It was a like a voice crying out in the wilderness of a land forsaken by both the petty tyrannical and pathetically weak establishment politicians..The message? Never apologize. Never back down. Faith. Family. Freedom. Take Canada back..The packed house in Cochrane Thursday night loved what the Easterner promising to fight for them said..When Independent MP Derek Sloan announced that he’s checking out of Ontario’s Hastings-Lennox and Addington riding to contest Banff-Airdrie, the crowd of cowboy hats and baseball caps, young and old – determined Albertans desperately seeking hope – leapt to its feet cheering and applauding..He’s taking on more than four-term incumbent and Conservative Party whip MP Blake Richards who received 70% of the vote last election. .“It’s clear that all of the legacy parties are corrupt,” said Sloan in his opening campaign speech. .“I want to put cowardly MPs on notice. When you take your constituents for granted, when you care more about Ottawa than you do about your own constituents, we’re gonna come for you.”.Sloan declared: “This is going to be a barometer of the status of freedom.” .He blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his band of obliging Liberals for “trampling” on the rights of Canadians including religious liberty and freedom to choose medical treatments. .He called out the Liberals for the “toxic policies and division” tactics they craftily employ..“Every trick in his book is about pitting Easterners against Westerners, black people against white people, men against women, Indigenous against Europeans, and vaccinated against unvaccinated. The division needs to stop,” said Sloan..“I just want to say today – mark my words, you will not get away with this Justin Trudeau…We will overcome him, and we will never forget what he has done to this country.”.Sloan’s old boss Erin O’Toole, the Conservative leader who booted him out the party (ostensibly) for unknowingly accepting a $131 donation from a Neo-Nazi made under another name, didn’t escape fierce criticism. .“But in all of this, where were the Conservatives? Where was Erin O’Toole? Albertans trusted you to stand up for them. They trusted you to stand up to Justin Trudeau when he was dividing and conquering here in the West. But instead, you stood silent when we had the greatest crisis in this country at peacetime.”.Politicians of all stripes stood by as tens of thousands of Canadians were forced into lockdown, losing businesses, suffering eating and anxiety disorders, domestic violence and suicides, he said..Nobody spoke forcefully when pastors were jailed and fined, churches were burned, and Alberta’s energy industry was destroyed..“The leaders failed to stand up for Alberta’s energy independence by being in favour of the Paris agreement and by being in favour of carbon taxation and other climate alarmist methods.”.He reminded them of O’Toole’s forgotten pledge to never support a carbon tax, which he promptly tore up once he was elected leader..“Not only this, but other MPs were bullied and shamed in silence behind the scenes. It’s atrocious what we’re seeing…The silence was deafening.”.And where was Richards?.“He’s the whip of Erin O’Toole. He’s carrying O’Toole’s water. He’s doing O’Toole’s dirty work out here. When Conservative MPs don’t want to vote for some of this Liberal legislation, he’s calling them behind the scenes saying ‘Come on, you need to support it.’”.Sloan said he’s sick of Conservatives apologizing for their values. And Canadians are sick of politically correct leadership..“He (O’Toole) said he can afford to lose some votes in Alberta. I think that wish may come true,” said Sloan..But Sloan – who already faces a daunting task of unseating a Conservative in a province where voters often just vote for the party label, will have to compete with two other anti-establish parties on the right. .“If you like the Maverick or PPC, God bless you and God bless both those parties. But support them in a different riding because this is going to be a two-horse race. Just let us have this slice of the pie…It’s going to be Blake or it’s going to be me. The Liberals or NDP can’t win.”.Sloan later told Western Standard that he’s in it for the long haul..“I will continue fighting until we have this country back. Trudeau’s not going to get a majority. The Conservatives are not going to win. He’ll get his minority but there will be another election soon and I will be ready to run.”.Three former Reform and Conservative MPs – Eric Lowther, Rob Anders and Art Hanger – were on hand to support Sloan..Hanger reminded the crowd that the Conservatives got a “gut punch” when they went from a majority to two seats in the House of Commons in 1993..“That is what needs to happen again today. I think it’s the Conservatives who have lost their way,” said Hanger who served Calgary Northeast 1993-2008..“There’s a lot of collusion going on in the East amongst all these parties. It happened back in ’93. They would all together and they would try to trap, trick, try to cause all sorts of grief for the Reformers and they’re doing that again. They’re doing that to Derek.”.Why? They fear the truth he speaks, said Hanger. .Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
