The Prentice Way

Whispering in the Wind (WITW 44) September 10, 2014

Jim Prentice Wins

The Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership race ended on Saturday with the election of Jim Prentice as the premier-designate, Province of Alberta.  Mr. Prentice received 77 percent of the electronically registered vote with Ric McIver receiving 12 percent and Thomas Lukaszuk obtaining 11 percent – in total 23,386 votes were registered.  Both Mr. McIver and Mr. Lukaszuk have indicated that neither would contest the results – even though the voting process was embarrassingly mismanaged.

Jim Prentice – the Commitment

There is no doubt in my mind that the Jim Prentice victory speech was targeted, first to Albertans as well as the party faithful, when he said:  “I want to be candid with the people of Alberta.  Over time the government has lost its way.  Watching from afar, I was as disappointed and as frustrated as anyone.”  Also in the speech, Mr. Prentice made three points that he will be measured by when he said:

“I will restore a commitment to fiscal prudence and ethical conduct in Alberta.  I will enforce the rules and I will make tough choices when they will need to be made and I will stand by them.” 

“My election as leader of the party marks the beginning of a commitment to integrity and acceptance of responsibility.”

“Albertans expect excellence and they expect performance from those who are in positions of trust.”

Jim Prentice - the Agenda

No denying it, Mr. Prentice is a man of action.  Within 24 hours of his victory speech Prentice announced a well-rounded transition team that included the former mayor of the City of Edmonton, Stephen Mandel.  On Monday the premier-designate met with Premier Hancock when it was agreed to complete the transition on Monday, September 15.  As to the more substantive issues – gaining a seat in the Alberta Legislature as early as possible; rebuilding a rather stale Progressive Conservative Party; gaining the trust and confidence of Albertans through a more progressive approach to economic and social development; getting Alberta resources off to distant markets – are major challenges requiring a strong team of conservatives committed to The Prentice Way Forward.  As to what the big picture is going to look like I think Albertans will have to wait until October 27^th when the Alberta Legislature meets.  As to a big hint on what the big picture is going to look like, Mr. Prentice will be announcing his “reduced” cabinet on Monday, September 15, transition day.    

Jim Prentice – the Cabinet

There are only two things known about what the new “Prentice cabinet” will look like: first the cabinet is going to be “reduced” in size from about 30 posts to about 20.  Second Mr. Prentice will be announcing his new cabinet on Monday, September 15.  In the absence of knowing who’s in and who is going to be dropped, I’m going to offer some suggestions for anybody that will listen.  Let me offer three names who I feel can play important roles in the new Alberta government.  Stephen Mandel was mayor of the City of Edmonton and is currently chair of the Prentice Transition Team – obviously a trusted confident of Mr. Prentice.  Mr. Mandel is not a sitting member of the Alberta Legislature so putting him in a cabinet post would be unusual but not totally unique.  Mr. Mandel has apparently shown some interest in running in the 2016 provincial election so my suggestion to Mr. Prentice is to place Mr. Mandel in a management role within the Alberta PC Party – a particularly important function if you are trying to re-build trust in a party from the grassroots up.  Jeff Johnson is the current Minister of Education and has endured major conflict between the teacher’s union and a taskforce report on accountability in the education sector.  Mr. Johnson is well respected for his tenacious approach to problem solving and is well suited for an economic portfolio that puts economic diversification and resource upgrading as a priority.  Doug Horner is currently the Provincial Treasurer and has been tagged by the opposition parties as being a party to Allison Redford’s misguided “entitlement” decisions.  In my view Mr. Horner would make a good, effective Minister of Agriculture in that he comes from a rural background and carries the Horner name, something that should not be forgotten when talking about rural Alberta politics.