Don’t get me wrong. I don’t say this to be cruel. I've always liked Michelle Rempel Garner (CPC-Calgary-Nose Hill.) When she was the Conservative Party’s immigration critic, she did a stunning job of keeping the Trudeau government accountable for the thousands of illegal immigrants who were streaming across the Quebec and Ontario border and sitting around in tent cities. She seemed made for the job. I was the Ottawa bureau chief for the Washington-based Daily Caller at the time, a conservative media outlet founded by current Fox News sensation Tucker Carlson. Michelle was always there with a comment..She hasn’t been there lately. She hasn’t even responded to my queries for an interview about her motions to run for the United Conservative Party leadership in Alberta or her baffling support of CPC leadership candidate Patrick Brown. Not so much as an “I’ll get back to you.” In the intervening years, she’s been on a woke journey that has alienated much of her core supporters as she has gratuitously cheered on the LGBTQ and trans agenda while positioning herself on the left of the party, seemingly at home with the mayor of Calgary. .The decision to support Patrick Brown left me dumbfounded. There can be no political gain for her in this. Brown is not only loathed by conservatives who felt he utterly betrayed them as the leader of the Ontario PC party after currying their favor and winning their votes, but his track record is simply too oleaginous — even for a politician. That seems to be why he’s been booted out of this latest leadership race though we don’t yet know all the details. Yet I’m not surprised at his early departure, I am surprised that Rempel Garner wasted her time on this guy..If she isn’t careful, she is going to face the same political demise that U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is facing. Cheney supported the last impeachment of then-President Donald Trump, and is sitting on the kangaroo court January 6 committee hearings that are attempting to transform a minor riot into another Pearl Harbor and a Trump-inspired insurrection. She is going to lose her nomination as sure as 10 dimes make a dollar. .When Cheney — the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served under President George W. Bush — last spoke to Republican supporters she was constantly interrupted by catcalls and shouts of “RINO.” For those of you not familiar with that epithet, no it was not an insult about Cheney's weight, but refers to “Republican In Name Only,” meaning she’s a damn fake. .She may still be living in denial but her wake-up call is coming very soon..If Rempel Garner does not start acting and talking like a conservative, she could very well lose her nomination too. .If she's not thrown out of her own caucus first..The latest revelation from the Toronto Star — that most liberal of the mainstream media papers — that she believes she is a victim of Conservative caucus harassment certainly did not help her cause; she's inside the tent throwing garbage at her colleagues. .“In both parties there have also been squabbles that have erupted in the pages of national media, public meltdowns, nearly missed physical fights, coups, smear jobs, leaked recordings and confidential emails, lack of consensus on critical issues, caucus turfings, people harassed to the point where they resign roles, and hours long meetings where members have been subjected to hours of public castigation,” she wrote..“There have been heated exchanges to get basic concerns addressed, unjustified insularity in decision making, shunnings, exclusionary cliques and more.”.That kind of workplace conduct crosses a line, she said..“In virtually every other workplace, much of the stuff that has happened would be treated as a violation of labour codes, but in politics it’s considered Human Resources 101,” she wrote..Just what is her objective these days? Social justice in parliament or getting rid of the Trudeau Liberals? It’s really not clear..She should be taking some inspiration from UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith, who was once considered finished in politics because she had drifted too far left for her constituents and had apparently forgotten how to find her way back..You will recall how as leader of the Wildrose Party, Smith thought the way to power was to move to the center and then move further to the left by shutting up all those embarrassing populists, conservatives and dinosaurs in the party who had that embarrassing penchant for saying what was on their mind and not reading the talking points. Smith started talking like the PCs or the NDP for that matter. She started talking like the party was all about social re-engineering and a lot of Wildrose voters thought, “What the hell? This is the same old B.S.”.Smith lost the election. Went back to the private sector. She learned some lessons. Got cancelled on the radio, learned what political correctness was all about. Understood the left’s appetite for your freedom is never satiated and it will keep on feeding as long as you keep on giving. So she’s back and she’s talking about individual freedom again. She’s talking about telling Ottawa to go to hell with its vaccine mandates. She’s talking tough again. She’s not sounding like a soundbite machine. She sounds like the Danielle I first met almost 20 years ago, the one who loves freedom and the one who listens to the people..Danielle: never stop listening to the people.Michelle: start listening to the people again.