UCP constituency association event features Christian nationalists and anti-2SLGBTQIA speakers
Special Update: The south Calgary discount cinema that has become a hub for social conservative events is at it again!
My Scottish/Irish ancestors arrived on the east coast of so-called “Canada” in the late 1700’s or early 1800’s and were part of several waves of genocidal colonization of the Indigenous people who were already here. We arrived on the traditional unceded territory of the Wəlastəkewiyik (Maliseet) whose ancestors along with the Mi’Kmaq / Mi’kmaw and Passamaquoddy / Peskotomuhkati Tribes / Nations signed Peace and Friendship Treaties with the British Crown in the 1700s. I like to start every new post by explaining my family’s history and keeping this foremost in my mind (and my writing) at all times. I know I have benefited as a result of colonization, and I find the history deeply troubling. It is what motivates me to understand the true history and advocate for real reconciliation. As a child in the 1970’s, I moved west with my family and am grateful to be writing this newsletter now in Moh’kinsstis, and the traditional Treaty 7 territory of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. I recognize that the land I now work and live on was stolen from these nations (truth) and I support giving the land back as an act of reconciliation.
Why is the media not widely reporting the fact that a Calgary UCP constituency association is hosting Christian nationalists at a viciously anti-2SLGBTQIA event?
This is, after all, the governing party of Alberta (for now, at least).
The event is on Tuesday, March 19 at the Canyon Meadows Cinemas in Calgary. This is a discount theatre whose local business owners have taken a firmly anti-2SLGBTQIA stance. This is the second time they’ve hosted such an event. They do not apologize nor claim neutrality on the issue. They are all in. Have some hateful rhetoric with your buttery popcorn, y’all.
The Queer Citizens United Calgary organization is calling for a boycott of the cinema and the business websites have been inundated with complaints and negative reviews, most of which are being swiftly removed. Feel free to add yours to Google, Facebook or wherever you find this business listed.
This event is being falsely advertised as a town hall to discuss how to “Let Kids Be Kids” but it is the exact opposite. These folks don’t want queer kids to be allowed to be themselves. Their warped interpretation of “faith” doesn’t allow for gender or sexual diversity.
It’s not even about parental rights, since this group wants the government to block the rights of parents of queer kids from accessing medical treatment.
A panel of misinformed losers making stuff up
Speaking at the conference is a line-up of losers who’ve publicly embarrassed themselves previously, and shouldn’t be given another chance.
Let’s start with Torry Tanner, billed as a “parental rights champion.”
This is a person who made totally baseless statements about children in kindergarten being abused by teachers in her campaign video for the UCP nomination:
"Alarmingly, we are seeing increasing instances where kids, even those attending kindergarten, are being exposed to pornographic materials or worse yet, having teachers help them change their gender identity with absolutely no parental consent or knowledge whatsoever.”
She offered no evidence to back up her wild allegations.
Despite this, she went on to win the nomination in Lethbridge-West, only to be forced later to resign because she was considered a liability prior to the general election.
After her resignation, she apologized for “creating a distraction” and didn’t want to “hurt our (UCP) chances of winning across the province.”
So, not only is she a bigot, but also one who thinks it’s perfectly okay to suppress her self-described “commitment to children” for the more important cause – helping to WIN the election.
Then, there’s lobbyists who want to dismantle public education
John Hilton-O’Brien is on the speaking agenda as the executive director of an organization that sprung into action in response to Jason Kenney’s disastrous rewrite of the provincial curriculum.
Parents for Choice in Education (PFCE) was trotted out by the government to defend them when public outcry reached a crescendo. Hilton-O’Brien is a political operative from way back as a founder and past president of the Wildrose Party.
What’s interesting about this organization is its deeply political nature and connections to conservative party politics in Alberta. They once included information on their website directing people to the Alberta Can’t Wait political fundraising campaign supporting Jason Kenney, despite claiming to be non-partisan.
Then there is the connection to the UCP kamikaze leadership scandal.
When the original executive director of PFCE, Donna Trimble (another anti-2SLGBTQIA activist) stepped down, she was replaced by none other than Jeff Park. Park was later fined $10,500 for an illegal donation to Jeff Callaway's leadership campaign, a decision that was upheld recently when an appeal was rejected. Park was soon replaced by another political hack, Hilton-O’Brien.
Is this a legitimate parent-run and supported organization or an elaborate Astroturf exercise? A quick review of their programs and activities (offering workshops on how to run for school boards) might lead you to believe they’re an arm of Take Back Alberta.
But Hilton-O’Brien is a hypocrite in a particularly galling way. When first hired to lead this group, he wrote this letter of introduction:
“Human nature being what it is, we are always tempted to tell others how to live. It doesn’t make us bad people – but it does tend to blind powerful people to the notion that there must be a limit to power. This is especially true when it comes to those entrusted with the coercive power of the state.”
So, the state should not tell others how to live? Yet, Hilton-O’Brien later wrote on the PFCE website (an article originally published in the Western Standard) that Smith’s transgender policy needs to go further and extend even to discussions held in Gay-Straight Alliances specifically.
It seems like they want “the state” to intervene even in these extracurricular activities at public schools, which is just another underhanded attempt to eliminate them altogether. This is a movement solidly opposed to all 2SLGBTQIA freedom and not at all about “letting kids be kids.”
Then, there’s this:
“In general, the reforms introduced today by Premier Smith will go some distance to restoring parents’ faith in teachers. Right now, parents are aware that schools can teach their children anything they want about sex, can refer them to a gender clinic, and can even change their pronouns – and they may never hear anything about it.”
So, this is an absolutely false statement by an irresponsible lobbyist who wants to dismantle public education anyway, and will say anything to make his case.
Saving the worst for last?
Also on the schedule is Kim McBride, National Chapters Coordinator for Action4Canada, a Surrey-based group, which was a sponsor of the so-called “Freedom Convoy.” Action4Canada had a strong presence in Ottawa during the occupation in 2022. The organization still openly calls for revenge and punishment for those who acted to protect us during the pandemic:
“Every Premier, every MP, MLA/MPP, Mayor, City Councillor, School Superintendent and Trustee who was served a Notice of Liability and advised of the wrongdoing they were involved in and yet knowingly and willingly participated anyways, MUST be held to account.”
“Action4Canada requests the participation of all freedom loving Canadians to begin the process of dismantling this evil and corrupt government starting with the Prime Minister and every Liberal MP.”
McBride is a committed anti-vaccination activist who says she was once a teacher. She says she lost her job because she refused to provide proof of vaccination against Covid-19. I wasn’t able to verify this anywhere online.
She’s also a public supporter of Art Pawlowski, the street preacher who is vehemently anti-2SLGBTQIA. He claimed the 2013 floods were God’s punishment for abortions and homosexuality.
You may recall Danielle Smith got into a lot of trouble for taking a phone call from Pawlowski, who recorded her and posted it to YouTube. Smith seemed to express a desire to interfere in his criminal prosecution for mischief at the Coutts border blockade in 2022. But, she admitted - even though she wanted to - she couldn’t do that.
Action4Canada is an organization with a long list of targets, among them they want an immediate end to not only drag queen story hours but ALL Pride celebrations. Their website includes a printable “notice of liability” for followers to present at these events. The five-page document is filled with dramatic proclamations, legal bafflegab and hyperbole, similar to the self-proclaimed Queen of Canada, Romana Didulo’s “royal” decrees.
(Did I mention how much of an embarassment this UCP event will be?)
Make no mistake, McBride is a Christian nationalist who believes she’s in a war against evil (as does Action4Canada founder, Tanya Gaw). She calls those who are not in agreement with her religious beliefs “the enemy.” At the end of a YouTube video recording of her sermon at the Street Church (which is not a church because it lost that status) in Calgary, she refers to the “12 Gates of Influence” plan.
The banner for the plan - not by accident I’m sure - appropriates the rainbow flag for religious purposes that are quite frankly, extremely disturbing.
The 12 Gates of Influence plan calls for evangelical Christians to seek domination in 12 realms - business, education, entertainment, family life, government, health, law, media, politics, religion, scientific development, sports. It’s an expansion of the earlier “Seven Mountains Mandate” which is based on the Bible’s book of Revelations. Followers believe that by fulfilling the Seven Mountain Mandate they can bring about the end times.
They’ve added five new realms - health, law, politics, scientific development and sports. It’s a chilling movement that will be platformed by Alberta’s UCP government this Tuesday, since the party’s own constituency association is hosting speakers who ascribe to the theory.
Beyond just a boycott of a local business, and a unified campaign by queer activists in Calgary to oppose the event, this should be front page news in Alberta. The official governing party has invited Christian nationalist speakers, the participation of people spreading misinformation about schools and teachers, and is welcoming homeschooling and private school lobbyists to spread anti-2SLGBTQIA hate to be guest speakers at their constituency-organized event.
Choose your lede. It’s there for the taking.
Amazing reporting, Jody. The Notices of Liability -- are these so-called Freemen on the Land?