Craig Chandler: Martyred Again?

Craig Chandler, Mark Dyrholm complain of media bias

As the Wildrose Alliance creeps closer still to their leadership convention some have speculated that Danielle Smith's momentum may be insurmountable.

With few options and less time, Smith's opponent Mark Dyrholm and his campaign strategist, Craig Chandler, are resorting to an unfortunately popular tactic among conservative politicians: blame the media.

Dyrholm and Chandler have fingered a broad rogue's gallery amongst the Albertan media: CanWest Global executive producer and managing editor David Moretta (who is also Smith's husband), Global Calgary news director Jeff Bollenbach, Calgary Herald columnist Nigel Hannaford, Nanton News editor Sheena Read, Troy Media Corporation columnist Doug Firby and 630 CHED commentator Lesley Primeau.

Chandler and Dyrholm sound as if they're alleging a mass conspiracy in Smith's favour -- one that includes the husbands and wives of various news commentators, including Smith herself.

And while Dyrholm and Chandler are both entirely right to note that journalists ought to be removed from situations where their personal biases may influence point-of-fact news reporting, they seem to be largely off target.

As Bollenbach notes, Moretta very much has been removed from decision-making regarding the coverage of the Alliance leadership campaign.

Meanwhile Hallaford, Firby and Primeau are opinion journalists. It's their job to present their individual viewpoints. While accounting for the source of their bias is certainly laudable, that bias itself is part of their job. Complaining about bias in commentary is actually rather insipid.

If Chandler wasn't so fixated on identifying enemies within the media perhaps he would be able to assess his own skills in dealing with the media. For example, minding one's own appearance when dealing with journalism is generally considered to be a good idea. In the SE Calgary News video Chandler appears unshaven.

Chandler has a long history of discomfort dealing with the media. One would think that, at some point, he would invest in his public relations skills.

The truth is that Danielle Smith's campaign isn't outperforming Mark Dyrholm's because of media bias. Rather, she's outperforming Dyrholm because her campaign and her ideas are more appealing.

Media martyrdom may serve to energize one's base. But it generally makes for poor politics.


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Wildrose Alliance Attracting Big Fish...

...And lots of them

As the Alberta Progressive Conservatives look on at the Wildrose Allaicne leadership campaign they must be feeling a certain combination of fascination and trepidation.

As the Alberta Alliance and the Wildrose party, the Alliance is a party that has dwelled on the margins of Albertan politics. But as popular discontent with the leadership of Ed "Stalemate" Stelmach is spreading, so is the membership of the Alliance.

In June, the party had a mere 1,800 members. Now, the party's leadership has exploded, adding 10,200 members in the intervening months.

But amongst the masses flocking to the Alliance are conservative magnates such as Tom Flanagan and Betty Unger. And most recently, former Alberta Minister of Public Works and Agriculture Ernie Isley has joined the party.

Isley has, in particular, pointed toward the Stelmach government's approach to health care.

"[You] give up a billion dollars in revenue and then shortly thereafter you start coming up with a program whereby you're going to make your seniors pay more for prescription drugs. That doesn't seem to me to be the direction to go," Isley explained. "We appear to be going through the slash-and-burn era of the early '90s."

The vibrant conservative debate taking place between Danielle Smith and Mark Dyrholm has a lot to do with the new loyalties the party has been attracting.

Although sonme of the predictable themes of conservative leadership campaigns have emerged -- with each candidate accusing one another of either being too extreme or too uncommitted -- the campaign is attracting a great deal of attention for a party that holds only one seat in the Legislature.

This very much could be taken as a sign that Albertans are finally ready for a change.

Or, in time, it could be just another case in which the promise of political change was snuffed out by the status quo.

Alberta's New Opposition?

Tory defections to Wildrose Alliance rumoured

In matters pertaining to Albertan politics, Paul McLoughlin tends to have the inside track.

McLoughlin recently made a prediction that has hit Albertan politics like an earthquake: if Danielle Smith wins the leadership of the Wildrose Alliance on October 17, 10 Progressive Conservative MLAs will cross the floor to join them.

This would instantly make Danielle Smith the new leader of the official opposition, as the party would have as many as 12 MLAs. With Paul Hinman's recent victory in Calgary and Guy Boutilier, should he do as he has suggested he may and join the Alliance, the party would leapfrog the Liberal party (who currently have 9 MLAs) to become the province's new official opposition.

This would almost certainly be the end of Mark Dyrholm's leadership ambitions, as the party would literally have too much to lose by choosing him over Smith.

Of course, the Calgary Herald's Don Braid isn't buying the hype, even despite McLoughlin's strong track record -- his predictions tend to be correct.

Braid notes that even under the nadir of the party, under Don Getty, there was no mass exodus from the Progressive Conservative party.

Then again, there was no increasingly-relevant conservative competition in Alberta at that time. As the Wildrose Allaince continues to attract high-profile supporters, its newfound relevance is making it increasingly dangerous.

Randy Hillier: Kingmaker in Cattle Country?

Hillier picks a horse in Wildrose Alliance race

Fresh out of helping Tim Hudak become the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party, Randy Hillier has apparently decided to try his hand at kingmaking in another province.

Hillier has endorced Mark Dyrholm for the leadership of the Wildrose Alliance.

The Wildrose Alliance has been steadily picking up steam as the polish continues to wear off the governing Progressive Conservative party of Alberta. Four hundred people showed up to witness a debate in Calgary this week, as the party continues to collect supporters like Tom Flanagan, Phil Klein, and possibly another MLA in Guy Boutilier.

The Western Standard's Hugh MacIntyre reports that Hillier has sent emails endorsing Mark Dyrholm for the leadership of the party.

It may not seem intuitive to suggest that Randy Hillier may be able to exert some pull in this race. However, many observers of the Ontario PC leadership campaign credited Hillier for making the Ontario Human Rights Commission an issue Tim Hudak could capitalize on.

The Alberta Human Rights Commission is, likewise, an issue of some controversy among Albertan conservative circles. The Alberta Tories have provoked displasure among conservatives by conributing further material support for the activities of the AHRC, including the services of government-employed lawyers.

Dyrholm's principal opponent in the leadership contest, Danielle Smith, has taken a stance on the matter that seems very similar to the position that Christine Elliott took, favouring reform over abolition.

She has, however, offered far greater detail regarding what her reforms would entail, calling for an end to the censorship powers detailed in section three of the Alberta Human Rights Act.

"Now it's been perverted so that the human rights commission is delving into an area they shouldn't," said Smith. "They need to be reined in and get back to their original mandate."

Smith is also critical of Bill 44 -- the human rights legislation that would allow parents to withdraw their children from classrooms where religion or sexuality are being taught.

"The Minister [Lindsay Blackett] started out trying to make the human rights commission less powerful and ended up making it more powerful," Smith explained. "You'd think Alberta would be a leader in things like free speech, citizen participation in decision-making and democratic reform. But recent developments like Bill 44 suggest just the opposite."

Mark Dyrholm's position on Alberta's Human Rights Tribunal seems a little more ambiguous. He criticises section three, but doesn't seem to offer any particular prescription for how the HRC issue should be handled.

This, naturally, should make many Albertans wonder if Hillier has been in touch with Dyrholm on the subject and knows something about his position that the rest of Alberta doesn't.

To pretend that Randy Hillier's endorsement is going to decide the Wildrose Alliance leadership race is likely excessive. But it could certainly become a factor.

Just as Hillier helped Tim Hudak win the Ontario PC leadership by virtue of second-choice preference, Hillier could well help Mark Dyrholm win the Wildrose Alliance leadership on the strength of the Human Rights Commission controversy.


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