It was a like a voice crying out in the wilderness of a land forsaken by both the petty tyrannical and pathetically weak establishment politicians..The message? Never apologize. Never back down. Faith. Family. Freedom. Take Canada back..The packed house in Cochrane Thursday night loved what the Easterner promising to fight for them said..When Independent MP Derek Sloan announced that he’s checking out of Ontario’s Hastings-Lennox and Addington riding to contest Banff-Airdrie, the crowd of cowboy hats and baseball caps, young and old – determined Albertans desperately seeking hope – leapt to its feet cheering and applauding..He’s taking on more than four-term incumbent and Conservative Party whip MP Blake Richards who received 70% of the vote last election. .“It’s clear that all of the legacy parties are corrupt,” said Sloan in his opening campaign speech. .“I want to put cowardly MPs on notice. When you take your constituents for granted, when you care more about Ottawa than you do about your own constituents, we’re gonna come for you.”.Sloan declared: “This is going to be a barometer of the status of freedom.” .He blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his band of obliging Liberals for “trampling” on the rights of Canadians including religious liberty and freedom to choose medical treatments. .He called out the Liberals for the “toxic policies and division” tactics they craftily employ..“Every trick in his book is about pitting Easterners against Westerners, black people against white people, men against women, Indigenous against Europeans, and vaccinated against unvaccinated. The division needs to stop,” said Sloan..“I just want to say today – mark my words, you will not get away with this Justin Trudeau…We will overcome him, and we will never forget what he has done to this country.”.Sloan’s old boss Erin O’Toole, the Conservative leader who booted him out the party (ostensibly) for unknowingly accepting a $131 donation from a Neo-Nazi made under another name, didn’t escape fierce criticism. .“But in all of this, where were the Conservatives? Where was Erin O’Toole? Albertans trusted you to stand up for them. They trusted you to stand up to Justin Trudeau when he was dividing and conquering here in the West. But instead, you stood silent when we had the greatest crisis in this country at peacetime.”.Politicians of all stripes stood by as tens of thousands of Canadians were forced into lockdown, losing businesses, suffering eating and anxiety disorders, domestic violence and suicides, he said..Nobody spoke forcefully when pastors were jailed and fined, churches were burned, and Alberta’s energy industry was destroyed..“The leaders failed to stand up for Alberta’s energy independence by being in favour of the Paris agreement and by being in favour of carbon taxation and other climate alarmist methods.”.He reminded them of O’Toole’s forgotten pledge to never support a carbon tax, which he promptly tore up once he was elected leader..“Not only this, but other MPs were bullied and shamed in silence behind the scenes. It’s atrocious what we’re seeing…The silence was deafening.”.And where was Richards?.“He’s the whip of Erin O’Toole. He’s carrying O’Toole’s water. He’s doing O’Toole’s dirty work out here. When Conservative MPs don’t want to vote for some of this Liberal legislation, he’s calling them behind the scenes saying ‘Come on, you need to support it.’”.Sloan said he’s sick of Conservatives apologizing for their values. And Canadians are sick of politically correct leadership..“He (O’Toole) said he can afford to lose some votes in Alberta. I think that wish may come true,” said Sloan..But Sloan – who already faces a daunting task of unseating a Conservative in a province where voters often just vote for the party label, will have to compete with two other anti-establish parties on the right. .“If you like the Maverick or PPC, God bless you and God bless both those parties. But support them in a different riding because this is going to be a two-horse race. Just let us have this slice of the pie…It’s going to be Blake or it’s going to be me. The Liberals or NDP can’t win.”.Sloan later told Western Standard that he’s in it for the long haul..“I will continue fighting until we have this country back. Trudeau’s not going to get a majority. The Conservatives are not going to win. He’ll get his minority but there will be another election soon and I will be ready to run.”.Three former Reform and Conservative MPs – Eric Lowther, Rob Anders and Art Hanger – were on hand to support Sloan..Hanger reminded the crowd that the Conservatives got a “gut punch” when they went from a majority to two seats in the House of Commons in 1993..“That is what needs to happen again today. I think it’s the Conservatives who have lost their way,” said Hanger who served Calgary Northeast 1993-2008..“There’s a lot of collusion going on in the East amongst all these parties. It happened back in ’93. They would all together and they would try to trap, trick, try to cause all sorts of grief for the Reformers and they’re doing that again. They’re doing that to Derek.”.Why? They fear the truth he speaks, said Hanger. .Slobodian is the Senior Manitoba Columnist for the Western Standard.lslobodian@westernstandardonline.com
