Premier’s joke was hypocritical, Fildebrandt says
A wisecrack by Premier Rachel Notley during a speech in Red Deer Thursday has Strathmore-Brooks MLA Derek Fildebrandt questioning the premier’s taste. The joke referenced two hunting charges laid against the Freedom Conservative Party MLA last year and the epic beard belonging to Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson.
“Jokes about Shaye’s beard are getting a little old, a little tired, so I’m going to do everything I can to resist the temptation, but I will say that if that thing gets any more hairy, I’m a little worried that Derek Fildebrandt is going to try and shoot it,” Notley said.
The remark, which opened her speech at the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association conference, drew a mixed reaction of laughter, applause and groans from the room.
In an interview with Postmedia, Fildebrandt threw his own oneliner back at Notley.
“I didn’t know socialists were in season,” he said.
Fildebrandt compared Notley’s joke with a 2016 incident in his riding, in which a picture of the premier’s face was made a target on the 15th hole at the Big Country Oilmen’s Association golf tournament in Brooks.
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If it’s not OK if Conservatives make jokes not intended to incite or imply violence, then the same should apply to our friends on the left,” he said.
Fildebrandt said it’s not the fact the quip was made at his expense that irks him.
“It’s a joke, and I chuckled when I heard it, but the premier should be a bit more consistent about whether jokes about violence against MLAs are in good taste or not,” he said.
Notley ’s communications director Cheryl Oates said the gag was simply a reference to Anderson’s beard, “which may be getting out of hand and may be mistaken for a wild animal.”
“The joke was intended to poke fun at Derek Fildebrandt’s love of hunting and his recent legal challenges in relation to his hobby,” she said.
The premier should be a bit more consistent about whether jokes about violence against MLAs are in good taste or not.