German politician Christine Anderson’s views were described by federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre as “vile,” “racist” and “not welcome in Canada” but those views didn’t stop conservative partisans from flocking to stops on Anderson’s cross-Canada tour.
Anderson’s party, the far-right Alternative for Germany, usually referred to as AfD, is known for promoting Islamophobic and anti-immigrant views.
The Member of the European Parliament toured Canada last week as part of her hubris-tempting named “What Would Christine Anderson Do?” tour. Anderson’s tour stopped in Calgary on February 18 for an event at the Petroleum Club and a south Calgary evangelical church that ran afoul of Alberta Health Services for violating public health rules during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the three candidates running for the United Conservative Party nomination in south west Alberta’s Livingstone-Macleod riding was at the Petroleum Club event.
Tanya Clemens posted a photo of herself posing with Anderson on her social media at the talk. The photo caption included the quote “If the government is afraid of the people, you have democracy. If the people are afraid of the government, you have tyranny.”
When asked for comment about her attendance at Anderson’s event, Clemens replied:
“Like our Members of Parliament, I was unaware of her views and political history.
She was one of a few individuals that used their international platforms to call out Justin Trudeau’s unacceptable and dictator like behaviour during COVID and that is why I went to the event in the first place.
I had no additional information on Anderson, but had I known about her unacceptable stances beforehand, I would not have attended the event.”
Independent journalist Justin Ling watched the videos of Anderson’s events in Calgary and Oshawa and wrote about what Anderson spoke about.
The Calgary events were attended by Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich and lawyer Keith Wilson, and street pastor-turned-Independence Party of Alberta leader Artur Pawlowski, who has turned the party into a vehicle of right-wing conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the World Economic Forum.
Following the event, Anderson sat down for a one-on-one interview with Canadian Olympian and COVID-19 conspiracy theorist Jamie Salé.
Former Alberta Prosperity Project leader running for UCP nomination in Edmonton-Riverview
Enthusiastic about Anderson’s visit to Calgary is the Alberta Prosperity Project, a right-wing separatist group that posted a music video of the German politician denouncing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The APP has organized chapters around the province and promotes a range of conspiracy theories on its social media related to COVID-19, Digital ID, 15-minute cities and the World Economic Forum. The organization also recently promoted the debunked claim that commissioner of the Public Order Emergency Commission Paul Rouleau is the husband of Trudeau’s aunt (he’s not).
Until recently, the Alberta Prosperity Project’s chief executive officer was Dr. Dennis Modry.
Dr. Modry announced his resignation last week and he plans to seek the UCP nomination in Edmonton-Riverview, the riding currently represented by NDP MLA Lori Sigurdson.
Dr. Modry is a well-known Edmonton-based surgeon, having completed Alberta’s first heart transplant in 1985 and founding the heart & lung transplantation program at the University of Alberta. He was also a fundraiser for the Progressive Conservative Party in the 1980s and 1990s and was co-chair of Doug Main’s campaign for the PC Party leadership in 1992.
But Dr. Modry’s more recent political activities have moved further from the mainstream. He served as VP Policy and Governance of the Wildrose Independence Party before that party’s implosion and has since promoted Alberta sovereignty through the APP.
The APP has loudly advocated for the Alberta government to hold a referendum on independence from Canada, which the group says would give Alberta a strong position to negotiate with Ottawa.
In an October 11, 2022 statement acknowledging Danielle Smith’s UCP leadership victory, the group said the new Premier “should not be afraid to ask the public in a referendum for Alberta Independence.“
The APP recently changed the by-laws posted on its website but a proposed party by-laws document posted in May 2022 outlined APP plans to create a separatist political party called the “Provincial Party” that would be renamed the “National Party” after a successful referendum on independence from Canada. The 2022 by-laws called for an independence referendum and included vague plans about establishing an Alberta “Constitution, Charter of Freedoms, Rights, & Responsibilities, and Declaration of Independence.”
An updated version of the APP by-laws, now named the Proposed Polices and Governance for a Sovereign Alberta Within or Without Canada, posted on January 16, 2023 and attributed to Dr. Modry outline plans for Alberta to become a “Constitutional Republic” if the provincial government “is unable to change the Constitution Act 1982 to its satisfaction.”
The 2023 by-laws outline the creation of a new Alberta Republic, including the creation of a “Defense Force for the Republic” that would include an army, air force, cyber force, and navy (presumably the Alberta navy would have a home port at Cold Lake or Slave Lake).
The 2023 document also outlines APP plans to create a “Republic’s Reserve Bank” and create a “a mint for the Republic” that “will be evaluated in relation to three currency choices; Canadian, USA, or new currency minted in Alberta.”
The APP briefly caught provincial attention during last year’s UCP leadership race when it co-hosted an all-candidates debate, for which it fund-raised with Ezra Levant’s Rebel News.
