Editor’s Note: Story update at 9:00 am MST March 21, 2022 to reflect follow-up comments from Brian Bateson..A staffer in the Alberta Premier’s Office has accused some anti-Jason Kenney “folks” of being pro-Russian President Vladimir Putin..Brian Bateson, with the Issues Management Office, levelled odd accusations in tweets Friday as to why he thinks opponents of Kenney are Putin-backers..Bateson responded to a column published Friday by Postmedia scribe Rick Bell..Bell interviewed Zane Novak, with the grassroots Take Back Alberta (TBA) movement..“It’s a shame that Rick didn’t take the opportunity to ask about some of these so-called “Take Back Alberta” folks supporting Vladimir Putin,” tweeted Bateson.“Take back Alberta for who? The Soviet Union? #ableg,” tweeted Bateson..There was no reference to Putin or Russia in Bell’s spirited column headlined: Kenney’s fate on the line, Red Deer showdown numbers grow..Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine launched last month has claimed thousands of lives, an exodus of three million refugees so far, and reduced the country to rubble..His aggression has earned him global condemnation and easily status as the world’s most despised man. Any allegiance to him is viewed with contempt..TBA has been blanketing the province since last December holding between five and nine nightly meetings and signing up United Conservative Party members with the primary aim of removing Kenney as premier at the April 9 special general meeting in Red Deer..“That is what April 9 is about. It’s Kenney in or Kenney out as UCP leader and premier. Just that … And the numbers signing up are big. They are BIG. Much BIGGER than expected,” wrote Bell..At least 10,000 memberships have been sold. That number is expected to climb. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. March 19 to purchase a membership to be able to cast a vote in Kenney’s leadership review..In a later tweet, Bateman pointed to a video of Alberta anti-lockdown activist Chris Scott. In the video, Chris Scott says that the war in Ukraine was provoked by NATO expansion..But TBA’s Executive Director David Parker dismissed Bateson’s tweets as “crazy, slanderous attacks,” and said that Scott has no role in the organization..“Vladimir Putin and I are buddies and I’m secretly a Russian agent,” said Parker, mocking Bateson’s accusations..“I’m here to destabilize things for Kenney because Putin thinks about Kenney so regularly.”.On February 27, Parker tweeted: “If you do not stand with Ukraine, I will not break bread with you #NoWar.”.“This is yet another indication of the desperation of the premier as he realizes he cannot lie to regular Albertans and get away with it. Albertans are different. We’re not like other Canadians. If you lie to us, we’ll make sure you’re not the premier anymore,” said Parker..Bateson isn’t the first Kenney staffer to attempt to discredit people who oppose the premier’s leadership..Earlier this month, Issues Manager Chad Hallman, also employed in Kenney’s Issues Management Office, tweeted that efforts to remove the premier are driven by “personal grudges and fringe views.”.Chad Hallman is the son of Alan Hallman, key political strategist for Kenney..Hallman junior took aim at former Wildrose and PC MLA Ian Donovan; former Wildrose and UCP MLA Rick Strankman; former UCP nomination candidate Todd Beasley; Independent MLA Drew Barnes; Independent MLA Todd Loewen; and former Wildrose MLA (now Western Standard Publisher) Derek Fildebrandt..“This bizarre obsession with fringe politics is not reflective of mainstream Albertans,” he tweeted..“Donovan, Fildebrandt, Strankman, Beasley — now Barnes and Loewen.”.“One of the reasons it’s important to support @jkenney not to turn the @Alberta_UCP over to the fringe.”.Many members of the so-called “fringe” Hallman dismissed are Albertans who voted UCP or Wildrose and pay his salary. .Editor’s Note: Story update at 9:00 am MST March 21, 2022 to reflect follow-up comments from Brian Bateson..Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.,.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
