control, the leader can pick which policies are to be prioritized. If not internal dissent ensues.
I can only assume that even for demented Danielle this internal/external unrest by the TBA is trouble. The UCP will now have to spend time trying to resolve what response is to be made to the TBA, and put the plan in to action. It appears to me this government has many more vital electorally relevant issues to spend time and energy on, rather than this personality based squabble. But it is a typical conservative thing. Get the executioner’s axe sharpened. Metaphorically, of course.
Despite appearances, Smith isn’t stupid. She knows exactly how she took over Jason Kenney’s job. The best outcome for sensible people would be Smith using so much energy to fight off TBA’s rage heads that she’s hampered in her efforts to enact TBA’s agenda. Irony, thy name is Parker….
And if we’re doing popcorn, we need the musical cartoon trailer, so here’s my 50 cents* worth with the help of my sister:
Dedicated to the one we love (POGO) …
who put the ‘twit’ in Twitter
who put the bot, in the bot ‘ta bot
who put the dram in dramalama
DING DONG ….
(with apologies to the original)
*last drive-in price, lol
This dear soul needs a paddlin! You owe me a new laptop! I’ll never get all the coffee out of it! Ok then! What song for Randi lee and all the rest of us poor suffering Canadians? Sue me now, but it’s this I choose to spin for the BBQ! https://youtu.be/6kLjtOYmG6M?t=1
POGO, OH MY !!! shades of super purple, or the doctor’s invitation to the cortillion ?
So laughter is the best medicine, thanks for making my day!!!! LOL ……
“the cheque is in the mail “, and if there had been lanterns that year, it would have saved the “Stampede cowboy ” from diving into the ‘pool’ ,which was actually just a 11in fountain. True story. and we’re almost up to my favorite time of year to be glad I’m no longer in Calgary. Sorry, not sorry..lol.
**What’s broken is media falling hook line and sinker on a treble hook, for the ‘cage match’ …..there are times when the Gage seems inadequate….SIGH ! i hear turtle drums calling.
Well! I never! Please pardon Kim Mitchell for his rhotic “r”s!
So I gets meself up after a crackin’ party and stumble into this! https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2023/07/elon-musk-breaks-twitter-again
Parker is an inveterate shit-disturber who’s hedonistically working the crack right up the middle of the DP Party: the Disunited PseudoCon Party.
It used to seem perverse that the wishfully-named United Conservative Party started fissuring dys-seamingly after less than a year in power when members cheekily pinched the K-Boy out. It can only be a greater perversion, then, that the likes of Parker and his TAB —the ‘Take Alberta from Behind’ faction— have achieved an even more divisive coup in less than a month since Danielle Smith was almost incredibly legitimized as premier of (no credit to the UCP) a great Canadian province.
It’s also perversely strange that this Rapturist faction rationalizes its foreboding internal comeuppance as natures way, survival of the strongest, the she-wolf eating her siblings’ cubs so her own may dominate the pack: it’s altogether too Darwinistic for, one would think, a faction which often refers to literal interpretations of the Bible. But whatever it is, this astounding grudge-match is a bout to out doubt about a redoubt that “TBTBA” plainly aspires to establish in Canada to append the one just south of the border in the Levantine canton of Greater Idaho (American Redoubters advertise they only want a place to practice their way of life in peace, but even my small quantum of Desert People’s blood shudders that these overt bigots’ pretension of ‘tolerance’ qualifies that “Judeo-Christians” are welcome—parenthetically, everybody else, out! There are, after all, enough swastikas in the aspirational jurisdiction to festoon ten 1936 Olympic Games…meh, I’ll pass, thanks…)
Obviously a near-majority of UCP voters wanted this schism to happen to the party. Their enmity of government is such that they don’t care if it isn’t doing the public’s business for the good of all. Their expectation must therefore be that when they commandeer the entire party—somehow convincing the remaining moderates to come around to their way of thinking—the real work of the theocratic petro-state may proceed towards independence, even if it has to depend on foreign yahoos to do it. Alternatively, the expectation might be to bypass the single-party prospect and go straight to sabotaging the federal arrangement first, the single- or non-party state naturally following of its own accord. It’s straight out of the tRump playbook: throw a wrench into the machinery of government and cripple democracy before seizing total power. Marjorie Taylor Greene could probably articulate it better than I.
It’s fair boggling that Danielle Smith’s UCP might make K-Boy’s only the second-worst government Alberta ever had. I’ve said before: she’s already already destroyed two parties of the right and looks to be going for the trifecta. The astounding possibility is that it’s all part of the game. A typical feature of bigotry is hatred of things the haters don’t even know anything about, in this case government. But they’re really small-fry which, as Lao tzu reminded in reference to governing a large state, rot quickly from the head if handled carelessly (Tao Te Ching, Chapter LX). Interestingly it’s as timeless as the old Chinese curse: may you live in interesting times. That, Alberta has in spades.
Be strong, my Alberta friends!
Scotty, I doubt that Marjorie Taylor Greene could articulate anything better than you.
Continuing to take the so called “Goodwin” approach to my commentary on TBA/UPC, I suspect that there is a reasonable facsmile of the infamous Night of the Long Knives in the works.
Danielle Smith created a huge cabinet, largely to calm those MLAs who are most likely to pull their knives out for her back. And it’s a well known social media comment that, when on the door steps of voters, many a UCP candidate tried to calm voters concerns over Smith by saying, “She’s not going to be around much longer.” Promising to get rid of the boss is quite the sell for someone’s vote.
Parker’s move to oust the UCP leadership for those more compliant to his ambitions was not unforeseen. Given Parker’s relentless assault on anything that looked like a reasonable compromise with a stable and sensible reality, everyone knows he’s not one to be triffled with. As for Parker’s declaration of “forgiveness” for those who have trespassed against him, who is he trying to kid?
