Neither of Alberta’s leading political parties slowed down their campaigning efforts this weekend—despite one group being interrupted by a protestor with a megaphone.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley scheduled a tour of her Edmonton-Strathcona constituency on Saturday, but changed plans after a loud voter crashed the event.
“Rachel Notley’s gotta go! Hey, hey! Ho, ho!” the protestor chanted.
“We’re in financial trouble. Are you going to pay for it?”
Despite the interruption, the NDP remained focused on gaining a lead against the UCP. Part of their strategy, at least in the last five days, has included launching negative attacks aimed at the United Conservatives.
“We will continue to push our policy, but we also have a track record of leadership and integrity,” NDP Edmonton-Glenora candidate Sarah Hoffman said. “And Mr. Kenney has his track record.”
Most recently, the NDP has targeted UCP history.
This week, the NDP released an excerpt of a Mother’s Day sermon by minister and party candidate Jeremy Wong, in which he paraphrases scripture: “Wives, respect your husbands. Submit to your husbands.”
While the NDP has called the audio misogynistic, the UCP has defended as it a pastor speaking about the bible.
“They’re desperate,” UCP Leader Jason Kenney said of the NDP during a rally in Red Deer on Saturday. “They want to talk about anything except jobs, economy and the pipelines. They cannot defend their economic record.”
The NDP have also brought attention to a meme UCP candidate Tunde Obasan shared on Facebook in 2017.
It reads: “Dear Wife, If you want to bring out the best in your husband, give him these 2 things: Respect and Sex (in that order) (sic).”
Hoffman said the NDP surfaced the social media post because “it’s important for people to judge for themselves.”
However, the UCP says the governing party is participating in “U.S.-style attack politics.”
With files from Timm Bruch
