Jason Kenney, premier of Alberta, meets with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on May 2, 2019. File photo by Andrew Meade
Whether it’s embracing open-pit coal mining or doubling down on the oil and gas industry, Jason Kenney’s UCP government has made a habit of looking to the past for guidance and inspiration. But rarely has it been more explicit in its back-to-the-future approach to governing than with its new proposed K-6 curriculum, which takes the government’s atavistic approach to a whole different level.
Take, for example, the sycophantic mention of Kenney’s own grandfather in the section on what Grade 6 students should learn in music class. Mart Kenney’s When I Get Back to Calgary is specifically cited alongside Glenn Miller’s In The Mood as examples of the role of big band ensembles giving jazz music “a larger sound.”