Premier Rachel Notley says United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney needs to stop allowing people with racist and homophobic views from running in nominations — and take a stronger stand against groups like the Soldiers of Odin.
“The question is, why are these folks showing up at these events and feeling as though they are welcome?” Notley said Tuesday. “If you use dog-whistle politics often enough, eventually, soon enough, people are going to respond to the whistle.”
Notley’s news conference comes after three UCP Edmonton-West Henday candidates — Nicole Williams, Lance Coulter and Leila Houle — each posed with Soldiers of Odin members at a UCP pub night in Edmonton. The photos started circulating on social media Sunday.
Notley said Kenney needs to clarify how this will never happen again, saying elected officials need to call out hate when they see it.
“This is very serious and should not be downplayed. Alberta’s minority communities need to know that their government stands with them. That every elected official stands with then whatever party they belong to,” Notley said.
“There is no place for groups like the Soldiers of Odin in our public life.”
Soldiers of Odin is an anti-immigration group founded in 2015 in Finland by Mika Ranta, a white supremacist. Canadian branches of the group claim to be non-racist conservatives who seek to keep Canada safe.
Although the candidates claimed they did not know who the group was and what it espoused, the issue has touched off a storm of controversy.
Notley said the UCP could be given the benefit of the doubt if it was a one-time event. But she says eight UCP nomination candidates were exposed in recent months for holding homophobic or racist views. Six were allowed to run.
“As a public official, Mr. Kenney has to a duty to do more than tweet his disavowal,” Notley said.
“He needs to speak forcefully and decisively to the issue. He needs to hold people accountable. And he needs to stop approving candidates for nomination who espouse hate in any of its forms.”
In tweets sent by Kenney on Sunday, he suggested the Soldiers of Odin “crashed” the UCP event.
“We obviously condemn any group that promote racial prejudice,” he wrote. “Members of the Alberta Independence Party and groups like the Soldiers of Odin are not welcome at UCP events, period. Disturbing that they would seek to tarnish the campaigns of Aboriginal UCP candidates.”