“Street preacher” Artur Pawlowski, recently convicted for his involvement at the Coutts border blockade in 2022, has teamed up with the former holder of the title of Canada’s Worst MP to try to form a new Alberta political party.
An alternative explanation for the video posted on Pawlowski’s Twitter account is that he and former Calgary Conservative MP Rob Anders, the latter wearing an “ARREST TRUDEAU” hoodie, have formed a new comedy act that’s a dead-bolt cinch to take the nation by storm. In that case, look for them both on The Debaters soon.
Tax evasion charges against Anders were dropped last June, but that does mean both men have experience with the justice system, which they think should be fixed by electing Alberta judges like they do in Montana.
That’s just one of the many policy proposals these two comedians propose for their new political party, which Pawlowski said in his video will be called the Solidarity Movement of Alberta – a tip of the Canadian toque to his Polish heritage, presumably, not a May 1 tribute to the labour union movement. (Anders, as former director of something called Canadians Against Forced Unionism, wouldn’t like that!)
Anders was elected to Parliament six times over 17 years for the Reform, Canadian Alliance, and Conservative parties by the inattentive voters of the federal Calgary West riding, until he was finally run out of politics after a redistribution eliminated his riding and former Alberta health minister Ron Liepert won the fight to represent a new riding covering some of the same territory.
Born appropriately enough in 1972 on April Fool’s Day (as was Premier Smith the year before) Anders was notorious for such antics as falling asleep on camera in the House of Commons, suggesting NDP leader Thomas Mulcair caused the death of his predecessor Jack Layton, striking butchy poses with his latest firearms, and perhaps most offensively, being the sole MP to vote against honorary citizenship for Nelson Mandela after calling the South African hero a “terrorist.”
Anders also once worked as a professional heckler for Republican politicians south of the Medicine Line.
Other ideas motivating the Pawlowski-Anders joint venture? Oh, ending vaccinations, banning speed radar cameras, and “defunding drag queen story time” (Anders) and a referendum on Alberta independence (Pawlowski).
Freed from the bonds of Canada, the latter explained, “we can turn Alberta into the Saudi Arabia of North America.” Actually, a totalitarian feudal theocracy sounds like a good fit for Pawlowski, if not for the rest of us.
Another perennial Alberta political fruitcake, former Wildrose Alliance leader and Wildrose Party MLA Paul Hinman, announced he has successfully formed a new political party with Wildrose in its name – the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition, which he brewed up after he was removed as the leader of the Wildrose Independence Party in an internal party dispute. (They do like their wild roses in libertarian circles here in Alberta.)
Hinman explained how this came about in a Twitter video of his own.
Finally, the United Conservative Party’s former loose libertarian cannon on deck, Drew Barnes has decided he won’t be running in the May 29 election for the seat he now occupies, Cypress-Medicine Hat.
This is could be a strategic decision made in hopes for some future consideration in return for making it a little easier for the UCP candidate in the riding, in which some recent analysis suggests there are a surprising number of Medicine Hatters leaning Orange.
Barnes, who was kicked out of the UCP two years ago for insufficient loyalty to previous premier Jason Kenney, actually comes across as pretty sensible in his Twitter video, at least in comparison to almost everyone else mentioned up to now in this post.
Today, presumably, we’ll all get back to talking about the only two parties that actually matter in this election – the UCP led by Smith and the Opposition New Democrats led by former premier Rachel Notley. That is, if anyone can find Smith to answer questions about Pawlowski.
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