CALGARY—Doug Ford and Jason Kenney brought a united front against carbon taxes to a crowd of conservative supporters in Calgary on Friday night.

Ontario Premier Ford was invited to join Kenney and the United Conservative Party for a “Scrap the Carbon Tax” rally, where the two politicians promised to work together to fight the federal government’s levy plan.

Kenney estimated 2,000 people were in attendance at the BMO Centre.

Ford and Kenney praised opposition to the federal carbon tax that’s come across the country from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and recently from Manitoba’s government.

Ford promised the crowd that just as a new day dawned in Ontario with the PCs’ win after 15 years of Liberal government, a new day will dawn for Alberta with a UCP victory in next spring’s election.

“I have a message for all the people of Alberta. Stay strong, your next election is one that conservatives can win, an election we will win, and an election we must win,” Ford said.

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Kenney also spoke about Alberta’s carbon tax, saying it wasn’t mentioned during the last provincial election campaign, arguing it took voters by surprise. Kenney promised UCP’s first bill passed if the party forms government next year will be to repeal Alberta’s carbon tax.

“The multibillion-dollar job-killing carbon tax that they did not mention in the last election, it isn’t just the biggest tax hike in Alberta history, it is the biggest lie in Alberta history,” Kenney said.

But not everyone is thrilled about a Toronto politician bringing his message to Alberta.

Chief of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Tony Alexis, put out a statement Friday morning criticizing Kenney’s desire to scrap the climate change plan if his party forms the next provincial government, calling it “reckless.”

“It seems Kenney values Doug Ford’s position on this plan over the Indigenous peoples who actually live here in Alberta,” he said.

During an interview with StarMetro, Alexis said he was worried about the future relationship between the provincial government and Indigenous peoples in Alberta should Kenney’s party win the coming spring election.

“We’ve been moving forward in building a relationship with the government and my opinion is that Jason Kenney will not continue that. As a matter of fact, he may take some steps back,” he said.

“It’s important for us, especially Indigenous people, we rely on the land. We’ve always had this relationship with Mother Earth.”

Alexis said he also found it odd that Kenney would bring a politician from Central Canada to the rally and said, based on Ford’s actions in Ontario, he thought Alberta voters should be “extra cautious.”

“It makes no sense to me. (Kenney is) a person of this region. What he should be doing is speaking to the people here — he doesn’t need anybody from outside here to try to rally the people of this region.”

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Ford’s appearance in Calgary follows a stop in Saskatchewan where Ford met with Premier Scott Moe, another ally opposing carbon taxation. Ford has already launched a constitutional challenge in court against the federal carbon tax, after having dismantled Ontario’s cap-and-trade program earlier this year.

The federal government’s plan would require provinces and territories to put a price on carbon emissions, or have a $10 per tonne tax imposed on them next year, which would rise to $50 per tonne in 2022.

Kenney and Ford have praised each other’s work in the past to oppose carbon tax legislation. Earlier this year, Kenney spoke at the Ontario PC convention, where he noted his support for each of the major leadership candidates’ opposition to the federal carbon tax.

Likewise, as a leadership candidate, Ford said he could already envision Ontario, led by his government, working with a Kenney-led Alberta to unite their efforts against the federal Liberals’ carbon tax.

David Taras, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said Ford’s invitation to Alberta may actually play into the hands of the Alberta NDP. Taras pointed to Premier Rachel Notley’s strategy to point out budget cuts promised by the UCP and how this would impact education, health care and infrastructure.

“Ford does not have the adoring affection of a lot of Ontario voters. Most voted against him and a lot of Albertans are just horrified by him. Bringing him out and making a spectacle of an alliance between the UCP and Kenney and Ford may be playing into the hands of his opposition,” Taras said.

“It reminds voters of the things Ford is doing that are unpopular, including unpopular in Ontario, and that would include cutbacks.”

Ultimately, Taras said bringing Ford to Calgary plays to the UCP’s existing base of support, stirring passions within the party, even if it alienates other Alberta voters.

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But the question remains about what a Kenney-led UCP government would implement to replace the province’s carbon tax, as Alberta’s Official Opposition hasn’t put forward its own environmental policy.

“It’s easy to say, ‘no carbon tax’ and also to say, ‘well, we do care about the environment,’ but then what do you actually do in terms of environmental policy?” Taras said.

“One of the things that was very painful to watch and very sad for a lot of environmentalists was to watch the Tories in power in Alberta. A lot of big talk about the environment and at the end of the day, I don’t even think most Albertans knew if the party had an environmental policy.”

But the criticism goes beyond the scrap of the tax and stretches outside Alberta as well.

Friends of Medicare, an Edmonton-based non-governmental organization, put out a news release on Friday with words of warning from the Ontario Health Coalition.

“Albertans can take warning from what is happening in Ontario,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, a group representing over 400 member organizations.

“Doug Ford ran his election campaign and refused to reveal an actual platform stating what he intended to do if he won. Now we are seeing major cuts to programs across the board and a big manipulation to try to create a false “crisis” in order to soften up the public for the real agenda: cuts to public health care and privatization of services.”

A small group of protesters gathered outside the BMO Centre to oppose the rally’s stance against carbon taxes, as well as Ford’s changes to Ontario’s education curriculum and cuts to Toronto city council.

Women’s March Canada invited Calgarians to protest the rally, targeting Ford’s education stance, according to the group’s website.

The event listing says Kenney “promised to shred the curriculum and now he is meeting with Doug Ford (who) is trying to impose a 1998 health curriculum in Ontario that predates the change in consent law and erases LGBT people (and even set up a snitch line to report teachers that defy his direction).”

An estimated 30,000 students walked out of Ontario schools in September to protest Ford reverting to the 1998 sex-education curriculum. The so-called “snitch line” was put in place for parents to report teachers who refused to use the 1998 sex-education curriculum and the move met with fierce opposition.

Alberta’s Education Minister David Eggen echoed these concerns about Ontario’s education policy and was critical of the UCP’s invitation to Ford, given the Ontario PC government’s actions.

“In the three months that Doug Ford has been the premier of Ontario, he has unleashed mayhem into the education system, attacking teachers, taking (millions of dollars) out of maintenance, attacking curriculum,” Eggen said.

Eggens said Albertans should take a “long second look” at what the similarities between Kenney and Ford mean for Albertans.

With Kenney having previously announced his plans to repeal Alberta’s carbon levy if the UCP is elected, Eggen said it’s important for Alberta to have a carbon plan of its own

“Part of what we need to do is make sure that we take positive action on carbon. If you don’t have these things, then you end up with a plan made in Ottawa,” Eggen said. “It goes back to Albertans looking after ourselves, making decisions about what we can do to help diversify the economy and to be energy leaders into this 21st century.”

Michael Janz, an Edmonton Public Schools trustee, said Kenney standing alongside Ford sends a political message that should be read with alarm.

“Kenney is a smart politician and to have somebody like Doug Ford on stage, it’s not just about the carbon tax,” said Janz.

“It’s a dog whistle to all of those other extreme, socially conservative, regressive elements that are sowing division in our society and I worry that they’re going to feel emboldened by Doug Ford’s presence.”

Janz criticized Ford’s record on public education and said if Kenney were to form a government, many similar policies could be seen implemented in Alberta.

“Politics is all about perception,” he said.

“You can’t just put a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat on and say it’s because you like the colour red. This is a very, very powerful symbol and an allegiance, and to see those two working together — this is really concerning.”

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