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Alberta’s premier criticized a newly appointed Alberta senator at a speech on Saturday, calling Kristopher Wells a “radical, extreme LGBT activist.”
In a video from the Canada Strong and Free Network event in Red Deer, Alta., Danielle Smith made the comments while lamenting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had chosen to appoint Wells and another senator last month to two vacant Alberta seats. She criticized the appointments for ignoring two women that Albertans had chosen in a 2021 vote as Senate candidates, Pam Davidson and Erika Barootes, the latter of whom introduced Smith at the speech.
“Both of them should be sitting representing us in Ottawa, as opposed to a radical, extreme LGBT activist as well as a radical, extreme fundraiser for the Liberals.” In the second instance, Smith was presumably referring to Trudeau’s appointment of longtime Calgary Liberal Daryl Fridhandler.
Wells, who is gay, has spearheaded numerous pro-LGBT initiatives in his lengthy career as an educator and community activist and has advocated for transgender policy for adults and children.
Wells was quick to respond to the premier’s provocation, tweeting shortly after the video went public “I’ve know(n) @ABDanielleSmith for over a decade. She knows my door is always open to meet with her any time she wants to talk about evidenced-based policy, rule of law, and human rights.”
“There’s nothing radical about following the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms,” he added.
Smith said later in the speech that Alberta would soon introduce measures to bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s divisions, restrict gender-affirming medical interventions for minors and require that parents be notified when students change their pronouns at school.
Smith’s criticism of Wells as radical and extreme continues a pattern of conflicting messaging on LGBT issues from the premier.
After years of staking out more live-and-let-live libertarian positions on gay issues, Smith abruptly changed course in January when she announced plans to rollout what could be Canada’s most restrictive set of policies relating to trans-identifying minors.
The premier has muddied the waters even further with her waffling on exiled MLA Jennifer Johnson, who was not allowed to sit in Smith’s government caucus after the last provincial election after comparing trans kids in school to feces in cookie batter. Smith confirmed last week that she and her fellow United Conservative Party MLAs will discuss allowing Johnson back into government caucus at an upcoming meeting. This, despite Smith saying Johnson still “has some work to do” with the LGBT community after a video went pubic of Johnson being reprimanded by a trans activist in a seminar after Johnson hesitated to say that trans women are women.
Duane Bratt, a professor of political science at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, said that Smith’s targeting of Wells over his LGBT advocacy may have been related to a high-stakes leadership review on the horizon for Smith.
“(Smith is) very aware that conservative leaders in Alberta get taken down by their own party,” Bratt said.
“There’s a core group within the UCP that’s now fixated on trans issues,” he said, adding that Smith will need to hold that contingent’s support if she wishes to register a large showing of support in the review.
Her predecessor Jason Kenney resigned as UCP leader after eking out a bare majority of 51.4 per cent in a leadership review in the spring of 2022.
Smith’s leadership review will be held on November 2 at the party’s convention in Red Deer.
National Post
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