There is an ‘inside baseball’ aspect to Alberta politics that doesn’t exist anywhere else I’ve lived.

I mean sure, the same people pop up again and again for the federal Liberals or the federal Conservatives. People who went to university together end up on each others’ campaigns until the end of time.

It’s just that in Alberta, the group is so small, and the PCs governed for so long. Someone who ran the whole damn PC party can pop up again, zombie-style, running a little slate of school board trustees, like disgraced Mark McGuire quietly working as the bench coach for San Diego’s sad, sad Padres.

Step away, reshuffle, never retire. Seems to be the Alberta political way.

So in the YYC election, the appetite to see the donor list belonging to Naheed Nenshi’s nearest challenger, Bill Smith, was prompted at least in part by the desire to see which old school Tory operatives and representatives were paying for this reported million dollar campaign.

Smith’s verbal endorsements, and his election night party, became something of a proxy list. Homebuilders Jay Westman and Cal Wenzel’s presence surprised no one. Jason Kenney wearing a “Bill Smith for Mayor” button seemed about right.

It therefore should not have been a surprise that UCP would-be leader Doug Schweitzer showed up to celebrate with the Smith group on Monday night. Not surprising perhaps, but a little disappointing.

Until the Calgary election, Schweitzer’s campaign has centered around differentiating himself from his opponents Brian Jean and Jason Kenney. From their political history as former federal MPs. From their base of social conservatives. From their lack of commitment to support LGBTQA Albertans. Schweitzer came out strong on conservative pet issues like minimum wage and pipelines, but overall his campaign has been comparatively positive and moderate.

That is, until Naheed Nenshi beat Bill Smith. Suddenly, Schweitzer’s messaging has taken a turn for the divisive. Blaming a nefarious “left wing” for the win.

Those going up against the UCP in 2019 should be paying close attention, because the move reveals exactly how this crowd thinks. They are a club. A special club of Albertans, who believes (once they pick a leader) only they should rightfully lead Alberta.

This “left wing kicked our butt” perspective shows they assume anyone who opposes them must therefore also be a club. Not, you know, people with ideas to be considered, but a group to be crushed, defeated, discarded.

Does this sound familiar? Of course it does. We see this kind of partisanship in U.S. politics all the time. That this small, mostly homogenous, group of long-serving conservative Albertans wants to whip up an “us and them” mentality should concern us.

UCP Caucus. Not the most diverse bunch. Courtesy: Gateway Gazette

How well is that working in the U.S.? Does it serve them? Solve their problems? I don’t believe it does.

I read the YYC election results quite differently than Mr. Schweitzer. I don’t believe Calgary’s “left wing” “kicked butt” here. I believe a majority of Calgarians rejected the idea of big money and special interests purchasing our election.

That isn’t a left wing value. Painting it as such shames conservative Calgarians who also share the belief that big money-funded straw man candidates aren’t what we want.

This little club of long-serving Alberta conservative operatives knows this. What this email really says is, if you’re against this style of PAC politics, you are “left wing.” You’re not in our club anymore.

There may have been a time in Alberta where people interested in politics also thought like this, but that time is long gone. The voters in Alberta I know who supported Mayor Nenshi did not do so because they’re in a special “left wing” group.

They did so because his politics take everyone’s best interests into account.

In fact, the very problem many people saw with the Smith campaign, the reason many rejected the very small, very wealthy group of people who have been involved in the politics of this province for a long time, is because their insular little club’s top priority seemed to be making money for people within the club.

Calgary has gone from a place where you can get rich if you are connected to oil and gas and can buy property, to a place where there is a chance for opportunity for many people in many circumstances.

These are not left wing values, this is just opening the city up from being a members-only club, to being accessible to those outside the club. And it’s about damn time.