In the film ‘Lincoln,’ there is a powerful moment when the president is challenged by an opponent because he has not acted with greater despatch to bring slavery to an end. Lincoln wearily replies that the compass he learned would always point him true north. “But it has no advice upon the swamps and deserts and chasms before me.”As Lincoln’s contemporary Bismarck said to the same point, “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable… the art of the next best.”With a fulsome acknowledgement of the caution needed when invoking comparisons between great nations struggling through war for unity and this peaceful, prosperous Alberta of ours in another century, I would nevertheless say there is some understanding of Premier Danielle Smith’s position to be found in these thoughts of great men..During her entire public life, going back to the 90s as a very young school board member and a property rights advocate, Smith’s attraction to the principled conservatism of her personal pole star has never wavered. More than 20 years ago, when I first knew her views well as we served together on the Calgary Herald editorial board, I learned that she was instinctively drawn not to government as an enabler of all things, but only as the sometimes disappointing tool through which the least that was absolutely necessary for the common good had to be done. The rest should be left to society's 'little platoons,' as philosopher Edmund Burke described the small groupings of civil society — church, family and fraternal organizations —through which people seek to better their lives.Thus her version of the common good boiled down to prudence in public finances, and enabling people to make their own choices, spend their own money and get on with their own lives. At the time, that sounded obvious.Later events — COVID-19, for example, and a crusading federal government with its own vision of society — have revealed that what seems obvious on one day may have to be fought for on another. But such thoughts as those seemed foundational then (as they do today.)She was and remains a libertarian, then. Sadly, I could never convince her that abortion was a dreadful thing, especially for the baby. But on everything else we were in substantial agreement.And to the present point, I hear almost daily echoes of what she said then. However the issues change, she remains guided by the same compass.I mention this only because she seldom gets the credit for moral and intellectual consistency. And intellectual consistency is good. The politician you can trust is one whose approach to them is informed by consistent application of clearly articulated principles.Smith does that. Not everybody sees that in her, especially the Left. A recent attack on her in The Tyee claims she is influenced by US Republicans. But well-composed and entertaining as it was, the writers are fundamentally mistaken. When JD Vance was in the marines and not thinking much about politics, Danielle Smith had already developed her consistent and mutually supportive conservative framework of ideas that the Left now accuses her of outsourcing to US thinkers. For those paying attention, her radio career filled in many of the details.But evidently, not enough were listening.So with her liberty library at her side, informed by Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, the Fraser Institute and inspired by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, Smith has followed her own authentic Pole Star for decades. Sorry gentlemen, you can’t blame Trump for Smith.So if her gaze upon the star is fixed, what then of the swamps and chasms before her now?There are a few.A lot of members of the United Conservative Party she leads, want a lot of things from her. Almost without exception, they are good things.For example:The uncontested right to ‘stand your ground’ in defence of your home and loved onesThe right to own and use firearmsThe right to refuse the state-ordered injection of chemicals into one’s body without penaltyAffirmation of the primary role of mum and dad in the raising of childrenThe delay of sex-change operations in young people until they’re at least old enough to voteThe right to protest the slaughter of unborn babies outside the slaughterhouseProperty rightsAn Alberta Police ForceAlberta to collect its own income taxThe full use of the Constitution to exclude the Government of Canada from interfering in matters of exclusive provincial jurisdiction, especially when it comes to managing Alberta’s energy supplyRight there, is quite a shopping list. And much of it has been well begun, especially with the Sovereignty Act and Smith's suit against the federal government. There is a further ask, however: While you’re doing all these very important things Ms. Smith, can you also do something about hospital wait times — right away, if you please — and stop teachers corrupting young Alberta minds with critical theory?And just so you know, we party members are hard-working, free-enterprise Albertans and we believe in solid public finances in which the books are balanced whatever the price of oil may be, with steady deposits to the Heritage Trust Fund and annual tax cuts.As for the other Albertans who don’t want what we want, we won, they lost. But on your Alberta Pension Plan? When it comes to our pensions, we still trust the federal government more the the Government of Alberta.And by the way, we’re perfectly happy to serve in any way we can, in some well-remunerated government appointment.Good luck, we’re with you all the way for now but see you at the next review, and we’ll let you know if you’re meeting our (diverse) expectations. If you can’t do all that in two years, well, it might be time to give somebody else a try.Swamps, deserts, chasms enough there for anybody to get lost in. Good luck with your supporters, Premier. .MORGAN: Premier Smith has little to fear from the leadership review.As my well-informed friend and right-thinking colleague Cory Morgan points out in his piece from yesterday, the people who oppose Smith may have unworthy motives and unrealistic expectations. Some can never be satisfied because they don't want to be.And as Mr. Morgan says, they have a right to do whatever the party rules permit. But I would ask them, other than their own advantage, what star is it that they follow? And how long have have pursued it?Since signing on at the Western Standard, I have allowed all my party memberships to lapse, for obvious reasons. So, I don't get to vote on Smith's leadership.However, if I were voting, I would express my confidence in a leader who for decades has thought standing up to Ottawa was a good thing and did something about it, who actually believes Albertans should at least have a Bill of Rights — something you don't hear anything about in BC, for example, where I also spent 25 years — someone who not only believes in gun rights but took the course, a person who understands the priority of freedom when its enemies offer deceitful reasons for restricting it... Someone basically, who thinks right and when confronted by the unexpected, will instinctively strive for the best 'attainable' outcome. Perfection should never be the enemy of the good. Knowing where Smith is coming from, gives me confidence in where she's going to. She has done well, and should be rewarded for it by a strong expression of the party's confidence.
