The importance of unity and togetherness

By Leela Sharon Aheer Chestermere-Strathmore MLA

Hello Chestermere-Strathmore. I wanted to chat about a few things this week and I hope you had a beautiful Easter, Passover, Ramadan and Vaisakhi. I wanted to chat about unity as this is an important discussion in our communities, specifically at the provincial level. Unity, togetherness, a quality that reflects a similar purpose, spirit, or sentiment. 

From a more philosophical perspective, it is harmony where the whole is the result of the combination of many parts. I have always believed that we as a party were on a true path to understand and grow unity and perhaps learn about the sum of our parts. It’s more than a little complex but was, in my opinion, worthy of the effort that was built on the goals to make the lives of those we serve better. Unity required us to become a family and work on our disagreements but mostly be led with humility and hard work. 

Unfortunately, I believe that this opportunity was lost. We have seen not only top-down politics, but we have seen irregularities in memberships in our riding and the attempt to remove a board that truly represents you. Though we won our arbitration, I believe that we will see more and not less of these irregularities and more folks questioning the status quo. That is a good thing. Democracy is precious and I will not undermine the true work that needs to happen to protect our institutions. The issue is so much bigger than us and unity requires kindness and empathy. We must build consensus and because we face so much together, it is time to demand more, and we must ensure that our communities are safe and caring. 

This is a global situation and every level of politics matters; we must demand good leadership. It’s time for us to elect those who understand that Alberta will always be successful because that is who we are.  When do we take responsibility for democracy? This is important because democracy at our provincial government level requires a leader who will honour democracy. Don’t mistake unity for democracy, especially when the leader proposes cleaning house of those who would question him. How undemocratic. 

The beautiful machine of democracy is built on a system that demands strong opposition and we must be willing to change to protect our systems. This opposition is necessary within a party and within the opposition. We must listen to our constituents – real people with real concerns and we cannot be silent. We are issue-driven people, so let’s deal with the issues. I may be removed from the caucus for my candour, driven by the leader’s need for polarity versus real, meaningful conversations. Where is the democracy in that? You will hear that I should be quiet, keep it internal and not engage in this conversation with the public. What is our higher purpose? Democracy or silence? If we have safeguards of the vetting process in place, is the process working, or are there irregularities that must be addressed? Please look into this for yourself. 

Ask yourself how important democracy is to you and then ask yourself do you believe it is being upheld. This is not something that I am just saying. People in democracies worldwide are all asking these questions, and leaders who lead you to panic with language that is polarizing and undemocratic need to be held accountable. 

If unity is based on fear and expulsion, is it unity? It’s not what I believe and not what our party was founded on. I was there. I believe that folks have lost trust in our institutions and those of us that represent you because of ego and arrogance. 

This became clear when I asked the Premier for an apology regarding his behaviour dining on the rooftop during Covid – in essence breaking his own laws, or when I called out the lack of safety for our female staffers after Ariella Kimmel was fired for standing up against the sexual harassment of one of her staffers. 

There have been no changes to our internal environment, no culture shift to show that the Premier has learned anything from this. The Premier is in a fight for his job. The question that we need to ask is who does he serve? This leadership review should only show one outcome, which should trigger a leadership race that would be so good for all of us, the province and Canada! We have been told that if the Premier is given an endorsement, those who oppose will be kicked out. 

I am a founding member of this party, long before the Premier was even thinking about running in this province and I’m not afraid to stand my ground, as I believe it is principled. I will never allow bigotry or homophobia, sexual harassment, racism, or bullying ever define the privilege I hold, nor will I be pushed to support someone who is delivering a verdict on his own career by changing the rules at every turn. 

I believe in the process and the process is in shambles. We are at a place where everyone is watching us and where strong leadership has never been more important. Why wouldn’t we want the opportunity for all of us to share our vision? You should never have to limit your choices. Democracy is about choices.

Have a wonderful day!

(Leela Sharon Aheer is the MLA Elect for Chestermere-Strathmore)