Notley demands Smith remove from caucus MLA who spoke at LGBTQ2S+ policy protest
CTV
Premier Danielle Smith is keeping MLA Jason Stephan in her UCP caucus despite an Alberta NDP demand to remove him for speaking at a '1MillionMarch4Children' protest.
Premier Danielle Smith is keeping MLA Jason Stephan in her UCP caucus despite an Alberta NDP demand to remove him for speaking at a '1MillionMarch4Children' protest.
Stephan, the second term representative for Red Deer-South, said the event was about parental rights and denied widespread criticism that the protests were hateful as he shared a stage with a local school trustee who recently likened the LGBTQ2S+ community to Nazi Germany.
"[Stephan] shouldn't be anywhere near the caucus. Long since should have been kicked out, should have been the first thing the premier said this morning," Notley told reporters on Thursday.
Notley became emotional as she delivered a message to queer and trans youth that they are "loved" and "respected."
She then recalled seeing a video from a Wednesday protest in Calgary where a young boy called gay people "psychopaths" and "disgusting," to mixed crowd reaction.
"It broke my heart. Children are not born with hate in their heart but somebody convinced a four- or five-year-old to hold a mic and spew hate," Notley said.
"And the premier is failing to condemn this. And that, to me, is one of the most profound failures in leadership that I've ever seen."
