The Central Alberta Pride float in Wednesday's Westerner Days Parade (rdnewsNOW/Rene Rondeau)

By Sheldon Spackman

controversial confrontation

PPC, Pride Society have heated exchange following Westerner Days Parade

Jul 18, 2019 | 3:02 PM

Members of the Central Alberta Pride Society say they felt scared after an altercation with People’s Party of Canada (PPC) supporters.

The verbal altercation happened Wednesday after both groups took part in the Westerner Days Parade.

Pride Chair Shannon Humphrey says it started when a couple of PPC supporters approached them at the staging area to share pamphlets and talk about their platform.

“We said no thank you, we’re not interested,” Humphrey explains.

“They kept trying to talk to people and I don’t know how the conversation really escalated. But essentially, someone made a comment about, ‘Oh, well you guys are pro-conversion camp’ and they said, ‘Well no, we’re not pro-conversion, just for kids.’

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“That was when things really escalated because we had a couple trans people who were walking with us,” Humphrey noted. “We had a mom of a couple of kids who are trans, all of our allies were there, our entire community was there and we all came together and said, ‘Excuse me?’”

Humphrey says the incident left members of their group feeling unsafe.

“Our whole purpose is to create a safe space for people and really create that inclusive environment,” she explains. “After this happened, there were a couple of people that came up to me and said, ‘I’m scared to walk back to my vehicle. I don’t want to leave the parking lot without someone with me. It really made the people who were with us uncomfortable.”

Humphrey feels incidents like these reinforce why groups like Central Alberta Pride Society are still necessary.

“What we’re ultimately about is creating that safe place, creating a safe community where people can really explore their identities and do so in a safe manner without the fear of getting in trouble or being told they’re wrong or being judged or feeling like they are fundamentally wrong for being who they are.”

Paul Mitchell, PPC candidate for Red Deer – Mountain View, took part in the parade but was not there for the confrontation.

“I know very little about it,” says Mitchell. “I was not there and I’m not sure the exact context or what the nature of the argument was.”

Mitchell did point out though, that the PPC has no policies regarding LGBTQ+ issues.

“We’ve been rolling out our platform on a regular basis and there are a number of topics that we deal with in-depth. But (in regards to) something to do with how individual Canadians want to live, we believe in treating all Canadians equally.”

Mitchell feels it may be a good idea for the pride society to contact the PPC to clear up any misconceptions.

“We need to be open about our discussions and not go off of misconceptions and not go off of hearsay. Let’s talk about the real issues. That’s the best way forward.”

Westerner Park CEO Bradley Williams says they’ve only heard one side of the story and have not investigated to this point.

“What happened is certainly not within the spirit of Westerner Days. It’s certainly not within the spirit of how we want those events to unfold – it’s clearly a family event,” said Williams.

“We’re not looking to create divisions or support one group against another in any way, shape or form,” he added. “It was an unfortunate incident between two parties in the parade and it’s unfortunate the Pride group feels the way they do. It’s not the way we want any of our parade-goers or sponsors to feel like.”