Treasonish

Even as the dark rumblings from down south continue and some Alberta separatists meet with Trump officials (an act that – while not strictly treasonous – could be seen as treasonish), Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has resisted calls from other leaders (most notably B.C. Premier David Eby and Ontario Premier Doug Ford) to take a firm stance against separatist agitation.

Even though she claims to be in favour of “a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada” (whatever that means), Smith has said that members of her party caucus are welcome to sign a petition that pushes for a referendum on separation. In fact, her government has repeatedly acted to keep the door open for this referendum petition which will run until May 2, going so far as to pre-empt legal scrutiny and lower the number of signatures required to initiate a referendum.

The role of a party

What this means is that Smith is consistently refusing to commit the party she leads to a clear, consistent policy on whether Alberta should remain part of Canada. She uses the rhetoric of democracy to defend that refusal, saying, “I don’t police the responses of my MLAs.” But there is nothing particularly “democratic” about a political party (particularly one in government) refusing to take a clear stance on a matter as important as national unity. The role of political parties in democratic politics is to set out a clear policy and then campaign to form a government that can implement it. Using the fig leaf of (internal) democracy to avoid having a policy on the most decisive issues is the opposite of how parties serve democracy.

We need political parties in large-scale democracies that face complex challenges in a world where citizens have limited time and attention for politics. We need them to simplify our choices, make the political landscape easier to understand, and organize our many and varied interests, values and political ideas. Government by plebiscite is a recipe for chaos, not meaningful political choice. But political parties can only do this work when they take clear and consistent stances on matters of crucial concern to voters.

A tough job

Premier Smith has a tough job: she is trying to hold together a party that has quite a track record of breaking apart and is genuinely divided on the issue of Alberta’s place in Canada. A divided party is a weak one, even while it commands a majority in the legislature; if a leader pushes too hard, the party might just fracture. I don’t envy her. But she asked for this job. She is not only the leader of her party but also the premier of Alberta. If she cannot get her party to take a clear line on separation, she might be serving her party (and her own place as its leader), but she is failing democracy in Alberta.