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Alberta Politics

jason kenney: deputy premier thomas lukaszuk is a complete and utter a-hole.

Mark one point against civility in politics.

A reply-all email from Calgary-Southeast Conservative Member of Parliament and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney about Progressive Conservative Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk has given Albertans a glimpse at how split the Conservative movement in our province has become.

From the Edmonton Journal:

Kenney wrote the invective last Wednesday at 5:02 p.m. in response to an email sent from the office of MP Blaine Calkins, chairman of the federal Conservatives Alberta caucus, who wanted to know if Kenney and other MPs from Alberta would meet with Lukaszuk.

“Honourable Thomas Lukaszuk, deputy premier of Alberta will be in Ottawa on Thursday, June 21st, 2012 and is requesting a lunch or dinner with caucus,” says the email written by Calkins’ legislative assistant at 4:57 p.m. “Mr. Calkins will not be able to host this event as he has prior commitments, but would like to see if there is any caucus member who would be willing to host this event for the deputy premier.”

Kenney shot back a response just five minutes later, but instead of sending it only to Calkins’ office, he inadvertently sent it to everyone in the 26-member federal Alberta caucus, plus assistants: “I say a definite ‘no’ to Lukaszyk. I don’t think it makes sense to create a precedent to do a special caucus meeting for every visiting minister from the provincial government. Plus he is a complete and utter asshole.”

Relations between politicians from the two Conservative parties has been frayed since a number of federal Conservative Party MPs and many federal Conservative Party activists put their support behind the now-Official Opposition Wildrose Party in the recent provincial election.

During the election, Minister Kenney is reported to have said that “any attempt to hurt Wildrose by linking them to old Reform movement will backfire.”

Minister Kenney’s former spokesperson, Candice Malcolm, returned to Alberta earlier this year to work for the Wildrose Party during the election campaign. Minister Kenney’s Regional Affairs Director is Peggy Anderson, who served with Danielle Smith on the Calgary Board of Education from 1998 until the dysfunctional board was dissolved by Learning Minister Lyle Oberg in 1999.

Update: Minister Kenney has apologized.

14 replies on “jason kenney: deputy premier thomas lukaszuk is a complete and utter a-hole.”

Advice to JK: “Don’t write it down if you wouldn’t say it to your mother.” Oh, and stop being a reactionary ***hole long enough to see if you’re hitting reply all.

Relations were not frayed when the feds started backing the Wildrose – they were frayed after provincial Tories used the feds as scapegoats one too many times. Remember the provincial museum? You can’t blame everything on Ottawa and expect them to keep supporting you.

This latest shows me that Albertans are not well served by the Harper government. Sadly, we keep filling their caucus, regardless.

Many of us have had to apologize for an inadvertant “reply all” (me included). I’m waiting to see if Kenney is man enough to apologize. That will speak volumes to HIS character.

Kenney and the Harper crew are still soiled in their panties about Danielle Smith Wildrose getting slammed in the election.

A Wildrose government would be a branch office of the federal Conservatives, cow-toeing and marching in lockstep with whatever the politicians in Ottawa wanted. Alberta deserves better and voted for better on April 23.

He has apologized. Time to move on. I agree that sometimes we speak our mind in the wrong places or at the wrong time. We have all been there and done that. Let us not be so quick to throw stones.

It’s idiotic to compare what Kenny did to what you may (or may not) have done. None of you is at risk of becoming a Federal cabinet minister. We’re supposed to hold people in positions that important to a higher standard. If this was a corporate executive making the same mistake, with the same level of rudeness, it would be a CLM (Career Limiting Move).

Harper has yet to fire a cabinet minister, and so they keep acting less and less like one might expect from the Executive branch of a National government. Harper’s strategy will backfire. A leader who can’t discipline his team is no leader at all. Soon Canadians will show Harper and all his crude pack of foul mouthed goons the door.

He did not apologize publicly, showing remorse like any decent human being would. Mr. Kenney comes off as angry, unrepentant and petty. In other words, he’d make a great Wild Rose candidate.

I’m not sure why you are all so fascinated by the comment itself rather than the reasons underlying the remark. Politics is about what government can get done and get away with. All you people seem to care about is the latest name calling incident. It reveals a breathtaking superficiality.

Anyone care about government policy and allocation of resources?

Hit “reply all” on purpose? Interesting theory, but more likely concocted to absolve Kenney of doing a stupid thing by suggesting he acted willfully. (See how convoluted conspiracy theories can get?!?)

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