Halloween may be over, but the scary season lingers on thanks to the movement to “Take Back Alberta” (TBA). If Albertans don’t take note, their plan could haunt us for a long time.
The group is emulating Scary Movie 3, both cringely entertaining and horrifying – with a nonsensical plot that somehow still manages to be entirely predictable.
(Who are they taking Alberta back from again?)
TBA’s wanna-be famous leader, David Parker, has once again been tweeting up a storm.
Unfortunately, we have to care about it.
Does This Man Know What Communism Means?
Last week, Parker threw a Twitter (now known as X) temper tantrum over Alberta Health Services, allowing each of the province’s health zones to decide if they want to mandate wearing masks within their hospitals. AHS didn’t mandate masks. They left it up to each facility’s leadership to decide.
That sounds like the kind of “letting decisions be made at a grassroots level initiative” that TBA claims to support.
It was far from a controversial move, but Parker would rather hospital staff have no say in their safety.
“Dear Leadership of Alberta Health Services,” he tweeted.
“Masks do not work.” [We’ll see if he thinks this is true next time he’s in for surgery.]
“We are coming for you, and we will not rest until your evil communist ideology is eradicated from the face of this province. Sincerely, Take Back Alberta.”
Parker is a self-promoter. He brags that he has a“black belt” in political organizing. He is home-schooled, and tries to portray himself as Joe Albertan, successful because he’s in touch with the heartbeat of Wild Rose Country.
We think his lack of traditional schooling shows when it comes to his use of the word “communist.” He seems to think the term applies to anything he disagrees with.
And we won’t even start on his use of the word “evil” to describe health care professionals.
Even he thought his statement was a little much and later deleted the tweet.
Surprisingly, this is not the most unhinged opinion of David Parkers.
This tweet has, however, garnered more action against Parker than most.
The Canadian branch of the Ditchley Foundation, an influential group that vaguely states ‘improving American and British relations’ as their mission statement, dropped Parker from their board of directors over it.
It also garnered widespread backlash from public figures like Health Critic David Shepherd.
Backlash isn’t uncommon for Parker’s “opinions,” but it comes at a crux time for the TBA.
The Coup De Resistance
On Nov 4-5th, The United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting is taking place in Calgary.
Take Back Alberta seems to be treating it as an opportunity for a “takeover” of the UCP.
Positions on the party’s 17-member executive board are up for grabs this year, and Parker plans to fill them all with TBA members.
The rush of sign-ups for this year’s UCP annual general meeting is shocking.
One month ago, 2,926 people had paid $199 each to attend. And people are still signing up.
Many of these sign-ups are assumed to be TBA members at the encouragement of Parker.
The TBA hopes to simply swoop into the UCP’s driver’s seat and direct the newly elected party in the direction they please.
University of Calgary political scientist Melanee Thomas told the Edmonton Journal that Parker’s plan suggests he has a severe misunderstanding of how democracy works in Alberta.
“It reads to me as either refusing to accept that this is a democracy and that parties don’t own a government and they don’t own power, or preferring that not be the case,” said Thomas. “I’m not sure which this is.”
UCP voters certainly shouldn’t be (and aren’t) pleased to hear this ploy.
“As a UCP member, I was appalled by the quotes of someone named David Parker,” reads a response to a columnist’s opinion in the Edmonton Journal.
“Democracy is not a dictatorship decided by one person and his followers…The majority of UCP members do not agree with this group, and they should form their own party and attempt to democratically elect members to the Alberta legislature to express their views or be expelled from the party.”
Premier Smith’s Response
If anyone should be concerned about a vocal extremist group attempting to take control of the UCP, it’s Danielle Smith.
Or at least she should worry TBA targeting her for removal from power like they claim to have done with Jason Kenney.
However, at least publically, she is ignoring the whole thing.
This isn’t surprising; she and Parker go way back. She even attended his wedding last spring.
When interviewed by the Your Province, Your Premier radio show about Parker’s recent backlash, she simply responded:
“You know I’m my own person. I think people know that. I think people know that I consult widely and broadly. I listen to Albertans. I listen to stakeholders. I am not controlled by any one person. I am not controlled by an advocacy group.”
We hope that is true for the UCP and Alberta’s democracy’s sake.
But beware of the old saying, “The future belongs to those who show up.”
Parker is counting on his TBA supporters to show up and outvote other UCP supporters, many of whom may stay home.
The future of Alberta may hang in the balance
