The harsh moralistic worldview of Jason Kenney has spurred right-wing populism to the mainstream in Canadian politics, but he unleashed forces he couldn’t control.

From Jason Kenney’s days as an anti-abortion activist at the University of San Francisco, and through his years as a Canadian Taxpayers Federation lobbyist, Reform MP, top cabinet minister in the Harper government, and Alberta premier, he has been single-mindedly driven to bring his harsh moralistic worldview into the mainstream.

Kenney took on the old guard of Canada’s liberal consensus and won, playing a key role in shifting the country’s political discussion to the right. But the very right-wing populist forces Kenney cultivated would come back to haunt him.

Jeremy Appel has observed Alberta politics and reported on various aspects of Kenney’s agenda since 2017, when Kenney made his way across the province in his big blue pickup truck to rile up aggrieved conservatives. Kenneyism examines Kenney's political beliefs, his rise through federal political ranks, and his ultimate resignation from the leadership of the United Conservative Party.

Jeremy Appel has been covering politics in Alberta since 2017. His work has appeared in CBC News, the National Observer, Jacobin, Ricochet, the Breach, the Maple, and the Canadian Jewish News, among other places. He lives in Edmonton and writes the Orchard newsletter on Substack.

Jeremy Appel's profile page

Provocative, insightful and meticulously researched.

Graham Thomson, freelance columnist and long-time Alberta politics observer

A thoughtful, well-researched, and accessible book that sheds sorely-needed light on the pervasive political influence of Jason Kenney.

Steve Sladkowski, musician, PUP

Piercing through the absurdly generous tributes that greeted its namesake’s political downfall, Jeremy Appel has achieved something vital with Kenneyism; a rigorous critical reflection on one of the most significant reactionary politicians in modern Canadian history.

Luke Savage, author of The Dead Center

Jeremy Appel's deep dive into the political life of Jason Kenney illuminates the life and intentions of an important though confusing political operative. All political watchers owe Appel a great debt for this in-depth look at such an enigmatic figure.

Nora Loreto, author of Spin Doctors

Appel rigorously tracks the rise and fall of one of Canada’s most prominent politicians. It’s all here: what motivated Jason Kenney, how he became such a successful political strategist and why he was eventually toppled by his own party. A compelling read by a journalist with keen insight.

Gillian Steward, Toronto Star columnist, and former managing editor, Calgary Herald

Appel traces with unsparing candor how a politician who saw himself as the smartest man in the room proved instead too incompetent to hold high office. Ultimately, however, the fall of Jason Kenney is not a tragedy. The tragedy lies in the wreckage he has left in his wake.

Trevor Harrison, author, Of Passionate Intensity, and Professor of Sociology, University of Lethbridge

One of the first in-depth looks at Kenney’s rise and fall in Canadian politics.

Dave Cournoyer, writer, Daveberta

An insightful, comprehensive investigation and explanation of the rise and sudden fall of Jason Kenney – one of Canada’s most consequential conservative activists of the 21st century.

Keith Brownsey, Professor of Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies, Mount Royal University

More than the political biography of one man; it is a history of the populist far-right formations that have been gaining ground in Canada since the 1980s — in which Jason Kenney has been a central figure.

Laurie Adkin, Professor of Political Science, University of Alberta

In this lively and readable account, Appel makes sense of Jason Kenney’s ideology and the legacy he leaves in Ottawa and in Alberta.

Lisa Young, Professor of Political Science, University of Calgary