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t say this to be cruel. I've always liked Michelle Rempel Garner (CPC-Calgary-Nose Hill.) When she was the Conservative Party’s immigration critic, she did a stunning job of keeping the Trudeau government accountable for the thousands of illegal immigrants who were streaming across the Quebec and Ontario border and sitting around in tent cities. She seemed made for the job. I was the Ottawa bureau chief for the Washington-based Daily Caller at the time, a conservative media outlet founded by current Fox News sensation Tucker Carlson. Michelle was always there with a comment..She hasn’t been there lately. She hasn’t even responded to my queries for an interview about her motions to run for the United Conservative Party leadership in Alberta or her baffling support of CPC leadership candidate Patrick Brown. Not so much as an “I’ll get back to you.” In the intervening years, she’s been on a woke journey that has alienated much of her core supporters as she has gratuitously cheered on the LGBTQ and trans agenda while positioning herself on the left of the party, seemingly at home with the mayor of Calgary. .The decision to support Patrick Brown left me dumbfounded. There can be no political gain for her in this. Brown is not only loathed by conservatives who felt he utterly betrayed them as the leader of the Ontario PC party after currying their favor and winning their votes, but his track record is simply too oleaginous — even for a politician. That seems to be why he’s been booted out of this latest leadership race though we don’t yet know all the details. Yet I’m not surprised at his early departure, I am surprised that Rempel Garner wasted her time on this guy..If she isn’t careful, she is going to face the same political demise that U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is facing. Cheney supported the last impeachment of then-President Donald Trump, and is sitting on the kangaroo court January 6 committee hearings that are attempting to transform a minor riot into another Pearl Harbor and a Trump-inspired insurrection. She is going to lose her nomination as sure as 10 dimes make a dollar. .When Cheney — the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served under President George W. Bush — last spoke to Republican supporters she was constantly interrupted by catcalls and shouts of “RINO.” For those of you not familiar with that epithet, no it was not an insult about Cheney's weight, but refers to “Republican In Name Only,” meaning she’s a damn fake. .She may still be living in denial but her wake-up call is coming very soon..If Rempel Garner does not start acting and talking like a conservative, she could very well lose her nomination too. .If she's not thrown out of her own caucus first..The latest revelation from the Toronto Star — that most liberal of the mainstream media papers — that she believes she is a victim of Conservative caucus harassment certainly did not help her cause; she's inside the tent throwing garbage at her colleagues. .“In both parties there have also been squabbles that have erupted in the pages of national media, public meltdowns, nearly missed physical fights, coups, smear jobs, leaked recordings and confidential emails, lack of consensus on critical issues, caucus turfings, people harassed to the point where they resign roles, and hours long meetings where members have been subjected to hours of public castigation,” she wrote..“There have been heated exchanges to get basic concerns addressed, unjustified insularity in decision making, shunnings, exclusionary cliques and more.”.That kind of workplace conduct crosses a line, she said..“In virtually every other workplace, much of the stuff that has happened would be treated as a violation of labour codes, but in politics it’s considered Human Resources 101,” she wrote..Just what is her objective these days? Social justice in parliament or getting rid of the Trudeau Liberals? It’s really not clear..She should be taking some inspiration from UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith, who was once considered finished in politics because she had drifted too far left for her constituents and had apparently forgotten how to find her way back..You will recall how as leader of the Wildrose Party, Smith thought the way to power was to move to the center and then move further to the left by shutting up all those embarrassing populists, conservatives and dinosaurs in the party who had that embarrassing penchant for saying what was on their mind and not reading the talking points. Smith started talking like the PCs or the NDP for that matter. She started talking like the party was all about social re-engineering and a lot of Wildrose voters thought, “What the hell? This is the same old B.S.”.Smith lost the election. Went back to the private sector. She learned some lessons. Got cancelled on the radio, learned what political correctness was all about. Understood the left’s appetite for your freedom is never satiated and it will keep on feeding as long as you keep on giving. So she’s back and she’s talking about individual freedom again. She’s talking about telling Ottawa to go to hell with its vaccine mandates. She’s talking tough again. She’s not sounding like a soundbite machine. She sounds like the Danielle I first met almost 20 years ago, the one who loves freedom and the one who listens to the people..Danielle: never stop listening to the people.Michelle: start listening to the people again.
