Many of the Tories in Halifax's Westin Hotel on Saturday morning were there to hear candidates for the federal Conservative leadership but those who stuck around afterwards were treated to the best speech of the weekend from P.E.I. Premier Dennis King.
King delivered a full-throated rejection of the partisan rancour that's become a political staple, in favour of few simple truths. Politics is about people, he said. In public life, be yourself because that's who the people voted for, and above all else, be kind.
There's not a hint of affectation or self-importance in King, and the most jaded observer couldn't find a false note in his breezy half-hour talk. Wit — usually self-deprecating — underscored his authentic homage to political civility and decency.
“In a world that witnesses, every single minute of every single day ... the deluge of political division and anger ... we remember who we are as Maritimers; what that represents to us, our families, our communities and our provinces,” he said. “To be a Maritimer is to have that inherent kindness, that quality that makes us want to look out for each other, to cheer for one another, and that wants only for our families, our friends and our neighbours to have a fair shot at a good life.”
Saturday marked the first anniversary of King assuming the leadership of PEI's Progressive Conservatives. He recalled being approached about running for the job, finding the idea intriguing and flattering but also “utterly terrifying.”
“Having observed the decline of decorum and the rise of personal attacks in today's politics, I didn't care much to have the many failings and shortcomings of my life dissected on the front pages of the newspapers,” he said.
He described how political recruiters convince prospective candidates that they're wellknown and liked, and that they connect with people.
“They play to the inner ego ... and make it hard as possible to say no,” he said, “When they get you to say yes, they take you in a room, close the door and say, ‘now that you've said yes, we need to change all those things we just said we liked about you.' ”
King didn't want to play “the game of gotcha politics where we just continue to yell at each other without the decency of listening,” — an apt description of most any question period in the House of Commons and most provincial legislatures.
King admitted he's been asked to speak at just two political functions off the Island since becoming premier last May, and both invitations came from Nova Scotia PC leader Tim Houston. “Either I'm really good, or you (Houston) have to be more fussy,” said King, who captivated the room full of Tories in a way the leadership candidates didn't.
At the Nova Scotia PCs annual meeting, Houston announced that his party will introduce legislation that welcomes ridesharing to the province when the legislature resumes later this month.
“Nova Scotia should enjoy the same market advances as the rest of the world,” Houston said. “We have a vibrant province with world-class amenities, and there is no reason why we shouldn't add ridesharing to our cities and towns.”
The PCs' legislation would require drivers to pass and maintain a clean criminal record check and complete a program of safe driving, conflict resolution and diversity training.
“Safety of passengers and the public must be the driving force,” Houston said. “Ridesharing alternatives have the potential to offer tremendous benefit to rural areas where they may have limited transportation options.”
Five of the federal leadership candidates showed up at the meeting and it's no surprise that Pictou County's Peter MacKay was the crowd favourite, although the other four received friendly and at times enthusiastic applause.
The requisite call for party unity was the common element from all five. In addition to MacKay, Ontario MPs Erin O'Toole and Marilyn Gladu, Edmonton businessman Rick Peterson and Rudy Husny, who twice ran against former federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair, spoke at the event.
O'Toole urged the party not to move “backward and slightly to the left,” but later refused to say whether he thought that's where MacKay would take Conservatives. For his part, MacKay said he'd prefer to stay on the high road.
Those leadership candidates who stayed for lunch and King's speech got a pretty good description of what that high road really looks like.