Personally, I don’t think Danielle Smith is going to endure for very long as premier of Alberta.
July 1 is Canada Day. I’m so happy and content to be a Canadian citizen.
Canada, to me, is a big vast country that wrap’s its arms around the immigrants and the children, grandchildren of immigrants who want a better life and happiness and security, enough to thrive.
This Canada that I love sent my ukranian/polish/russian immigrant grandfather to a world war one work camp in 1916-1920 Saskatchewan.
So, Canada can do better. It can be better.
My grandfather was not a British citizen.
Canada was part of Britain back in 1916, a colony subject to British Law. There was no way he could be legally British, being born in Galicia province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Canadian citizenship, at that time, was dependeant on being born in Britain.
But laws were changed.
The rule of law matters.
We have robust laws in Canada.
But it is the enforcement of law that matters.
I am also a U.S. citizen. Born in Canada to a U.S. citizen parent, who was a permanent resident of Canada.
Jus sanguinus and jus soli are legal principles both the United States and Canada follow under current citizenship law. About 65, mostly “new world” countries follow these principles regarding citizenship.
I was legally able to vote for president of the united states in the state of Missouri. Ambiguously drafted voting laws enacted after the early 2000’s made that impossible.
Now, I can vote, maybe, in the state of Louisiana. Maybe.
Legally, I am a U.S. citizen.
Legally, I am a Canadian citizen.
Subject to all laws of both countries.
Vote.
In every election.
Please vote. Pay attention.
Get everyone you know to vote.
I can’t believe how easy and simple it is to vote in Canada.
To vote in Alberta.
This fundamental right could be gone soon in
Alberta.
A tiny little bit at a time.
Hat’s off to the highly paid pros in the United States Republican Political Party. They are absolute masters at chipping away voter rights. Over decades.
That is how it is done.
I thought I could vote in the united states.
Every vote matters. Not in the united states.
Individual states have immense authority to do so many things
Pay attention. This isn’t a game or some reality tv game show.
Unless you think it’s a game
As the saying goes, the plot thickens … The splinter group is developing splinters?
Maybe this is a good sign for more conventional conservatives that TBA is not this powerful united group, or maybe it is a sign there is even more chaos and division in conservative ranks than realized.
Ultimately, I feel that Smith may go in the same direction as Kenney, who appealed to the more extreme side of his party to get power – that worked initially. However, once in power there are limits to what is practical or advisable and it is not easy to sell that message to those that you got so stirred up.
For all his initial tough talk against Ottawa, Kenney was eventually seen as not very effective, which when you think about it makes sense. Why would Ottawa listen to all his shouting or ranting? What political or moral influence did he really have with them? Actually very little or none. It will take a while, but I think disappointment will also set in when Smiths supporters realize, that despite her even tougher talk and wilder ideas, she is also not accomplishing much in her war against Ottawa.
Kenney had the misfortune of a catastrophic decline in oil prices in the middle of his term, so he had both big spending cuts and large deficits. While I don’t think oil prices will fall as much now, they are already significantly less that projected in the recent provincial budget. So I doubt Smith will now be able to keep all her election promises and balance the budget. The drop in oil prices does not have to be as huge as it was for Kenney, look what happened politically when previous Premier Redford faced a supposed bitumen bubble and a more modest deficit. Her own party forced her out.
Likewise, I suspect it may not be TBA that does it, it might be the larger part of the UCP that was never that comfortable with Smith, when she fails to win the war with Ottawa and keep the economy going strong.
Pass the popcorn!
Silly me, I think I misunderstood R-Star Dani’s intent during her province-wide broadcast a few months ago when she said her comments as a radio host were for entertainment purposes. I, incorrectly it appears, thought she was promising she would take things more seriously as premier. Turns out she was promising she would use her expertise to make Alberta politics more entertaining!
I can tell you something. You won’t to know. When she’s done with you? You’re finished. Glad you asked though!
DJC , so since I’m not on social media, and I will NOT register, I had to spend some time searching, but eventually found it….from your March 26th post: ” What kind of candidates will replace Toews & Savage”….well that’s another story. What i was looking for was the tweet by Marco van Huigenbois…
“The largest scandal in Alberta currently is Albertans getting involved in their democratic systems!
This must be stopped ,its a travesty. Free thinking is a dangerous crime #tba #abpol #ucp …”
IMHO , karma’s a _____!! LOL
And since we ‘the unregistered’ don’t know what’s being said on their sites, or what’s being said behind the paywalls, we’ll have to depend on you and the other adults to keep us in the loop. Speaking of, how nice of DS to post about the wonderful stampede in Ponoka ,yet not even a blip about the tornado, oh well, N Cooper put out a tweet, nice. Hope all their followers are registered Twitter users…..and by the by, would you happen to know if the post about her train trip to Toronto, was that hubby she took with her?
asking for a friend…
Randi-lee: Sounds like you know, or at least suspect, the answer to your question. DJC
I don’t know, gang…
Seems to me that this David Parker character is getting far more airtime than he deserves, and leaves me with the simple question – Why? Why is this individual being given so much airtime and column space?
Seems to me that those in media are simply using him to stir a narrative. It is my guess that soon enough it will be cast aside much like the Pawlowski narrative.
Most Albertans are politically moderate working class people who have little time for the fringes of right and left wing politics, and it’s time people acknowledge and accept it.
I can’t say I agree with you, Elmo. I think there should be MORE coverage, not less.
There is so much dark right wing money flowing to Parker and the TBA, both domestic and American, that to ignore him wouldn’t just be folly but incredibly stupid. That is, unless you don’t value democracy and Canada as whole.