In the film ‘Lincoln,’ there is a powerful moment when the president is challenged by an opponent because he has not acted with greater despatch to bring slavery to an end. Lincoln wearily replies that the compass he learned would always point him true north. “But it has no advice upon the swamps and deserts and chasms before me.”As Lincoln’s contemporary Bismarck said to the same point, “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable… the art of the next best.”With a fulsome acknowledgement of the caution needed when invoking comparisons between great nations struggling through war for unity and this peaceful, prosperous Alberta of ours in another century, I would nevertheless say there is some understanding of Premier Danielle Smith’s position to be found in these thoughts of great men..During her entire public life, going back to the 90s as a very young school board member and a property rights advocate, Smith’s attraction to the principled conservatism of her personal pole star has never wavered. More than 20 years ago, when I first knew her views well as we served together on the Calgary Herald editorial board, I learned that she was instinctively drawn not to government as an enabler of all things, but only as the sometimes disappointing tool through which the least that was absolutely necessary for the common good had to be done. The rest should be left to society's 'little platoons,' as philosopher Edmund Burke described the small groupings of civil society — church, family and fraternal organizations —through which people seek to better their lives.Thus her version of the common good boiled down to prudence in public finances, and enabling people to make their own choices, spend their own money and get on with their own lives. At the time, that sounded obvious.Later events — COVID-19, for example, and a crusading federal government with its own vision of society — have revealed that what seems obvious on one day may have to be fought for on another. But such thoughts as those seemed foundational then (as they do today.)She was and remains a libertarian, then. Sadly, I could never convince her that abortion was a dreadful thing, especially for the baby. But on everything else we were in substantial agreement.And to the present point, I hear almost daily echoes of what she said then. However the issues change, she remains guided by the same compass.I mention this only because she seldom gets the credit for moral and intellectual consistency. And intellectual consistency is good. The politician you can trust is one whose approach to them is informed by consistent application of clearly articulated principles.Smith does that. Not everybody sees that in her, especially the Left. A recent attack on her in The Tyee claims she is influenced by US Republicans. But well-composed and entertaining as it was, the writers are fundamentally mistaken. When JD Vance was in the marines and not thinking much about politics, Danielle Smith had already developed her consistent and mutually supportive conservative framework of ideas that the Left now accuses her of outsourcing to US thinkers. For those paying attention, her radio career filled in many of the details.But evidently, not enough were listening.So with her liberty library at her side, informed by Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, the Fraser Institute and inspired by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, Smith has followed her own authentic Pole Star for decades. Sorry gentlemen, you can’t blame Trump for Smith.So if her gaze upon the star is fixed, what then of the swamps and chasms before her now?There are a few.A lot of members of the United Conservative Party she leads, want a lot of things from her. Almost without exception, they are good things.For example:The uncontested right to ‘stand your ground’ in defence of your home and loved onesThe right to own and use firearmsThe right to refuse the state-ordered injection of chemicals into one’s body without penaltyAffirmation of the primary role of mum and dad in the raising of childrenThe delay of sex-change operations in young people until they’re at least old enough to voteThe right to protest the slaughter of unborn babies outside the slaughterhouseProperty rightsAn Alberta Police ForceAlberta to collect its own income taxThe full use of the Constitution to exclude the Government of Canada from interfering in matters of exclusive provincial jurisdiction, especially when it comes to managing Alberta’s energy supplyRight there, is quite a shopping list. And much of it has been well begun, especially with the Sovereignty Act and Smith's suit against the federal government. There is a further ask, however: While you’re doing all these very important things Ms. Smith, can you also do something about hospital wait times — right away, if you please — and stop teachers corrupting young Alberta minds with critical theory?And just so you know, we party members are hard-working, free-enterprise Albertans and we believe in solid public finances in which the books are balanced whatever the price of oil may be, with steady deposits to the Heritage Trust Fund and annual tax cuts.As for the other Albertans who don’t want what we want, we won, they lost. But on your Alberta Pension Plan? When it comes to our pensions, we still trust the federal government more the the Government of Alberta.And by the way, we’re perfectly happy to serve in any way we can, in some well-remunerated government appointment.Good luck, we’re with you all the way for now but see you at the next review, and we’ll let you know if you’re meeting our (diverse) expectations. If you can’t do all that in two years, well, it might be time to give somebody else a try.Swamps, deserts, chasms enough there for anybody to get lost in. Good luck with your supporters, Premier. .MORGAN: Premier Smith has little to fear from the leadership review.As my well-informed friend and right-thinking colleague Cory Morgan points out in his piece from yesterday, the people who oppose Smith may have unworthy motives and unrealistic expectations. Some can never be satisfied because they don't want to be.And as Mr. Morgan says, they have a right to do whatever the party rules permit. But I would ask them, other than their own advantage, what star is it that they follow? And how long have have pursued it?Since signing on at the Western Standard, I have allowed all my party memberships to lapse, for obvious reasons. So, I don't get to vote on Smith's leadership.However, if I were voting, I would express my confidence in a leader who for decades has thought standing up to Ottawa was a good thing and did something about it, who actually believes Albertans should at least have a Bill of Rights — something you don't hear anything about in BC, for example, where I also spent 25 years — someone who not only believes in gun rights but took the course, a person who understands the priority of freedom when its enemies offer deceitful reasons for restricting it... Someone basically, who thinks right and when confronted by the unexpected, will instinctively strive for the best 'attainable' outcome. Perfection should never be the enemy of the good. Knowing where Smith is coming from, gives me confidence in where she's going to. She has done well, and should be rewarded for it by a strong expression of the party's confidence.
