Why does Jason Kenney love this pickup truck so much?

That’s because the latest blustery political fight out of Alberta has arrived, this time on four oversize wheels.

A weekend Globe and Mail column called pickup trucks a “plague on Canadian streets,” in a piece that did not actually mention Kenney or Alberta.

But the Alberta premier has sprung to the defence of trucks, nonetheless, kicking a hornet’s nest in the province and reviving debates about identity, road safety and, as questions about climate-change heat up, what exactly will have to give.

Urbanists have long been critical of the increasing popularity of pickup trucks: They’re bigger than ever and, as pointed out in a Consumer Reports article from June, their bulk makes it harder for drivers to see pedestrians or smaller cars.

Modifications that make them louder or higher are common sights on Alberta streets. Less common, but not unheard of, are those that allow the trucks to emit plumes of black smoke — a practice known as “rolling coal.”

In some ways, the pickup has emerged as a Rorschach test for Alberta. Depending on whom you ask, the vehicles are workhorses for the modern cowboy or money pits for suit-clad urbanites commuting to the office.

In reality, it’s probably a bit of both.

Pickup trucks haul equipment and people, trawl worksites and farm yards, and make up one in four vehicles on the road. But eyebrows are still raised by the number of empty-bedded behemoths seen idling in the Starbucks drive-thru.

If you asked Premier Kenney, the truck is a critical way of navigating his wild and weather-plagued province, and “Toronto columnists should try getting around this province during a prairie blizzard in a Smart Car,” as he tweeted Sunday night. On Monday, he changed his Twitter profile picture to the image of him driving his truck, with the hashtag #NewProfilePic.

Part of the equation here is that throwing barbs at a Toronto-based columnist is low-hanging fruit for politicians who depend on western alienation to excite their base.

“We’ve mocked — for years! — in this province people in downtown Calgary or downtown Edmonton who have $70,000 trucks and don’t actually use them for anything except driving,” says Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Calgary’s Mount Royal University.

“This is not an attack on construction workers or hunters or people who drive around with hockey gear in their trucks,” he says. “It’s those that have an empty cargo, all the time.”

“It just took someone from Toronto to point that out to really offend the province.”

Kenney, a former federal minister, has worked hard to present himself as an advocate for rural Alberta and traditional industries such as oil and gas. And he’s often adopted the stereotypical Albertan attire: He’s usually seen at events in jeans, checked shirts and the odd cowboy hat — and driving a truck.

Part of his public indignation could be rooted in Kenney’s commitment to the blue truck.

Vehicles do tend to take on the political sheen of their owners. A casual survey of western premiers found Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe drives a Silverado — a trick that Chevrolet bills as the “strongest” and “most advanced” — while B.C. Premier John Horgan can be found at the wheel of an “older, blue” gas-sipping Prius.

(Moe also took aim at the Globe article, tweeting that the writer should come to Saskatchewan “where we use our pickup trucks to build and grow our province.”)

Meanwhile Kenney’s spokesperson said the premier owns and drives the blue Dodge Ram himself. Base models start just north of $40,000 and, according to the website, can be used to “conquer the job site, the weekend and your everyday adventures.”

Kenney began his career in Alberta politics in a truck, specifically, what he called the United Alberta Truck Tour in 2016.

It involved driving around Alberta to drum up support for merging the province’s two conservative parties. When that was achieved, he also struck out in the truck for his subsequent leadership campaign and then again before the general election.

When he was elected in a decisive victory in 2019 he even rode shotgun as the truck was driven right into the building and through the crowd at the United Conservative victory party in Calgary.

“Most recently, he took it out to participate a Canada Day parade in Calgary while celebrating Stage 3 of Alberta’s Open For Summer plan,” press secretary Jerrica Goodwin said in an email. The new Twitter photo was taken at that event.

The truck is a message, Bratt says. It’s a nod to what some see as the traditional rural, oil-driven Alberta identity that Kenney tapped into so successfully in the last election.

The truck “symbolizes ruggedness, it symbolizes working with your hands, it symbolizes the working man,” he adds. “Particularly the masculine element, there’s a lot more to unpack in that.”

To that end, Bratt is one of the editors on an upcoming book about the United Conservative victory in Alberta. Bratt had initially wanted to call it The Blue Truck, though he and his co-editors eventually decided on The Blue Storm instead. It will include a chapter on the truck, though.

“There’s just so much there around the symbolism of the truck and how it’s become part of conservative identity, at least people who see themselves as conservative even if they’re not actually working on the rigs,” he says.

But with the need to combat climate change becoming increasingly pressing, trucks have become a target in some circles for excessive fuel consumption.

A 2019 report from the International Energy Agency found that for every kilometre travelled Canadian drivers topped the list for most fuel consumed and carbon dioxide emitted.

Many point to Canada’s large distances and cold temperatures as justification for bigger vehicles, though Calgary economist Blake Shaffer pointed out in a piece in The Conversation that Sweden, Finland and Iceland all have lower-emitting cars.

While fuel economy standards have pushed manufacturers to make more efficient vehicles —and new trucks are indeed more economical than some older cars, progress has stalled in recent years, he writes.

He argues that marketing and production demands help convince drivers to opt for trucks and SUVs. This isn’t an Alberta-specific problem, either. According to Schaffer’s website, truck sales are on the upswing in every province in the country.

In fact, the perennial top selling vehicle in Canada is a pickup truck — the Ford F-150, to be exact. There were over 30,000 sold in the first quarter of this year alone, according to Driving.ca.

Some of those were sold at Sherwood Ford just outside of Edmonton, which is one of the busiest dealerships in Alberta. Longtime owner Mark Hicks disputes the idea that his customers — who represent every demographic, he says — are buying the vehicles for show.

In the almost two decades he’s owned the dealership, cars have evolved to meet the needs of buyers, he says.

Cars were once king, then they gave way to the minivan, but these days families are often looking for one thing: a truck. They can carry six people, you can chuck some bikes, and they’re more likely to keep you safe if you get into an accident, he says. They’re also more efficient than they used to be, and technology will likely continue to evolve, he adds.

At the end of the day, he says, consumers have the right to choose what they want, just like they do houses or watches or pants.

“If people are buying a product, they’re buying a product because it’s functional and usable for their lifestyle,” he says.

“I think that the population has voted.”