UCP leadership candidates Travis Toews and Rebecca Schulz issued a joint statement saying they wouldn’t participate in an event “in support of a third-party advocacy group that supports an independent Alberta.” Rajan Sawhney and Leela Aheer also did not attend the event.
The fundraising event was billed as an opportunity for the UCP leadership candidates to share their plans to protect Albertans from “the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and World Economic Forum’s Great Reset.”
Only three of the seven UCP leadership candidates participated in the debate: Danielle Smith, Brian Jean and Todd Loewen.
Smith tipped her hat to Dr. Modry during the debate.
“So part of when I decided I wanted to run [for Alberta premier], I knew how important it was to make sure that we addressed the issues of autonomy,” Smith said. “And I talked to Dr. Modry as one of my first steps. I said, ‘let’s try this together.’”
A UCP nomination meeting has not yet been scheduled in Edmonton-Riverview and I’m told that at least one or two other candidates might enter the contest.
A nomination vote in Livingstone-Macleod is scheduled for March 9, 10 and 11. The candidates in that race are Tanya Clemens, Town of Claresholm Mayor Chelsae Petrovic, and former pastor Don Whalen.
I will be back with a regular nomination update tomorrow.
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8 replies on “UCP nomination candidate Tanya Clemens attends Christine Anderson event, former Alberta Prosperity Project CEO Dr. Dennis Modry running for UCP nomination in Edmonton-Riverview”
I think this article was negative and biased. Stating, Christine Anderson is extremely right-wing is an opinion. She defended Canadian Truckers when our political leaders and media would not. To many of us, she is a hero. Also, Independence is a great thing. We in Alberta need leverage and strength when negotiating with Ottawa. The APP is not a political party it is an educational society. Good luck to Denise. Anything Ottawa can do Alberta can do it better!
Pamela Charlet: These truckers were costing us very large amounts of money from their childish antics. Other truckers chose to work, and not engage in this. They also can’t tell another government what to do; that being the government in the USA. The fools involved with these convoy protests were given money, and they could have been using that money to buy weapons. Alberta can’t be independent. These pretend conservatives and Reformers that were running Alberta for so many years, caused the loss of hundreds of billions of dollars from their very pricey shenanigans, abysmal oil royalty rates, and bad corporate tax rates. Peter Lougheed wasn’t this way at all. He had no praise for what these pretend conservatives and Reformers were doing. He certainly would object to the UCP.
Well this is the first time I’ve read a publication from this particular writer and it will be the last time. Very biased and obviously young Justin Trudeau‘s payroll. Calling Jamie Salei what he did I would take him to court and sue his ass off. Go ahead and prove that she is a conspiracy theorist. Everything she said for the past two years has come true and everything I can assume you have said has been bullshit for the past two years and it’s been proven in a court of law you would have your ass handed to you
Richard Gadoury: If one tries to defend people like Jamie Salei, it’s very sad, given how she has been behaving. I don’t know what happened to her, but her reputation is toast.
Nice hat! Too bad the UCP nomination candidate did not know about the German politicians history, apparently bad enough that the Federal Conservative leader is condemning her instead of bringing her donuts.
Maybe they did not get the memo from Ottawa in time or some in the UCP are so naive. Next thing, expect the UCP to express surprise and shock that some of their candidates are separatists. German right wing nationalists and separatists who knew?
The slanderous comments from the Liberals and the NDP cronies are just starting, more will come.
I have known and worked with Dr Modry for a few years, he is a good man working for a better Alberta.
We are told to love and pray for our enemies and those who spread lies about us. The first part is getting more difficult by the day. I may love them, but I sure don’t like them.
Did I serve in the Canadian Armed Forces for what this country is becoming?
The slanderous comments from the Liberals and the NDP cronies are just starting, more will come.
I have known and worked with Dr Modry for a few years, he is a good man working for a better Alberta.
We are told to love and pray for our enemies and those who spread lies about us. The first part is getting more difficult by the day. I may love them, but I sure don’t like them.
Did I serve in the Canadian Armed Forces for what this country is becoming?
Alain Gauthier: What slanderous comments are there? The UCP is as corrupt of a provincial government as one can have in Alberta. That’s not a lie, and there is so much evidence that shows it. Pretend conservatives and Reformers are only there for their rich corporate friends, and not for Albertans. They do the most priciest shenanigans, that cost us so much money, get absurdly bad oil royalty rates, and very bad corporate tax rates, which lost Alberta hundreds of billions of dollars, destroy jobs, don’t respect the environment, and want to privatize everything they can, which costs us more. Peter Lougheed was a true conservative, who looked after all Albertans, and these fake conservatives and Reformers didn’t. For the last 30 years, we had fake conservatives and Reformers doing massive amounts of damage to Alberta.