In what should be described as one of the more light-hearted moments of the Fall Session of the Alberta Legislature, Alberta Liberal leader Kevin Taft will be introducing a motion into the Legislature calling on the Government of Alberta to adopt rodeo as this province’s official sport.
As the Canadian Finals Rodeo kicked-off in Edmonton yesterday (which I am excited to be going to tonight!), Taft’s announcement this afternoon was timed-well, and received a surprising amount of media attention, as witnessed by the media presence at Taft’s announcement (even Edmonton Sun columnist Neil Waugh was able to find his way to the scrum before it ended).
There was a bit of confusion when Taft entered the Assembly in his western gear this afternoon, as Speaker Ken Kowalski nearly kicked Taft out for his clothing choices. In a bizarre move, Kowalski asked for the consent of the MLAs present to allow Taft to stay while wearing his western wear. Most of the MLAs, both PC and Liberal seemed a little more than quite confused as to why a pair of jeans would pose such a threat to the decorum of the Assembly. They unanimously voted to let the jeans stay, and democracy lives to fight another day.
The motion is scheduled to be introduced on the floor of the Legislature on the evening of Monday, November 24.
Here’s some (albeit, rough) video footage of Taft’s announcement (the Legislature Rotunda can be a bit of an echo chamber sometimes):
*In the interests of full disclosure, I believe that it is important to inform my readership that I have accepted a short-term communications contract position with the Official Opposition Caucus at the Alberta Legislature. But don’t worry, I’m going to continue writing this blog, and I’m hoping to earn my chance to sit at the cool kids table in the cafeteria by the time my job is complete.
