Former Wildrose leader and United Conservative Party leader hopeful Brian Jean last week declared a firm stance against racial prejudice and hatred.
"I've been to Auschwitz, I've been to the Holocaust museum in Israel," he said, taking a moment to gather his thoughts.
"I reject hate and bigotry."
He spoke briefly with the Round Up as well as the CBC during a campaign rally and membership drive held Thursday evening at the Sundre IGA, where many dozens of people gathered to hear Jean speak as well as to enjoy a burger or hotdog.
"I've been clear that I will not tolerate any hate or bigotry or prejudice or bias in our party. I will not accept that kind of behaviour, and I won't accept it from our members of Parliament, I won't accept it from our members, and frankly, I don't think it's acceptable in Canada."
The somber tone of the discussion stemmed from recent events in Charlottesville, Va., where white supremacists, neo-Nazis as well as KKK sympathizers gathered to protest plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Violence erupted when counter-demonstrators clashed with the swastika-waving marchers, culminating in dozens of injuries and the death of a woman when a male identified as a white supremacist sympathizer drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters.
Additional controversy was sparked in Canada when a Rebel Media journalist, who has since been fired, reported from the scene in the U.S. and expressed sympathetic views for protestors who proudly waved Nazi and Confederate flags. Conservative politicians on the provincial and federal stage are now distancing themselves from the The Rebel.
"It's been some time since I've been on Rebel Media, and I don't plan on going on any time soon," Jean said.
"I have been concerned with some of the things I've seen in relation to editorial content and the direction as a whole, and that's why I've made the decision I have not to go on Rebel Media again."
When asked whether such developments, as well as other political distractions closer to home such as the embattled Derek Fildebrandt expense fiasco, have taken the message he's been trying to convey off course, Jean said, "Well, I am on message ó we are talking about policy. Today we've had a great day. We've gone all over from Calgary up to Sundre and in between, and we've talked to a lot of people."
The aspiring leader of Alberta's new United Conservative Party said he has experienced a good response, and that he was encouraged by the massive majority ëyes' vote in support of merging the now defunct Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties.
"Ninety-five per cent from both parties is no small feat," he said.
When reminded that 44 per cent of the party membership ó almost half ó was not inspired enough to even cast a ballot, and whether he had a plan to reach potentially unconvinced constituents, Jean told the Round Up, "That's why I continuously travel the province and have been since my very first time seeking leadership of the Wildrose Party. I will continue to do that because the best thing you can do is listen. But ultimately I think we did very well."
More than half of the membership voted, and those who did resoundingly chose to unite the right, he said.
"If people were really concerned about it (merging the parties) in a negative fashion, I think they would have shown up and cast a ballot against. And they did not."
When further pressed regarding whether he was concerned about fence-sitters potentially pulling the proverbial rug from underneath him in the coming election, he said, "Politics is about constantly earning the trust and the respect of voters. And that is why I have done what I've done over the past 14 years in politics, and that's why I will continue to try to hold myself to the highest standard as I think all politicians should. And I think we are not perfect ó no one is ó but we need to continuously strive to be."
The UCP will choose its new leader, who will steer the party into the 2019 provincial election against Alberta's ruling NDP government, on Oct. 28.
"I'm excited about the future ó I think our best days are in front of us, I truly do."
