A former provincial Tory cabinet minister says she was kicked off the board of the Banff Centre for making “tame” critical remarks about Alberta Premier Jason Kenney..Donna Kennedy-Glans, who represented Calgary-Varsity from 2012–2015, made the comment in a first-person article November 1 in Alberta Views..Kennedy-Glans said in August 2019 the Alberta government invited her to sit for a three-year term on the board..“Most public sector boards are a mix of government and institutional appointments. People were curious about my allegiances. In short order, I made sure everyone at that board table understood I took to heart the commitment to serve the interests of The Banff Centre and the communities it serves; I’ve never been timid to let people know I’m not a government bot,” she wrote..In the summer of 2020, Kennedy-Glans was named vice-chair of the board. Then COVID-19 came and the Banff Centre, along with most businesses, was hit hard..On May 14, Central Peace-Notley MLA Todd Loewen went public with a letter calling on Kenney to resign, and the CBC asked Kennedy-Glans to do an interview on her thoughts on the situation..“When asked my opinion on what advice I’d offer to the premier in this situation, I suggested that ‘he should listen to his critical friends.’ Pretty tame stuff,” wrote Kennedy-Glans..“… (E)n route home, received a telephone call from an angry (board chair) Adam Waterous, berating me like a bad teenager for having spoken up on the Eyeopener. Couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut? Of course, I had said nothing critical about The Banff Centre (and never had in public); from Waterous’s perspective, I wasn’t allowed to say anything about politics in Alberta despite the fact I’d been doing so long before I was appointed to this role and during my entire tenure on the board..“It felt to me as if this interview gave the chair and the CEO the opportunity they were hoping for, the chance to oust someone who questioned their approaches. And they pounced.”.The next day, Kennedy-Glans said she received a call from Waterous informing her the board had met and were calling for her resignation..“The Banff Centre’s lawyer even offered to write my letter of resignation! I laughed out loud at the audacity of it all, assured Waterous I was well aware of the rules and bylaws, and told him I wasn’t resigning, because neither he nor the executive committee had the authority or grounds to remove me,” she wrote..“How could anyone rationalize an arts and culture and education institution endorsing this kind of censorship and constraint on freedom of expression? Imagine telling an artist they needed to keep quiet on anything that may not be well received by a politician. It was.all surreal.”.On Sunday, Kennedy-Glans said she received a call of support from a board member who described the goings-on as a “lynch mob.” The same director would quit a month later..“Later that day, I received an e-mail from Waterous pointing to a section of the Code of Ethics of the centre that prohibited negative attacks on political actors or government policies “germane to the role and business of the centre.” Given the centre receives funding from federal and provincial governments, such a restrictive interpretation of the code would place most of us offside, including the chair,” Kennedy-Glans wrote..On May 18, Kennedy-Glans said she was called into a meeting of the executive committee to “explain” herself..“I was given five minutes. It was a brutal and demeaning inquisition, I was talked down to and treated like someone who was very bad: ‘Don’t you think the rules apply to you; what were you thinking?’.“I would not resign from the board and would remain committed to working, with them, to move that vision forward. But, I reminded them if I were a 35-year-old, this whole intimidation strategy would have crushed me. And, I added, this is part of the problem at the centre: we talk and talk about diversity, yet smother people who have different ideas than our own.”.Kennedy-Glans said she continued to do her work until August 5, when she received an e-mail from Waterous again demanding her resignation, and if it wasn’t forthcoming immediately he would ask the government to fire her..“This was utterly shocking. And obviously well-orchestrated with the government and Banff Centre leadership. I responded by e-mail that day to the entire board (most of whom were unaware this demand had been issued), calling out the claims as unfounded and the demands as audacious. Serious issues needed to be navigated at the centre and that was our job. We weren’t getting great press on how we were managing during the pandemic and artists were lobbying for change,” she wrote..Five days later, Kennedy-Glans received a letter from the Alberta government firing her from the board of the Banff Centre..“Mike Mendelman, a prominent Banff businessman partial to the hospitality industry, a white guy and an acknowledged friend of the chair, was parachuted into my place. He was named to the board of governors in an Order in Council issued that same day. Orders in Council don’t happen overnight; this plan was clearly designed weeks, if not months, earlier. This is how board governance is done in UCP Alberta,” she wrote..Aspokeswoman for Waterous declined an interview with the Western Standard, instead referring to previous statements from the Banff Centre that the firing had nothing to do with Kennedy-Glans comments on Kenney..Kennedy-Glans left the Tory caucus in 2014 in protest of then-Premier Alison Redford’s leadership..The Banff Centre was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as a non-degree granting post-secondary educational institution in 1978..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
