the king of mansplania

(I wrote this post on January 14, 2021 and originally published it on a newsletter platform I am no longer using for my writing.

Today, July 8th, 2021, the Premier announced a cabinet “shuffle”. In this shuffle he split up the Ministry of Multiculturalism and Status of Women into three sub categories all under one main Minister. And yes, you guessed it, this new minister is a man, with an associate minister who is another handmaiden of the patriarchy within the UCP, who will of course do all the work and then have a mediocre white man take all the credit. I mean - the misogyny within this party and this premier knows no bounds. All of this comes on the heels of an announcement to roll back wages for Alberta Nurses. My curiosity is waning about this man - he is who he keeps showing us he is, a small-minded, misogynistic, power hungry, narcissistic, mediocre-white-man. Put the in YOUR twitter Bio Mr. Premier!)

I watched Jason Kenney, the Premier of Alberta do a FB live session the other night. 

I know, I know, you are all wondering why on earth I would subject myself willingly to this, but I have my reasons. One being, as the saying goes, “know thine enemy’, but more than that, (and probably because of the three times I’ve watched Season One of Ted Lasso), I want to be more of the curious person, and not the judgemental one, as Walt Whitman said and as Ted Lasso does. So I am curious about this premier, about what motivates him, about how he sees himself and his role, and about how he sees Albertans.

I’ve written to him many times since he became Premier of Alberta and asked to meet in person and I’ve been politely declined every time. His FB live sessions are the closest thing to having a “conversation” with him, (even if it is one-sided and the questions he answers are hand-picked by his staff). And so I watch. Not all the time, I am not a total glutton for punishment, but when I do, I try to watch with a curious mind, the judgmental part pushed back for the moment. 

What I saw the other night, was a man whom I think really does wants to connect with people on some level, but also, a man who doesn’t think anyone is at HIS level. This is where he falters and loses folks all along the political spectrum. He really does think he is the smartest man in the room. ON ALL TOPICS. 

For example, the other night he spent a good five minutes during the hour-long FB live to explain how pension plans work. Not answering the original question, asked by a woman I must add, but giving an in-depth “lesson” about pension plans and then telling public sector workers how grateful they should be to tax-payers who “pay” for their pension plans. And then of course, apologizes in his ‘every man’ kind of way, for “going into that so much”. 

Twenty minutes later in the live, he was asked (by another woman) about open-pit coal mining in Southern Alberta. He went on to give a short history lesson on the 140-years of coal-mining in Alberta, and once again explained how public sector folks rely on the taxed wealth from private resource industries including coal mining. He then proceeded to explain the difference between metallurgical versus thermal coal mining and gave a further lesson about how if we live in the world that has steel, then we need to live in a world with coal mining. And once finished, again apologized for going on so long on the topic. 

The thing is, I don’t believe he is sorry for going on so long. I think this is part strategy to avoid directly answering a question and also part, “look how smart I am” self-agrandizing. We’ve seen him do this time and time again - remember the COVID modelling press conference in the summer? Jason Kenney wants people to think that he is capital S smart! That only he knows how the world works, and therefore only he knows what is best for everyone. I also think the level of internalized misogyny he has is clearly demonstrated here in how he dismissed both of the above questions from women as being, 1) a misunderstanding of how pension plans work, and 2) that environmental groups MUST be sending her information that is false to get money from her. He did not make these intelligence judgements for any of the questions asked by men. 

My conclusion is not a hard one to make: Jason Kenney is no Ted Lasso. He is not curious in the least. Which to me is a strange thing for someone who so desperately wants to be seen as the smartest guy in the room. 

Do you know what actual smart people are? Very, very, CURIOUS. They look at and try to understand things from all perspectives, they listen more than they talk, they ask people questions. From what I can tell, Jason Kenney does not do any of that. He wants you to believe that he has everything all figured out, and because of that, he will judge everything and everyone and reject any perspective that does not fit within the framework of his knowledge base. 

I believe this is the real reason he often says he “rejects the premise of the question”, to reporters and journalists who ask him tough questions. If an honest answer does not fit within his very defined and limited perspective, it’s not that he won’t answer the question, I truly think he CAN’T answer it. Furthermore, to defer in any real sense to someone else who would have MORE knowledge than him in a given room/situation, would be a defeat, an embarrassment, and an acknowledgment of his lack. Therefore he OVER explains, he attempts to show us just how smart he is, even when/especially when no one has asked him to. Dare I say it, he MANsplains to everyone. All the time. 

I am not sure what this realization will do for me going forward or if I am right in my assessment. I still find it very hard to see Jason Kenney as a likeable and trustworthy Premier, let alone a fellow human being. But like I said, I am trying to channel my inner Lasso-Way and be more curious and less judgmental. I guess if I could just ask Mr. Kenney some questions face to face, the first one might be, “Mr. Premier, why aren’t you even just a little bit curious about the people of Alberta who didn’t vote for you?” 

Because we deserve a Premier as well. 

I’d love to know your thoughts on this as well. Let me know in the comments. 

Take care, 

N~