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Danielle Smith says Lacombe-Ponoka candidate not welcome in caucus over anti-LGBTQ remarks

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United Conservative Leader Danielle Smith says Lacombe-Ponoka candidate Jennifer Johnson, who compared transgender children in schools to feces in food, will not sit as a member of caucus if she’s elected on May 29.

But in a statement Thursday, Johnson said she’s determined to return to the UCP fold if she wins in the May 29 provincial election.

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Earlier on Thursday, Smith said Johnson used “offensive language and a vile analogy” when speaking at a forum last September.

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“Elected officials have a responsibility to represent all communities. Although there are certainly legitimate policy discussions to be had on youth transgender issues, the language used by Ms. Johnson regarding children identifying as transgender is simply unacceptable and does not reflect the values of our party or province,” read the statement, released just hours before the campaign’s only leaders’ debate.

“I strongly encourage Ms. Johnson to meet with parents, students, teachers and members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to learn, grow and inform herself about these issues, and how to discuss them with dignity and in a manner respectful to all involved.

“I encourage all candidates from all parties not to use this or any other election to provoke distrust, anxiety and hate between people for political purposes. It is time to move forward.”

Smith’s statement comes the day after Johnson apologized for the remarks she made last Sept. 1 that came to light in an audio recording Monday.

It was quickly followed by a Facebook post by Johnson, saying her “intention is to earn my seat back on the United Conservative team.”

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She also said she’d had a “productive” dialogue with the Transgender Equality Society of Alberta, adding “I am willing to meet with any community group to educate myself on their concerns.”

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Rumours and misinformation repeated at candidates’ forum

In the audio recording that began circulating this week, Johnson repeats transphobic rumours that teachers are putting litter boxes in classrooms for use by children who identify as cats, and spreads misinformation about medical intervention for children receiving gender transition treatment. She proposes eliminating sex education from the public education curriculum.

(There are) girls saying, ‘I’m not a boy anymore’ when they’re seven years old, and transitioning at 14 years old and getting mastectomies, double mastectomies and getting chemically sterilized when they can’t even go to a liquor store and buy a beer,” Johnson said at the forum in Stettler, hosted by Western Unity Group.

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I’ve been talking about this for a year or two now, specific on what do we do, what are the answers to this? And I think I believe — and this is just my personal opinion — we have got to get rid of sex education from the schools K-12. It’s happening in Florida and other states are starting to come in line. We need biology.

Earlier this week, the NDP demanded Smith drop Johnson as a candidate immediately.

Today is about taking a stand to say no to the hate, discrimination, and harmful misinformation that Johnson is spreading,” Edmonton NDP candidate Janis Irwin said Wednesday.

Johnson’s hopes that she’ll return to the UCP caucus means the issue won’t entirely vanish, said Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams.

“It creates problems for Smith and her government . . . what does that say to voters (who’ll wonder), ‘are they going to let her back into caucus?'” said Williams.

And she said Smith left some ambiguity of her own by saying the transgender issue deserves debate — probably an appeal to her further right-wing base, noting the UCP leader has professed admiration for Republic Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who’s targeted the minority through legislation.

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But Williams said a spate of controversies don’t appear to have unduly hurt UCP electoral chances, though in the campaign’s closing days controversies like Johnson’s could have “a far greater influence on moderate voters in places like Calgary.”

In March, UCP Lethbridge-West candidate Torry Tanner resigned after a video emerged in which she claimed children were being exposed to pornography in school and that teachers were aiding students in altering their gender identities.

A University of Alberta researcher on gender minority youth along with the president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association have called Johnson’s September comments misinformation that endangers the transgendered.

Calgary UCP candidate Ric McIver on Thursday decried the Lacombe-Ponoka words in a tweet, saying “I completely condemn Jennifer Johnson’s comments.”

Edmonton UCP hopeful Raj Sherman did the same on the social media platform, professing solidarity with LGBTQ+ youth.

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Johnsons come amid string of controversial comments from UCP candidates

The UCP campaign has also been dogged by controversial comments its leader Smith has made, ranging from Russia’s war on Ukraine, to health care and last year’s illegal blockade of the border at Coutts.

A report released Thursday by the province’s ethics commissioner states Smith breached Alberta’s Conflicts of Interest Act in her interactions with the minister of justice in relation to Calgary preacher Artur Pawlowski’s case, in which he was later convicted of inciting blockaders at Coutts.

But opinion polls have largely shown the UCP remains competitive and even leading provincewide, and in what’s widely considered the decisive battleground of Calgary.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s Ukrainian-Canadian community expressed outrage over Calgary-Lougheed UCP candidate Eric Bouchard for apparently retweeting a comment hashtagged #ZelenskyWarCriminal last November.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the president of Ukraine, which has been subject to a full-scale Russian invasion since Feb. 24, 2022.

The International Criminal Court in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine.

“We urge UCP Leader Smith and the UCP to disavow and condemn the anti-Ukrainian statements made by candidate Bouchard,” read a statement released Wednesday by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress’s Alberta Provincial Council.

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— With files from Jason Herring

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

Twitter: @BKaufmannjrn

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