Government by Farmer and Rotary Club Member
December 19, 2006 · By Aaron Unruh
As I ask back here, who the f**k is Lloyd Snelgrove and why is he suddenly the most powerful minister (besides Stelmach) in Alberta?
Before his entry into provincial politics, Mr. Snelgrove served two terms on Vermilion’s town council…
Mr. Snelgrove’s business endeavours date back to his active participation in the family’s farming operation and construction company…
He…retains an active membership in the Vermilion Rotary Club.
There you have it. The qualifications needed to be a senior minister in an Ed Stelmach cabinet.
Unfortunately, Ted Morton failed to meet these stringent entry requirements and was therefore made a junior minister. Why, I don’t think he’s even sat on a village council before!
It’s not where you’re from, it’s who you know…
You forgot the Vermillion town council, Aaron. That must be it!
“It’s not where you’re from, it’s who you know…”
Actually, in this case it seems to be “it is where you are from and who you know.”
Also, Ted is in Cabinet. He may not be in the sexiest portfolio, but he is at the table. He has an opportunity to earn a more senior ministry if his performance merits it.
You guys didn’t actually think he was going to be given a “super” ministry as well as a deputy premier title did ya?
If Stelmach was smart, he would have given Morton a more senior portfolio. Morton is obviously capable, and, as Link Byfield pointed out, Stelmach has done little to win the loyalty of Morton’s campaign team with this appointment.
Despite running a credible campaign for the PC leadership, Ted is a newbie. He has no prior cabinet experience and only two years under his belt as an MLA. 20 years as a poli-sci prof does not count as experience.
But Ted is smart. He was given a portfolio that has ties to things that he cares about (wildlife conservation, water, etc.). As Ryan said, maybe it is not the sexiest portfolio, but it gives Ted the chance to prove himself, and similar to Harper, show that he is not as scary as some would lead you to believe. You need to learn to walk before you can run.
Snelgrove’s job is to (i) prioritise initatives; and (ii) to say ‘no’ to spending ministers. Morton will be helpful in that set of tasks — and they are activities unfamiliar to the Cabinet table these last 4 years.
This Cabinet will succeed or stumble on the basis of group chemistry and team play not individual charisma or diva status, let alone prior senior experience — after all, most were carefully marginalized by the last regime.
I think Stelmach heard the rumblings over Deputy Premier and thusly decided not to appoint anyone to that position. I think Morton should have been placed in Treasury or Intergovernment Relations, especially the latter given his experience.
That said, Morton has more of an opportunity to change the face of the PC Party than most realise. To be at the cabinet table, to have Ted Morton at the cabinet table, Conservatives in Alberta have an articulate voice in government. Not only is Morton in pretty good shape for whatever lay in his political future, he is in a position to gain the profile and credibility necessary to transform and revitalize the conservative party in this province—Alberta Alliance’s time has yet to come.
I hope Morton excels! Considering the leadership race he ran, he will be heard or he will likely leave. If cabinet doesn’t work out for Ted Morton, he is now in a position to make a more dramatic exit from the party should he choose. Morton is one that Stelmach must try and make happy, helping him get a better footing in the party to advance his seniority in Cabinet.
As for Snelgrove, amateurs can be good because they lack the pretence to avoid change. I don’t know anything else about him.
“But Ted is smart. He was given a portfolio that has ties to things that he cares about (wildlife conservation, water, etc.). As Ryan said, maybe it is not the sexiest portfolio, but it gives Ted the chance to prove himself, and similar to Harper, show that he is not as scary as some would lead you to believe. You need to learn to walk before you can run.”
I take your point. But people made the same arguments after he was elected as an MLA. Instead of being a loose cannon, Morton reached out to the caucus. On the SSM issue, Klein apparently consulted quite often with Morton and even publicly supported Morton’s idea of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The point is is that it’s unfair to constantly raise the bar for Morton. 20 years as a university professor may not qualify someone for a senior post, but why then does sitting on the Vermillion town council and being amember of a Rotary Club?
It’s easy to dismiss Ted’s experience as a political scientist. His record and publications have earned him plenty of respect as far out as Australia.
Morton has worked for years to denounce the undemocratic activism of judges. He is a world-renown constitutional expert; he has spoken to countless conferences and has written several books on the topic. I can see why none of that has any bearing on politics.
To bring those to the arena of politics might be unfair to the world class Rotarians in Vermillion, so I can see the objections.
So let’s not allow Morton to double dip with the academic stuff. But let’s at least be honest about his accomplishments in practical politics:
Ted actively campaigned against the Meech and Charlottetown Accords when most Alberta elites, Dinning included, either lined up to support them or ignored them. Morton was working with Preston Manning, Stockwell Day and Stephen Harper to fight for democratic reform in Ottawa trying to make federalism. In both policy and parliamentary experience outside the floor of the legislature, Morton knows more about things that any of Stelmach’s loyal rookies.
In 1998 Morton took that fight to the area of Senate reform in the attempt to get fairer and more balanced institutions for Albertans. He became Senator-elect, opposed the abusive Liberal Gun Registry and “stood shoulder to shoulder with the eleven Alberta Farmers who went to jail for challenging the Canada Wheat Board.”
Ted introduced private member’s Bill 208, for which he received significant support from his own caucus. Private member bills don’t usually make it through but the opposition Liberals and the NDP were so scared that the bill would pass that they organised province-wide demonstrations vilifying Ted and filibustered the bill.
None of that, in politics or in the academy, of course, tops blind and personalistic loyalty to Stelmach and the Rotary Club at Vermillion. No amount of intellectual ability or political skill can compete with that.
What are doing pulling train for all the closet-cases that hang out here, Unruh? Shouldn’t you be busy trolling progressive/lefty blog?
Well, he is in Cabinet kaqchikel. If he wasn’t in Cabinet, then by all means trot out his experience and credentials. As a member of Cabinet, his influence on government policy will be significant and broader than land and trees.
You Morton guys are a bunch of whiners.
Discussing the provincial cabinet and Morton’s place in it makes us a bunch of whiners?
“What are doing pulling train for all the closet-cases that hang out here, Unruh? Shouldn’t you be busy trolling progressive/lefty blog?”
Get lost, moron.
“Discussing the provincial cabinet and Morton’s place in it makes us a bunch of whiners?”
The way it is being discussed by some on here comes across that way, yes. It seems to me that George is the only one that sees the opportunity - others are lining up behind the Link Byfield view of the universe, which frankly is old and “small Alberta” thinking, as usual.
Morton brings a lot of valuable experience to the Cabinet table, and so does Snelgrove. I don’t think many folks here would feel that Morton’s qualifications are completely covered by his Legislature bio. The same goes for Snelgrove.