Kowalski put local needs first

Jan. 28 was a rare night for the politics of the Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock riding. The riding, which first encompassed only Barrhead and has gradually expanded to the other communities, has had the same MLA for 33 years.

In addition to having never lost an election, retiring MLA Ken Kowalski, 66, has never faced a nomination contest. Kowalski has never been challenged for his party's nomination, but when the five people who were vying to replace him showed up to hear results Jan. 28, Kowalski wasn't there to congratulate his successor.

Kowalski couldn't attend because he was performing a wedding, fulfilling a promise he'd made to two constituents a year prior. That he couldn't attend the first nomination contest in more than three decades because of a commitment to his constituents helps in part to explain why there hasn't been a nomination contest in three decades.

Kowalski says being there for his constituents' milestones is part of a pact he believes they make with him.

"I think you took the time to support me to become an elected representative. You live in the constituency, we all live in the constituency and I want to help you, because you have given me that respect and that honour," he said.

In addition to performing weddings, Kowalski has celebrated thousands of anniversaries. He's attended so many anniversary gatherings that he's been able to spot demographic trends during his career. For example, in the years of 1997, 1998 and 1999 there was a huge surge of 50th anniversaries as war brides and their grooms celebrated a half-century together.

"In a 36 month period I went to 225 50th anniversaries," Kowalski says.

Kowalski says at every party he attended there was another couple in the room with their own golden anniversary just around the corner.

"If you don't go, how do you explain that I had time to go to theirs and not yours," he asks. "It becomes a thing that really goes down the slope with a lot of moss on it."

Kowalski attends graduation ceremonies in the communities he covers, seniors' lunches, grand openings and ground-breakings. Covering the distance between all those communities' events adds up to 70,000 kilometres on his car every year, Kowalski says.

Stunning presence

Morinville Mayor Lloyd Bertschi, whose time in office has coincided with Kowalski's time as the community's MLA, says he was stunned by the MLA's presence when Kowalski's riding first extended into Morinville.

"His constituency work was absolutely second to none," Bertschi said. "We never had an MLA who showed up at so many of our constituency events as Ken did."

Bertschi, who was one of the five candidates vying to replace Kowalski in the nomination, notes despite the riding's size, which is twice as big as Prince Edward Island, Kowalski travels to all of these community events. He said Kowalski's constant presence has definitely been a big part of his electoral success.

"The fact that you would take the time out, people remember those types of things. You can't drive through the community without hitting a business where there is a plaque from Ken," Bertschi said.

Bertschi, who lost the nomination contest, says he has learned from Kowalski as a politician, but he doubts he could have kept his pace.

"I was able to take some of those things and they make me a better mayor, no question about it," he says. "I do not believe that I could have or would have been able to keep up to that kind of schedule that he had. It was just incredible."

Kowalski attributes much of his success as an MLA to what he learned from the man he replaced – Dr. Hugh Horner, whose son deputy premier Doug Horner says Kowalski has returned the favour to him.

"It has been nice to be able to have him as a person where I could walk into his office and sit down and have a chat. I hope I don't lose that," Horner said.

Kowalski encouraged Horner to run in his present constituency, when he first decided to run, instead of his original plan to challenge another sitting party MLA.

Horner says he learned many other things from Kowalski and doesn't envy his replacement.

"The MLA that wins that riding is going to have some very big shoes to fill," he says. "[Kowalski] is a study in how to be an MLA and how to make sure you have a connection to your constituents."

Former premier Peter Lougheed, the first of five premiers who served during Kowalski's tenure, says Kowalski seemed to understand his role since the day he was elected.

"It was remarkable how well he understood the role of MLA and how to be effective and to represent his constituents. It takes some people quite a while to do that and some only learn it partially, but Ken Kowalski knew it from day one," Lougheed says. "It isn't just the effort [to attend functions] because he knows what to do when he is there. He knows how to mingle with the crowd."

Former premier Ed Stelmach had the same impression.

"His primary responsibility – and that is with every MLA, though some don't take it as seriously – is to serve as an ombudsman for your constituents."

Never say no

Kowalski does more for his constituents than simply attending their events. He has also helped to bring several major infrastructure projects to the communities in his riding. He says that descends from what Hugh Horner taught him.

"Hugh Horner was a man of magic and he did not know where the word 'no' was. He indicated to me that no was not a part of our vocabulary," Kowalski says.

The Westlock hospital was one of the more controversial infrastructure projects for which Kowalski aggressively lobbied. He pushed for the hospital to replace an aging facility in the community, just as the province was cutting back on spending in the early days of the Klein revolution.

Kowalski said his party colleagues had cut funding for the project, but he went back to them and pushed for the money.

"That was one where I went up against the province in a big way and I said there is a need here," he recalls.

Though he argued the hospital was an absolute need, Kowalski says his obligation wasn't to the province as a whole, but to the communities he served.

"You are elected by a community, not by the province, so your job is to represent the community," he said.

Kowalski was a minister at the time the project was approved, but he said that isn't why it happened.

"As a minster, quite frankly, you end up doing less for your constituents than you do if you are not a minister. Because as a minister you have to make sure that every other MLA is taken care of before you are taken care off."

Since Kowalski became Morinville's MLA in 2003, the community has seen a considerable increase in the amount of grant dollars coming its way, Bertschi says. He points to the funding for the community cultural centre and the expansion of 100 Street, as well as last year's overpass announcement at Cardiff corner.

Bertschi doesn't see anything untoward in Kowalski's ability to deliver. He says Kowalski just knows the right doors to knock on and the right people to talk to.

"Everybody knows him. He has been around for 30 years. He is well-respected. He mentored a lot of these rookie MLAs and then over the time they became ministers and people remember that," Bertschi said.

With his 33 years of service, Kowalski will qualify for a transition allowance of nearly $1.2 million when he steps down after the election, calculates the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

If the house does not return after an anticipated spring campaign, Kowalski will retain his position as Speaker until the legislature does resume.