Blue Storm: The Rise and Fall of Jason Kenney

The first scholarly analysis of the 2019 Alberta Election, which led to the victory of Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party, and of the UCP’s first years in government.

In 2019, the United Conservative Party, under the leadership of Jason Kenney, unseated the New Democratic Party to form the provincial government of Alberta. A restoration of conservative power in a province that had seen the Progressive Conservatives win every election from 1971-2015, UCP quickly began to make political waves.

This is the first scholarly analysis of the 2019 election and the first years of the UCP government, with special focus on the path of Jason Kenney’s rise to, and fall from, provincial political power. It opens with an examination of the election from a number of vantage points, including the campaign, polling, and online politics. It provides fascinating insight into internal UCP politics with chapters on the divisions within the party, gender and the UCP, and the symbolism of Kenney’s famous blue pickup truck. Explorations of oil and gas policy, the Energy War Room, Alberta’s budgets, health care, education, the public sector, Alberta’s cultural industries, and more provide unprecedented insight into the actions, motivations, and impacts of Kenney’s UCP Government in power. Contributions from top political watchers, journalists, and academics provide a wide range of methods and perspectives.

Concluding with a survey of the impacts of COVID-19 in Alberta and a comparison between Jason Kenney and Doug Ford, Blue Storm is essential reading for everyone interested in Alberta politics and the tumultuous first years of the UCP government. Providing key insights from perspectives across the political spectrum, this book is a captivating deep-dive into an unprecedented party, its often controversial politics, and its unforgettable leader.

With Contributions By: Duane Bratt, Brad Clark, Brooks DeCillia, Roger Epp, Doug King, Jonathan Malloy, Tyler Nagel, Chaseten Remillard, Jean-Sébastien Rioux, Peter Ryan, Anthony M. Sayers, Gillian Steward, David K. Stewart, Richard Sutherland, Melanee Thomas, Graham Thomson, Trevor Tombe, Kate Toogood, Charles F. Webber, Jared Wesley, Lori Williams, and Lisa Young

Duane Bratt is a political science professor in the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies at Mount Royal University. He is the co-editor of Orange Chinook: Politics in the New Alberta and author of Canada, The Provinces, and the Global Nuclear Revival. Duane is a regular commentator on political events.

Richard Sutherland is associate professor, policy studies, in the Department of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies at Mount Royal University. He is the co-editor of Orange Chinook: Politics in the New Alberta. Richard’s research interests focus on Canadian cultural policy, particularly music industry policy.

David Taras was professor in Communication Studies and Ralph Klein chair in Media Studies at Mount Royal University. He was co-editor of Orange Chinook: Politics in the New Alberta. Through a distinguished career, David was a respected scholar, public intellectual, and generous mentor. This book is dedicated to his memory.

Preface

I. Setting the Scene

Introduction: Jason Kenney and the Perfect Storm

II. The 2019 Election

1. Two Combative Leaders, Two Disparate Parties, and One Bitter Campaign: The 2019 Election
2. The Alberta 2019 Election Online: A Turn to Two Party Electoral Dominance?
3. Standard Error: The Pools in the 2019 Alberta Election and Beyond

III. Inside the United Conservative Party

4. Divisions among Alberta “Conservatives”
5. Albertans and the Fair Deal
6. Policing and Alberta’s United Conservative Party Government
7. Playing the Populist Victim: Women, Gender, Representation and the United Conservative Party
8. Kenney’s Ride: Albertan Neo-Liberal Myths and the Symbology of a Blue Dodge Ram

IV. Oil and Gas Polices

10. Jason Kenney, Energy, and Pipelines in the 2019 Alberta Election: A Study in Hubris
11. Just Our Facts: The Energy War Room’s Adventures in Branded Contents

V. Alberta’s Fiscal Situation

12. The Long Slide toward Fiscal Reckoning: Managing Alberta’s Finances in an Age of Decline
13. Always More Than It Seems: Rural Alberta and the Politics of Decline
14. Cultural Industries Under the United Conservative Party

VI. Health Care, Education, and Public Sector Policies

15. Bitter Battles: The United Conservative Party’s War on Health Care Workers
16. Education and the United Conservative Party of Alberta
17. Riding the Roller Coaster: Post-Secondary Education in Alberta Under Kenney
18. Labour in the Time of COVID

VII. COVID in Alberta and Ontario

19. Comparing the Kenney and Ford Governments
20. “With Comorbidities”: The Politics of COVID-19 and the Kenney Government

VII. Conclusion

21. Conclusion: States of Uncertainty

Contributors
Index

These chapters do justice to a roller coaster of a brief political era that will have a lasting impact within Alberta, providing a crucial case study for conservatism and politics in Canada.

—Timothy van den Brink, Canadian Journal of Political Science

Every chapter in Blue Storm has been carefully chosen for the light it shines on a party, its leader and their impact on public policy. This book is certain to be the definitive scholarly account of the Kenney government for many years to come.

—Marc D. Froese, AlbertaViews

Blue Storm in the Media

The Downfall of Jason Kenney and His Big Blue Truck: Why the Maverick, Masculine Symbol Ran out of Gas, The Walrus
CityNews Bookshelf: Duane Bratt, Blue Storm, CityNews
New Book Documents Rise and Fall of Kenney Government, Global News Morning Calgary
Blue Storm: The Rise and Fall of Jason Kenney, CBC Radio Active