Premier Rachel Notley has been receiving online threats over the last several weeks, and Wildrose Leader Brian Jean has stepped up to condemn these threats and those responsible for making them. On his Facebook page Jean released a statement about the situation and said that in the past he has “seen far too many hateful and even violent social media posts” against the party’s “political opponents.” Jean went on to state “This needs to stop. These kinds of comments cross all bounds of respect and decency and have absolutely no place in our political discourse. This is not how Albertans behave.” Jean continued by saying on his page “I understand we have just come through a particularly controversial legislative session that dealt with a number of contentious and emotional issues. I want us to keep talking about these issues, but in a safe, respectful and productive way.” Jean also commented that any criminal threats should be forwarded to the appropriate police agency for investigation.

Many of the posts concerning Premier Rachel Notley were aggressive but did not cross the line into criminal online threats. Some referred to Notley as a dictator, compared her to Hitler or Stalin, and even called her a communist. Other online threats crossed a line though. One man commented “Looks like a jfk day is coming,”, a reference to the shooting of President John F Kennedy in the USA. Another man posted a comment that read “I think a tall tree and a short rope with a noose tied into would suffice.” Do you think these comments crossed the line? Why or why not?