It used to be that conservatives campaigned to the right and governed to the centre. This strategy reflected the realities that conservative-minded people like a steady hand on the economic tiller, honest governance, and well-funded social programs. Lately, however, conservative politicians have increasingly adopted a more extreme approach.

Astute political observers may have noticed that Mr. Kenney’s resignation speech was silent on the prospect of a political comeback. He may well even be contemplating throwing his well-worn hat into the ring of the upcoming race to lead the UCP again! The premier’s political career is done. Fantasyland carnival barker Kenney just doesn’t know it yet.

“Professor” Kenney, beleaguered in the polls, facing a leadership review in April, and widely disliked right around the province, found it utterly impossible to refrain from bellying up to a lectern at a Red Deer presser and explaining the geo-political intricacies of a highly volatile, dynamic, and uncertain situation now emerging roughly a million miles from the premier’s own current problems.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has fully acquiesced the reins of governance on the province’s COVID file to a motley band of angry, frustrated, and mostly ill-informed anti-mask, anti-vax, anti-Trudeau, anti-science freedom lovers. They’re kind of like the Jesus freaks from the 1970s, but lacking the same ideological coherence.

The day in 1987 when Reform Party of Canada founder Preston Manning took the stage at Vancouver’s Hyatt Regency was the same day that conservatism in Canada moved sharply away from its ‘progressive’ roots, and began its long and awkward and fumbling dance with precisely the kind of reactionary and divisive politics that the vast majority of Canadians don’t want.

As the highly contagious Omicron variant sweeps across the province, people who know about the disease are strongly recommending a more effective COVID response from the government, including re-imposing sensible gathering limits and providing supports for burned out health care workers. Will Mr. Kenney listen? The smart bet is that whatever he does, he’ll get it wrong.

Jason Kenney and his strategic brain trust have proved themselves to be either sympathetic to that caucus or too fearful of raising its ire to act decisively in dealing with the COVID situation. This is what happens when you let the tail wag the dog. Will O’Toole have the stuff to rein in a caucus loaded with members who answer to the loud-mouthed minority? I’m not optimistic.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s failure to implement even the most basic of measures required to deal effectively with the pandemic suggests a weak leader who’s lost control of government to the looniest of conservative loons in his caucus. The question for Canadians ahead of the upcoming federal election is would a Prime Minister Erin O’Toole be any different?

It’s now late August, and Kenney’s ‘best summer ever’ looks bleak enough. After enduring grueling climate change induced heatwaves and smoky air caused by out of control wildfires since early July, Albertans are eyeing warily daily COVID case counts as infections once again spike across the province. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Non-acute surgeries are being cancelled. Healthcare workers are burnt out.

What Albertans deserve is honesty on issues both big and small. What Albertans (and all Canadians for that matter) cannot allow is for this sort of altered reality-twilight zone to become the new normal. Politicians saying the earth is flat when it’s clearly round is, and must be, weird. Politicians claiming they didn’t say or do something when they clearly did is, and must be, weird too. It might even be dangerous.