[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[PRC]

Jason Kenney, Alberta's UCP Leader, takes a trip to India on his own initiative - not as an MLA - and this causes a bit of controversy.  Canadian politicians should maybe stop making trips to India altogether - have't been having a good run there.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4463224/jason-kenney-india-trip-alberta-ndp-trade/

Confusion in India over who Jason Kenney is speaking for: Alberta trade minister
By Dean Bennett - The Canadian Press - Updated: September 18, 2018 7:26 pm

The Alberta government says it will be doing "damage control"' after Opposition leader Jason Kenney's visit to India.

Trade Minister Deron Bilous said there appears to be confusion in India over who Kenney is speaking for and questions over what he is saying as he meets this week with business and political leaders.

"There's already been confusion," Bilous said Tuesday, citing a social media post from an Indian government cabinet minister who referred to Kenney as a minister of the Crown. "We don't know exactly what he is saying, how he is portraying himself."

Bilous said Kenney doesn't speak on behalf of the government of Alberta or the government of Canada.

"What we don't know is if he is clarifying where there are misunderstandings ... but we're not about to let this visit of Mr. Kenney's potentially damage the government of Alberta's relationship with India."

Bilous said they will do follow-up work to deal with any confusion.

"We've directed our Alberta trade office to do damage control, correcting the record wherever we can," he said. "They'll be doing follow-up conversations with all of the Indian officials that Mr. Kenney meets with."

Kenney and two caucus members are using their own money and United Conservative Party (UCP) funds for the trip to promote Alberta's oil industry and express concerns about Indian tariffs on peas and lentils.

Nitin Gadkari, the minister responsible for roads and other resources, tweeted out this week, "Met Mr. Jason Kenney, Hon'ble Minister, Alberta, Canada. We discussed about exploring areas of mutual co-operation in infrastructure sector."

Kenney has also given multiple interviews with media in that country making statements that appear to conflict with ones made earlier in Alberta.

Speaking to CNN-News18, he urged Indians to invest, saying, "Canada, amongst the developed countries – Alberta in particular – have low taxes. We have one of the best educated workforces, efficient power prices. We have a lot of strategic advantages for that kind of investment."

Kenney's UCP has, in fact, been sharply critical of Premier Rachel Notley's power pricing system and its tax regime.

Two months ago, Kenney said the current Alberta tax program was not luring investment but in fact undermining it, and that if his party forms government, he will axe the existing carbon tax and then look at further tax reductions.

Bilous said he hopes Albertans are scratching their heads.

"Mr. Kenney is saying one thing to Albertans and another to an international audience," he said.

"This is where it is critical that our Alberta office in India will be following up with all the officials that Mr. Kenney meets with."

In an emailed statement to Global News, a UCP Caucus spokesperson said:

"It is disappointing to hear the minister suggest that Mr. Kenney's visit to India has or will in any way hurt Alberta.

"Prior to his departure, Mr. Kenney spoke to Minister Bilous and indicated that he is taking a Team Alberta approach on this trip, and that all partisanship ends at the border," Christine Myatt explained.

"Mr. Kenney is more than happy to forward Alberta and Canada's interests while in India, utilizing his high-level international connections. In fact, the government would be wise to solicit his advice to build connections to the world's largest democracy of 1.3 billion people. He would be happy to do so, should Minister Bilous ever opt to travel to India in the future.

"It's quite clear that this latest NDP smear job is a desperate attempt to distract from its disastrous record."

Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier has led two trade missions to India over the last two years on behalf of the province.

The debate over Kenney's trip and the perception of who he is also fired up social media.

[Barrister]

That is the NDP trying to stir up controversy where none exists.

I mean gosh darn it - how dare Kenney try to promote Alberta in India!  And the gall of not trying to make partisan political attacks as part of his trip!

There apparently has been some level of confusion in India - there are news reports that call him a government minister for example.  It's not totally surprising - Jason Kenney was a very high profile member of Harper's cabinet for many years, and in particular his 5 years in Citizenship and Immigration would have likely put him in touch with a number of Indian politicians.  But I'm pretty confident he's very careful about explaining what his current role is.

[crazy canuck]

Why wouldn't he wait until he is elected - a foregone conclusion? 

[Barrister]

Why wouldn't he wait until he is elected - a foregone conclusion? 

Because although he is certainly the favourite, it is not a foregone conclusion.  The trip to India was about appearing to be a statesman (and, likely, to draw comparisons to Trudeau's earlier visit).  You can guarantee there'll be no pictures of Kenney in traditional Indian clothing.

Which is funny because this picture from 2013 does exist:

[Rex Francorum]

So the latest polls show the race is going crazy in Québec. The CAQ lost about 5% since the beginning of the campaign. According to qc125.com, it could mean this in number of seats.

[Grey Fox]

The libs, with their high floor, will win. Again. Fuck.

[Valmy]

Ok so the orange party are the commies. The dark blue are the nationalists. The red are the Liberals. The light blue are the conservatives.

Did I get that right?

[Grey Fox]

Yes.

Quebec conservatives. Still couple of shades to the left of Sanderbros.

[Oexmelin]

Not really.

The Sanderbros I know are committed leftists; that their country is much to the right of Quebec doesn't change that. Caquistes, on the other hand, may be more than a couple of shades to the left of Conservatives, but they are not leftists.

[Grey Fox]

That doesn't change what I said.

[Valmy]

That doesn't change what I said.

I think it does. Being a couple shades left of many of the committed Bernie Sanders people is something entirely different than being a couple of shades left of Canadian conservatives.

[Grey Fox]

Your Sanderbros aren't that left.

[Valmy]

Your Sanderbros aren't that left.

Unless the CAQ is advocating rounding up the middle class for re-education camps I am skeptical. I mean Sanders has asked for many things, like 100% tax penalty on any outsourced jobs, that I don't see Canada doing.

[crazy canuck]

Your Sanderbros aren't that left.

The people you have in mind are different from the people I have in mind.

[Admiral Yi]

Provincial parties different from federal parties is one of the weirdest things about Canada.