Red Deer UCP nominee against “outing kids” despite social media criticism

“I asked what he thought about Jason Kenney’s stance about outing kids who join QSAs and telling their parents,” he told rdnewsNOW on Monday. “The gist was that he thinks, similar to Kenney’s position, that unless the school or whomever knows that a kid is in danger, then telling the parents is the best thing to do.”

Kander, who also spoke to rdnewsNOW, remembers speaking with McLean, but his recollection of the conversation is much different.

“I’m kind of sad this person would say something like this. I was raised by two moms. I’ve been to every single Pride in Red Deer since it started when it was 15 of us standing next to a parking lot,” he says. “This is my first time having a booth at Pride though and what he said is completely false.”

Asked if he would stand as an MLA against a proposal to “out kids” in GSAs should Kenney ultimately become premier and decide to enact such a policy, Kander says, “Yes, definitely.”

“The UCP is just going to focus on the economy. What I would like to see in this next government is people having equal rights, and if any group, regardless of what it is, doesn’t have equal rights, they get equal rights.”

Serge Gingras, chair of the Central Alberta Pride Society, says there’s no regret in having Kander at Pride in the Park, but he does take some issue with his response to McLean.

Part one, Gingras says, is the fact Kander doesn’t correct McLean in a Facebook post on his nomination page for stating in the tweet that Kander is the “UCP Red Deer – North candidate.”

In reality, Kander is a nominee to be the UCP candidate in Red Deer – North, a choice party members won’t make until much closer to the May 2019 provincial election.

“You scroll down his page a bit and there was a post on Sunday morning where Cole says he had been invited to be there (as a vendor), but that’s not quite how it works,” Gingras explains. “Cole applied to have a vendor’s booth at Pride in the Park. The Pride Society did not send invitations to the political parties to attend Pride.”

Gingras says the fact of the matter is that Alberta Party candidates and the local NDP MLAs were there, and while Kander was there as a potential candidate for the UCP, no other hopefuls or area UCP MLAs such as Devin Dreeshen or Ron Orr actually applied.

“If the application had come from the UCP itself, it may have been a different outcome,” Gingras admits, noting it is a committee of people which makes those decisions. “It probably raised some eyebrows that he was there, a little bit, but it’s also important for people to engage with potential candidates. We won’t ever know because the UCP didn’t apply. If it had, this is something we’d have had to sit down and discuss.”

Gingras also pointed out that the UCP has been barred from marching in the Edmonton and Calgary Pride parades, not from participating in those Pride festivals in other ways.

“I have been involved in this community long before I decided to run. My moms have been involved in this community and I knew half the people by name who were at that event on Sunday,” Kander continues. “They understand I am on their side and that I wouldn’t say anything like this gentlemen tweeted out. Why they let me come is because I have shown through my actions that I support this community.”

Central Alberta Pride Week is ongoing until Sunday, Aug. 19.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Red Deer UCP nominee against “outing kids” despite social media criticism

What's Trending