Penhold Town Councillor Shawn Hamm (second from left) is seen on stage in this screenshot from a video he shared on Facebook, next to German far-right politician Christine Anderson (middle), with Artur Pawlowski on the right. The event took place Feb. 18, 2023 in Calgary. (Facebook)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Mayor Unhappy

Penhold council member scrutinized for meeting with far-right German politician

Mar 7, 2023 | 6:30 PM

A town councillor in the central Alberta community of Penhold is under scrutiny for his attendance at a recent event in Calgary also attended by known far-right wing German politician Christine Anderson.

On Feb. 18, Councillor Shawn Hamm, first elected in 2017, stood on stage at an event hosted by Artur Pawlowski’s Independence Party, and prayed with Anderson, hand on her back.

Anderson has been in the Canadian news cycle the last two weeks after meeting with three Conservative Party MPs in Ontario who later posted pictures with her, but then claimed they weren’t aware of her views. Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre stated March 6 they could remain in caucus.

Poilievre went on the record late last month calling Anderson’s views “vile” and “racist.”

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Anderson is a Member of the European Parliament, representing the Alternative for Germany party, which is known to hold views which range from anti-Semitic to anti-Islamic and anti-immigration.

The party also has links to PEGIDA — Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamicisation of the West.

Anderson’s tour of Canada, which also included a stop in Quebec, was arranged to show her support for the ‘Freedom Convoy’ movement, something she spoke about during the Ottawa protests of 2022, meantime also being outspoken in her opposition to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

rdnewsNOW attempted to reach Hamm throughout the day on March 7, but he said he wasn’t available for an interview before our publication deadline at the end of the work day; nor did he take our offer for an interview Wednesday morning.

However, in a Facebook post from Feb. 24 on Hamm’s personal profile — the one on which he shared the video — he derides Poilievre’s comments about Anderson, and simultaneously praises the German politician while sharing a news article about the Ontario MPs.

A Facebook screenshot from Shawn Hamm’s public profile with his recent thoughts on Christine Anderson and Pierre Poilievre. (Facebook)

While Hamm has his views, Penhold Mayor Mike Yargeau, who’s sat on council since 2013, is very much unhappy, and says Anderson’s views do not, nor Hamm’s if he shares them, represent the municipality.

“In no way does the Town support any views espoused by Christine Anderson and people like her. It breaks my heart that we have to have this conversation in 2023,” Yargeau tells rdnewsNOW. “People with views like that shouldn’t even be on the radar and it’s unfortunate we have to have this discussion. I hope people who live in Penhold and who may be part of certain communities know that they are supported in Penhold, and are just as much as part of our community as everyone else is.”

Yargeau says there have been no formal complaints filed from members of council nor anyone else in the context of a breach of the Penhold Council Code of Conduct.

He did admit, however, that each of the five other town councillors have expressed concern about it, adding that the Town has had discussions with Hamm about his activities outside of council, both before and since the event with Anderson.

Yargeau says council does have the power to remove Hamm — or anyone — from a council committee, even without a formal Code of Conduct complaint.

Hamm currently represents town council on committees for Central Alberta Economic Partnership (CAEP), Inter-municipal Relations, Municipal Planning Commission, Parkland Foundation, and Penhold School.

“When it comes to a Code of Conduct issue, unfortunately, there’s not really a violation. I don’t have to like what he’s choosing to do, and I certainly don’t, and he knows that, but at the same time, according to the Code of Conduct, he hasn’t done anything wrong yet,” says Yargeau. “As a mayor, there are not a lot of tools or power to control what a councillor does outside council chambers.”

Yargeau continues: “The concern from our perspective, knowing we can’t control what he does, is that it doesn’t look good for the town. We don’t want to in any way be associated with a racist like Christine Anderson or some of the other political activities which Councillor Hamm is involved with, such as The Independence Party and Artur Pawlowski. None of those are supported by the Town, but that’s his personal life.

“It’s not a great situation. The Town doesn’t endorse any of this stuff and I can’t be any clearer than that.”

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