Only weeks after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election following a campaign that included calls to jail his rival Hillary Clinton, homegrown Trump-style politics are now being seen in Alberta.
At a recent anti-carbon tax rally in Edmonton, some of the 1,000 protesters in attendance chanted, “Lock her up” about Premier Rachel Notley.
Among those in attendance at the rally was Wildrose Leader Brian Jean.
While protests against the carbon tax have been ongoing for several months, this latest protest took things to an entirely new level, with participants actually calling for the jailing of the duly elected government leader.
Reaction to the rally was swift, with Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Brian Mason calling the chants “disgusting.”
“Albertans don't want to see that kind of politics imported into our province. But it seems that Wildrose supporters are keen to do exactly that, and I think that is extremely disturbing,” Mason said.
Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman says Jean should have done something to stop the chants at the time.
“I think what happened on the weekend is appalling,” Hoffman said. “He (Jean) clearly had a role in leading that rally, and he should have played a role in putting an end to those remarks at the time.”
A few days after the rally, Brian Jean said: “I denounce the activities that took place at this particular rally in relation to the chant. I wish people who have those desires to have those chants would just stay at home and keep those opinions to themselves.”
For her part, Premier Notley said, “I think that there's a bit of an ugly edge to politics that's developing. But I still believe that, as a Canadian, that this is a very small minority of people. I'm confident that most citizens reject this kind of politics.”
Whether the ongoing protests will lead to the scrapping of the controversial carbon tax remains anyone's guess.
And whether this example of Trump-style attack politics in Alberta will be the last also remains an open question.
Dan Singleton is the editor of the Mountain View Gazette
