KENNEY'S NEXT ACT — Alberta's United Conservatives elect a new leader this evening. The winner gets to be premier. The party is scheduled to livestream the results starting at 5:30 p.m. local time. The favorite is DANIELLE SMITH, the talk-radio host and former leader of the now-defunct Wildrose Party whose proposed sovereignty act has made most of the race's out-of-province headlines. (The idea isn't to secede, merely to refuse to obey federal laws that a future Smith government deems unjust for her province. It would likely be unconstitutional.) Smith is confident enough of her prospects, reports the Globe's KELLY CRYDERMAN, that she has a transition team and chief of staff waiting in the wings. Some might worry about jinxing the win. Just ask someone in ANDREW SCHEER's 2019 war room about measuring the drapes before the results are in. The other candidates are LEELA AHEER, BRIAN JEAN, TODD LOEWEN, TRAVIS TOEWS, RAJAN SAWHNEY and REBECCA SCHULZ. — Riding into the sunset: Kenney exits the premier's office after a tumultuous tenure few would've predicted when he won a landslide victory in 2019. The former federal Cabmin managed to anger just about everybody in the pandemic — either lifting public health measures too early or ripping away his people's freedom, depending on the critic. Twenty-five years after his first election sent him to Ottawa Kenney is still only 54 years old. That's a lot of working years left for a man who's mostly held elected office. Playbook asked Conservatives who know him well, and Albertans who've watched his career since the beginning, for their best guesses at what's next. — Captain of industry: Sitting around influential tables in the world of business, even if his resume includes little experience in those circles, was one of the most common predictions from Playbook's speculators. Few political animals in Canada have a keener understanding of federal-provincial dynamics than Kenney. He has long championed Alberta's energy industry. As it happens, Enbridge is on the hunt for a new chair of the board. — Big thinker: Kenney isn't a lawyer, but he wouldn't be the first without a law degree to advise a big firm. He need look no further than to former Cabinet colleagues JAMES MOORE and JOHN BAIRD for inspiration. Moore is a Vancouver-based senior business adviser at Dentons. Baird holds the same title at Bennett Jones. — Place your bets: Here's where DAVE COURNOYER, a plugged-in writer and podcaster in Edmonton, sees the future former premier: "He'll have a soft landing. I expect we'll see him appointed to a few corporate boards and increase his involvement with conservative think-tanks and advocacy groups in Canada and the U.S. And as we’ve seen over the past few months, he probably won’t hesitate to publicly comment on Alberta politics and his successors, especially when it comes to his legacy as Premier." — Man of God: Another option? The priesthood. Kenney studied philosophy at the Jesuit-run St. Ignatius Institute at the University of San Francisco in the 1980s. A pair of Kenney-adjacent Conservatives speculated, with no tongue-in-cheek intended, that the premier could recommit himself to the church. "It’s as likely that you’ll not hear of him much. Politics is over. He never had an interest in business. And serious business people know that," said one observer. "At one point in his life, joining the priesthood was a serious option. He may find faith and go all in." — Lord's messenger: If the soon-to-be-former pol doesn't want to don the robes, another Tory floated an adjacent opportunity: Canada's ambassador to the Holy See. A certain future PM could have the opportunity to make that appointment. — Temporary retiree: In the short-term, said someone familiar with Kenney's thinking: "Enjoy spending less time on Highway 2," the road between the legislature in Edmonton and Kenney's home base in Calgary. "Read. Relax. Reflect."
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