OPINION: Beware Cam Davies’ Second Kamikaze Campaign
Naheed Nenshi launches his bid to become Alberta’s second-ever NDP Premier in earnest by sitting back and watching Cam Davies fly a kamikaze mission straight into the hull of USS Alberta.
On Monday, Naheed Nenshi launches his bid to become Alberta’s second-ever NDP Premier in earnest — not by seeking a seat in the legislature (though he is doing that too), but by sitting back and watching Cam Davies fly a kamikaze mission straight into the hull of USS Alberta.
Unlike the original pilots of Japan’s wartime suicide squads, Davies seems to have survived his first kamikaze flight — and is now eagerly climbing back into the cockpit for round two. The first time, he used his abundant free time to support the infamous “Kamikaze Campaign” and ended up personally bearing the brunt of thousands upon thousands of dollars in fines for violating election financing law on that campaign’s behalf. Now, he’s upping the stakes, and he might just take down Alberta’s entire conservative movement with him.
Most Albertans work hard for a living. They build things. Cam Davies seems to prefer to do the opposite. Davies is a professional activist, recently labouring for BC United (formerly the BC Liberals), where he worked actively to stall John Rustad’s surging Conservative movement in B.C.
Despite Davies’ best efforts to block Rustad and prop up a dying brand, the Conservatives surged anyway — nearly defeating the NDP and pushing Kevin Falcon into political irrelevance. The BC Liberals-turned-United Party folded, despite Davies’ protest. (I would hate it if my employer closed up shop too). But one has to wonder how much further ahead real conservatives might be if Davies weren’t so busy working against them.
With no one left to pay his invoices out west, and with Danielle Smith reportedly refusing to hire him as Alberta’s envoy to Washington (a job Davies insists he never sought), he’s turned his attention inward — and destructive.
I spoke with two sources who know both Davies and Premier Smith personally. Both claim Davies was quietly seeking work within the Alberta government, and that Smith — or her advisors — rejected him. In an interview with Juno News, Cam Davies denied the assertion that he tried to seek employment with Danielle Smith’s government, but if that’s true, it might explain the grudge he now carries.
Whether it’s getting slapped with fine after fine for violating Alberta’s election financing laws, helping unelectable centrists block conservatives in B.C., or launching a narcissistic, unneeded, and doomed separatist party in Alberta, Davies has a long track record of activism that leads to political chaos.
Let’s be clear: electing Cam Davies to the legislature is not a requirement for Alberta independence. In fact, it would likely be a setback. Reasonable Albertans who support independence shouldn’t be forced to carry Davies’ baggage across the finish line.
But again, Davies doesn’t need to win a seat tomorrow to win his fight. He just needs to have enough support to say “We’re a new party and these gains are great! Please donate to our campaign so that we can get the same disappointing results on a provincial scale!”
Tonight, as by-election results roll in, Nenshi will undoubtedly be more interested in Davies’ numbers in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills than his own carpetbagged riding in Edmonton. Why? Because the NDP doesn’t need Davies to win — just to bleed one or two percent from the UCP. That’s all it takes.
And if that happens, Cam Davies will sleep easy, whether he believes in his new movement or he just wants revenge. Even if it means four years of NDP rule, Alberta's economy on the ropes, and a conservative movement further divided.
People who know Cam Davies know this. Sometimes he walks away from campaigns having been paid. Sometimes he walks away with nothing but attention. But always, always, he leaves a trail of scorched earth behind.
Hopefully, no-one will be stupid enough to vote for Davies. A vote for him is a vote for NENSHI, the Bane of Alberta.
If the voters have this knowledge available to them, i could see little or no interest in placing a vote for him. As the writer states we don't need his crazy notions to make a mess of things. We need Albertans to be united to gain independence.