Conservative firebrand Ted Morton meant to publish a book detailing his life in politics more than five years ago. But if he had stuck to that original schedule, he thinks it would have been a much more depressing read.
Why so dour? Dr. Morton – the political science professor turned provincial politician – wanted to reflect on the ups and many downs of political life, including losing two Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership contests in 2006 and 2011.
But from where he sits now, the rise of Jason Kenney and Danielle Smith shows his decades-long push for provincial autonomy measures – meant to push back against “predatory policies of the federal Liberal party” – have become mainstream. Now he’s just published his autobiography Strong and Free with a level of vindication.
“Suddenly, many of the ‘Alberta Agenda,’ a.k.a. ‘Firewall,’ policies and ideas I had championed unsuccessfully had now been supported by two successive conservative majority governments,” he writes.
“As I told my supporters in 2006, we may have lost the leadership campaign, but we did not lose the battle for new ideas.”
Dr. Morton was, of course, part of a group of six prominent conservatives, including former prime minister Stephen Harper, who penned the “Firewall” letter 23 years ago. It called for Alberta control over policing, pensions and taxation. Many of the ideas seemed radical then. Many still believe that. But Mr. Kenney created the Fair Deal panel and held a referendum on equalization. Ms. Smith has picked up where her predecessor left off and has gone further still, notably with her Sovereignty Act.
Raised in Casper, Wyo., Dr. Morton is the personification of the western U.S. influence that runs through southern Alberta politics. American settlers came here to farm a century ago, and more recently moved to Calgary for work in oil and natural gas. His own oilman father Warren Morton was an institution in the Wyoming House of Representatives. Future Republican vice-president Dick Cheney was the chairman of his dad’s unsuccessful run for governor in 1982.
The younger Dr. Morton came to Canada to do his PhD at the University of Toronto and then moved west to the University of Calgary, where the popular professor became part of an influential group of like-minded right-wingers called the Calgary School. Eventually, he gave into the siren call of real-world politics, campaigning and winning both in the race to be Alberta’s senator-in-waiting (with a young Pierre Poilievre working as his volunteer driver) and for a seat in the legislature.
But his strong Reform Party conservatism was not welcomed in the late stages of the PC dynasty, where lobbyists and brokerage politics often reigned supreme. He served in cabinet under premiers Ed Stelmach and Alison Redford, where during his stint as finance minister he “annoyed almost every other cabinet minister by rejecting their requests for more funding.”
But he failed to stop what he calls “the most expensive fiscal mistake in Alberta history,” the Sturgeon refinery – where even if the whole operation shuts down tomorrow, the province will still be out tens of billions of dollars. He writes that the province is a classic petro-state, where oil and natural gas revenues are “crack cocaine” for politicians addicted to spending it. Alberta voters have become “equally addicted to enjoying it,” and far too little has been saved.
Early in my reporting career, I reported on Dr. Morton’s campaign against same-sex marriage. It’s hard to remember the days when that debate raged, even amongst some political centrists. The stories I wrote two decades ago seem more like 50 years ago. I was surprised to read Dr. Morton’s views haven’t changed. He accepts the policy discussion is concluded, but writes that “same-sex marriage is a dangerous social experiment” and links it more broadly to a “woke authoritarian movement.”
It’s a disheartening part of what is otherwise an incredibly useful book full of candid stories about conservative politics, the inner workings of nominations, caucus meetings and policy development (or lack thereof).
Not in the book is Dr. Morton’s story of running into Liz Cheney at a Wyoming Republican’s birthday party in 2016. He spent several minutes criticizing Donald Trump, warning of his clear lack of character and judgement. Ms. Cheney brushed off his concerns.
Ms. Cheney has, of course, since become one of the most high-profile Republican critics of Mr. Trump and the former president’s false claim the 2020 election was stolen. Three years ago, she also joined other conservatives who have changed their minds on the question of same-sex marriage, saying it’s a question of freedom for everyone.
As Dr. Morton himself lays out, his ideas have shaped Alberta politics, and at some points he’s been prescient. But in some areas, he’s still fighting the battles of 20 years ago.