The Alberta NDP is calling for United Conservative Party (UCP) candidate Jennifer Johnson for Lacombe-Ponoka to resign..The Alberta NDP released an audio recording from last fall when it claims Johnson is heard "making transphobic comments.".“It does not matter that we’re in the top 3% of the world. Who cares if they got 89% in Chemistry 30? Who cares that they’re entering post-secondary if they’re chemically castrated?” Johnson said in the recording implying that grades don't matter if children are mutilated..The Alberta NDP claims Johnson was talking about how Alberta's high test scores don’t matter because some students are transgender..“‘Enjoy (the cookies), I only put a teaspoon of poop in them, but it doesn’t matter because it’s only a teaspoon in the whole batch,'” the NDP claim Johnson said, which is comparing trans people to mixing a teaspoon of feces into a batch of baked goods..“Same idea — we can be top 3%, but that little bit of poop is what wrecks it.”.The comments made by Johnson were at a Western Unity Group forum last September..In the leaked recording, Johnson said “we’re allowing them to be chemically castrated and sterilized.”.She also allegedly accused teachers of showing elementary children hardcore pornography and suggested getting rid of sex education in K-12 schools..“These comments do not represent Lacombe-Ponoka or anywhere in Alberta. They are extreme, appalling, discriminatory, backwards, and they risk inciting hate and violence against 2SLGBTQ+ Albertans,” said Janis Irwin, Alberta NDP candidate for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood..On Wednesday, Alberta NDP candidate David Shepherd for Edmonton-City Centre called the comments a "disgusting dodge."."It's quite clear from the eye when you listen to the full dialogue and I've listened to some of the recordings and there about a specific school in Red Deer," Shepherd said.."They're talking about specific things here in the province of Alberta. So it's a really disgusting dodge for them to try to make this claim the disgusting comments that Jennifer Johnson made.".Shepherd said Johnson "literally compared transgender children in schools, to putting a scoop of feces in your chocolate chip cookie batter."."She was talking about Alberta and Alberta schools. She made disgusting, unacceptable comments from frankly any individual let alone someone who aspires to public office.".Shepherd said UCP leader Danielle Smith "cannot step up and condemn these comments, or even make an actual apology."."Let alone do the right thing and remove this candidate, it shows they are not fit to govern this province and cannot represent the full diversity of individuals who deserve to be respected and protected here," Shepherd said..The UCP said its candidate for Lacombe-Ponoka, Jennifer Johnson, "already addressed this issue" concerning what the Alberta NDP claim are "transphobic comments" about Alberta's education system..“The comments I made last year were based on what I saw parents experiencing in the United States and not about Alberta classrooms," Johnson said in an emailed statement to the Western Standard.."Our situation in Alberta is quite different. For example, if parents are concerned about content in classrooms there is a process that can be followed with the school division and ultimately could go to the teaching profession commissioner if there was a serious issue.".Johnson said the UCP has an immense amount of respect for teachers and front-line workers that work daily to make every single student "feel safe, included, and cared for in our schools.”.The UCP said it is concerned by the "anti-Alberta candidates in the NDP, such as their candidate Kevin Van Tighem for Livingstone-Macleod..The UCP said Van Tighem called Albertans “angry, entitled rednecks” and “entitled, grabby, resource exploiters” and said “Oil sucks. And we’re the suckers.”.Van Tighem wrote a book comparing Alberta’s energy industry to slavery and energy workers to slaves, saying "Alberta’s enslaved landscapes were never unemployed to start with. And most of the jobs we force them to do impair their ability to do their real work. That’s how slavery works; it makes bosses rich by stealing the energies of their slaves.".He went on to infer that energy workers are "ignorant and prejudiced," writing: “I don't like how the lure of oil money made kids drop out of high school and hurry off to the oil camps to make it big, giving up on the acquisition of knowledge and absorbing, instead, the prejudices of their mostly male co-workers.".The Alberta NDP has not apologized for the comments..Highwood UCP candidate RJ Sigurdson said all Albertans should be concerned with the comments, particularly the ones from Van Tighem..“Rachel Notley’s ‘star’ hand-picked candidate clearly has nothing but disdain for Albertans and Alberta’s energy sector. These comments are insulting and highlight how out-of-touch the NDP is with the lives of everyday Alberta families,” Sigurdson said..Innisfail-Sylvan Lake UCP candidate Devin Dreeshen said Albertans cannot trust the NDP to manage the largest industry in the province..“The NDP still hates our energy industry, even though it supports so many critical services Albertans rely on and thousands of livelihoods. It’s beyond concerning that the NDP clearly harbours so much contempt for this industry and the people who work in it,” Dreeshen said..Chestermere-Strathmore UCP candidate Chantelle de Jonge said Albertans should not vote for the NDP, at a time when Alberta, Canada and the world need reliable energy from an ethical producer..“Alberta’s energy industry has the highest environmental and human rights standards in the world. The fact the NDP don’t understand that shows they’re unfit to govern Alberta, and Albertans should not trust them,” de Jonge said..READ MORE: WATCH: Notley says WS is 'homophobic,' 'hateful'.In April, Notley claimed that the Western Standard is engaging in "very active homophobic, discriminatory, hateful editorial positioning" as it relates to some of her NDP caucus members.."Your publication recently has been engaging in very active homophobic, discriminatory, hateful editorial positioning as it relates to some of our caucus members," Notley told the Western Standard when being questioned why the publication was removed from her media list.."And until such time as that is retracted and apology offered. We will not be answering questions. I am happy to reconsider that issue should a retraction and apology be offered. But between now and then I simply cannot engage in any sort of normalization, that kind of conversation. It is a breach of our Human Rights Code. It's a breach of our charter. It's a breach of basic standards. And so I look forward to hearing from your editors in the future."
