The former premier who governed as roughly 337,000 Alberta jobs disappeared during the initial COVID shutdown is teaming up with the former NDP premier who governed while more than 100,000 payroll jobs disappeared during Alberta's oil-price crash

And remarkably, Jason Kenney and Rachel Notley are now being enlisted to make the business case for keeping Alberta in Canada.

The former political adversaries have been named co-chairs of a Canadian Chamber of Commerce campaign opposing Alberta independence and promoting what the Chamber describes as the economic case for a strong Alberta inside a united Canada.

Quite the pair to send on outreach to Alberta's business community.

Kenney: roughly 337,000 jobs disappeared in two months

Jason Kenney governed Alberta through the COVID economic shutdown. Between February and April 2020, roughly 337,000 Alberta jobs disappeared, according to Alberta government labour-market data.

April alone was catastrophic.

Employment plunged by 243,800 jobs in a single month, the largest monthly decline recorded in Alberta since comparable statistics began in 1976.

Again, those losses cannot all fairly be attributed to Kenney's policies. Alberta was simultaneously being hammered by COVID, the global economic shutdown and collapsing energy prices.

But Kenney's government also imposed sweeping restrictions on Alberta businesses.

Restaurants were closed to dine-in customers. Gyms, casinos and other businesses were closed or restricted. Gatherings were prohibited. Students were sent home. Businesses faced capacity and operating restrictions. Not even churches escaped enforcement.

Then came vaccine passports.

This wasn't simply a policy Kenney reluctantly introduced — he had explicitly told Albertans he wouldn't.

In July 2021, Kenney declared:

“We've been very clear from the beginning that we will not facilitate or accept vaccine passports.”

He even questioned their legality, saying he believed they would “in principle contravene the Health Information Act” and possibly Alberta's freedom-of-information and privacy legislation.

His message was unequivocal:

“There will be no vaccine passports in Alberta.”

Two months later, there were vaccine passports in Alberta.

Kenney's government introduced the Restrictions Exemption Program, requiring customers of participating businesses and venues to show proof of vaccination, a negative COVID test or a medical exemption.

Kenney's record going into this new business campaign includes a COVID shutdown during which roughly 337,000 Alberta jobs disappeared, sweeping business restrictions and a vaccine-passport system he had previously promised Albertans wouldn't happen.

Then there's his new partner.

Notley: more than 100,000 payroll jobs disappeared

Rachel Notley also governed Alberta through an economic catastrophe.

Statistics Canada reported Alberta's payroll employment fell by 105,500 jobs between January 2015 and June 2016, a decline of 5.1%. Unemployment eventually reached 9%, its highest level in more than two decades.

Approximately 91,000 full-time jobs disappeared between the end of 2014 and the fall of 2016.

Like Kenney's numbers, these require context.

Alberta was being hammered by the global oil-price collapse.

But while Alberta businesses struggled, Notley's government increased the corporate income tax rate, imposed a carbon tax and accelerated the phase-out of coal-fired electricity.

Now these two former premiers are being sent out to make the business case for the status quo.

And there's more baggage

Notley recently invoked Nazi Germany while attacking Danielle Smith's government, rewriting Martin Niemöller's famous “First they came...” warning about Nazi persecution to substitute groups she argued were being targeted by the UCP.

Her former deputy premier, Sarah Hoffman, supplied another infamous moment from the NDP years when she told the Wildrose opposition:

“We're focused on hard hats. They're spending a lot of time with sewer rats.”

Hoffman later apologized.

Notley herself once said Alberta needed to improve its environmental reputation rather than remain:

“the embarrassing cousin no one wants to talk about.”

She later said she was referring to the previous PC government's environmental record, rather than Albertans themselves.

Now the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has selected Kenney and Notley to conduct outreach to Alberta's business community and make the economic case for remaining in Canada.

Albertans can decide for themselves whether these are the two economic records they find persuasive.