Calgary candidate under fire for controversial tweets

Liberal candidate Jessica Dale-walker is apologizing for Twitter comments she made last year calling people who were vaccinated early in the pandemic “entitled” guinea pigs.

The Calgary Nose Hill candidate is also under fire for separate comments she made on Twitter in 2020 suggesting that Alberta should “fit in or f--- off.”

The comments appeared to have been made in reference to Alberta's Fair Deal Panel and the debate over whether the province's interests are currently being served within the Canadian federation.

Dale-walker hastily cancelled plans to visit a rink in Edgemont Friday to collect elector signatures and locked down her old Twitter account, where the controversial tweets first appeared.

In a statement issued on her behalf by the Liberal campaign Friday, Dale-walker apologized explicitly for the comments regarding vaccinations but appeared to comment only indirectly on her tweet about Alberta:

“My tweet last summer was thoughtless and wrong,” read the statement provided to Postmedia. “That's certainly not how I feel today. I want to be absolutely clear I am double vaccinated and I believe all Canadians who can, should be. If my brash comments caused anyone to think otherwise, I apologize. I am part of a team that believes in public health measures. Vaccines are our most effective tool to combat COVID -19, and I encourage everyone to get vaccinated.

“I, like many Albertans, am frustrated at Jason Kenney's government for failing Albertans. That is why I am turning this into something positive and becoming a candidate for the Liberal Party, and seeking to improve the lives of the residents of Calgary Nose Hill.”

The offending tweets have been shared widely since their revelation Thursday. The tweet from Nov. 22, 2020, reads in part: “I chose to allow the entitled to flock for the vaccine like they demanded to be the guinea pigs, that way should there be problems those with brains were left behind.”

Earlier that year, on March 22, Dale-walker tweeted a thread that began with “Unpopular opinion. Canada owes Alberta nothing.”

She went on to argue Albertans are wrong if they think they are getting a raw deal from Ottawa: “There is a fair deal for Alberta. But Alberta isn't trying hard enough because of fear. Fear of change, fear of success without conservatives.”