Candidates denounce divisiveness
The photo is a little blurry.
Brian Jean stands between transgender activist Marni Panas and a drag queen with a towering beehive hairdo at a fundraising event for Camp fYrefly, a retreat for LGBTQ and allied youth. All three smile at the camera. The photo was attached to a conservative blog opinion piece asserting that Jean, who is running for the leadership of the United Conservative Party, was avoiding the truth on social issues “by playing the victim,” and shared on social media by Cardston-Taber-Warner UCP MLA Grant Hunter.
In August, Hunter was the first MLA to endorse former Progressive Conservative leader Jason Kenney for UCP leader.
When he posted the link Wednesday, Hunter said he didn’t want to “engage in negative politics,” but “help conservative Albertans make an informed decision” on UCP leadership.
After an outcry from Panas and others, and a news release from the NDP caucus the same day demanding he explain his stance on same-sex marriage, Hunter removed the post.
Hours later, as the first UCP leadership debate ground along in Calgary, Jean supporters watching the debate on his Facebook page voiced their displeasure at Kenney’s endorsement of immigration to Alberta.
“No more immigrants Jason,” wrote one.
“I was torn between Brian and Jason until he said he wants to give our jobs away to foreigners!” commented another.
To top it all off, Calgary-South East UCP MLA Rick Fraser, who came from the Progressive Conservative benches, left the party’s caucus Thursday to sit as an Independent.
Fraser’s resignation letter partly gives as his reason the divisive nature of Alberta politics and the current leadership race.
He pleads for “common-sense policies” that “don’t divide Albertans, but rather bring them closer together.”
Jean and Kenney both say they don’t hold with hate in the leadership campaign — or at all — and consistently affirm that Alberta conservatives must unite, not divide.
“People who are anti-immigrant, or anti-religious or particular sectors of our society, I think it’s not helpful,” Jean told the Journal on Friday.
Jean’s not happy that Fraser left, and hopes the MLA reconsiders.
Kenney’s not impressed, either, but told the Journal on Friday his experience uniting federal conservatives taught him about the inevitability of losing some party members in a merger.
Recent polls place Jean and Kenney as the front-runners in the UCP leadership battle.
Both maintain their respective mantras to keep things positive, and pledge to play nicely even as the online comment sections, Facebook and Twitter devolve into nasty name-calling.
“The bottom-feeders of social media aren’t defining this race,” Kenney said.
Also running for the UCP leadership are former Wildrose Party president Jeff Callaway and Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer.