The media attacked protestors in a rally last week after some in the crowd yelled “lock her up” when the name of Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was mentioned. And when the media eventually pounced on this, some members of the Conservative Party of Canada fell into line, criticizing the people who form the base of their party.
A rally was held last weekend to protest the NDP government of Alberta, specifically its desire to impose a carbon tax. While crowd estimates vary, there were at least 1,000 people gathered outside the provincial legislature in Edmonton.
Among those addressing the crowd was former CPC immigration minister and current leadership candidate Chris Alexander. At one point Alexander mentioned the name of Alberta’s premier, Rachel Notley. After the premier’s name was mentioned, some in the crowd began chanting, “Lock her up, lock her up.”
As the Calgary Sun reported, initial media reports of the rally did not even bother to mention the chants. That is until some Alberta legislators spoke out against it, one even referring to the chant as “hate speech.” That was all it took for the media to make the chant the centre of the story. Those who chanted were described as extreme members of the alt-right and they were equated with the person the left wing media just loves to hate—Donald Trump. Trumpian politics has made its way into staid Canada.
According to the media, those who chanted are of course nothing more than racists, xenophobes, homophobes, Islamophobes and all the other phobes. The media then took the chant literally, saying those at the rally wanted to lock Notley up despite the fact there has never been a suggestion she committed a crime. The chanters were referred to as “dictators” but of course when the media uses the word “dictator” they mean in the sense of Trump, not the left’s beloved Fidel.
As Barack Obama is gradually making his way out the door, the left in Canada, especially in the media, will return to their anti-American ways. Hating the United States is the left’s way of feeling superior to the superpower south of the border. Anti-Americanism in Canada took an eight year break after the election of Obama and his progressive policies. And, of course, any criticism of the 44th president of the United States is automatically seen as racism by the left.
A lot of CPC supporters are upset about the media’s reaction to “lock her up” but this anger is misplaced. The problem is not the media. Hating conservatives while drooling over Justin Trudeau and his Liberals (even if they occasionally scold them as a parent scolds a child) is what the media does. The media has always hated those on the right and always will, at least for the foreseeable future. It is what they do. The real problem was the reaction to the chanting by some members of the Conservative Party of Canada. By agreeing with the media narrative you would think the crowd at the rally was calling for Notley’s death rather than simply using a phrase used during the American election campaign. Most likely the chanters were merely going for laughs, not calling for an assassination. But try telling that to the various CPC members who fell into line with the media narrative.
Rona Ambrose is perhaps the best illustration of the state of the CPC. Chosen to be the interim leader after Stephen Harper stepped down, Ambrose referred to the chanters as “idiots.” Ambrose, who we all know is no Stephen Harper, also showed she is no Hillary Clinton. Calling people idiots is not nearly as imaginative as Clinton’s saying half of Trump’s supporters should be put in a basket of deplorables. And at least Hilz was not insulting members of her own base like Ambrose did. Ambrose is not as bright a politician as Clinton is; let that sink in for a minute.
Then there was Alexander who was speaking when the chant broke out. Although it was alleged he was smiling when the chant began, he quickly reversed himself, obviously to ingratiate himself with the conservative-hating media. In true hypocritical fashion, Alexander distanced himself from the chant, saying he was “mortified.” Mortified! Get real.
Michael Chong is another leadership candidate who is running on the platform the party should be more “inclusive.” Since the party does not bar various races and religions what that means is he wants to let progressives into the party. And like a true progressive, Chong played lip service to freedom of speech before saying speech “must be used responsibly.” In other words, you are free to say anything you want as long as he thinks what you say is appropriate. And Chong and people like him have the nerve to call the chanters “dictators.”
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Former CPC cabinet minister Jason Kenney also got into the act. Currently running for leader of the Alberta PC Party, Kenney described calling for the duly elected premier to be locked up, “offensive.”
Federal leadership candidate Deepak Obhrai also weighed in. The quickest off the mark in making accusations of racism and Islamophobia against supporters of his party bemoaned the fact Trump-style politics made its way into Canada. Falling in line with his fellow candidates and the media, he also accused the chanters of wanting a dictatorship in Canada.
The only leadership candidate to see the reality of the chant was Brad Trost. Trost said if he had been there he would have been chanting too. Trost put the incident in perspective, saying the chant was used figuratively and not literally. He refused to blindly follow the media narrative that the chanters were calling for a dictatorship by saying Notley should be locked up without the necessity of being convicted of a crime.
Unfortunately, Trost is a social conservative who wants to revisit same sex marriage and abortion. While anything can happen in a world of Brexit and President-elect Trump, it is highly unlikely he could ever end up as prime minister.
It was shameful to see so many CPC politicians dump on their base, call them dictators and idiots because that is what the media wants them to do. These politicos can take solace in one thing; none of them are anything like Donald Trump, the man they purport to despise.
