Federal Conservative leadership candidate Chris Alexander says he 鈥渁bsolutely disassociates鈥� himself from members of an Edmonton crowd who chanted 鈥渓ock her up鈥� in reference to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley outside the province鈥檚 legislature Saturday.
At the same time, Alexander tells 麻豆影视 Channel he doesn鈥檛 think it鈥檚 the job of 鈥減oliticians or media to chastise a crowd who is saying something very spontaneously on the basis of real emotion,鈥� adding: 鈥淭he anger is real.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to stop lecturing people on how they should feel and what they should say and start listening to them,鈥� says the former immigration minister who lost his Toronto-area seat in the 2015 election.
Alexander notes that an estimated 100,000 Albertans have lost their jobs due to the downturn in the oil sector. He says the carbon tax, imposed by Notley鈥檚 NDP government with the federal Liberals鈥� blessing, will lead to even more job losses.
鈥淟ock her up鈥� was frequently chanted when Hillary Clinton鈥檚 name came up at Donald Trump rallies during the U.S. election campaign. Clinton鈥檚 use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state was under investigation, but she was not charged with any crime.
Alexander said this 鈥渃hant that came from south of the border鈥� was 鈥渦npleasant in every way,鈥� that he was 鈥渟hocked鈥� by it and that 鈥渨e should never be calling for unconstitutional, illegal approaches to our politics.鈥�
The candidate has been criticized for not intervening to stop the chant. He tells 麻豆影视 Channel 鈥渋t took me a while to understand what was going on鈥� and that he tried to 鈥渢ake the chant back to 鈥榣et鈥檚 vote her out鈥�.鈥�
Asked whether he would intervene at future rallies if he hears 鈥渓ock her up,鈥� Alexander said: 鈥淵eah, I鈥檒l be even more energetic than I was this time.鈥�
鈥楶eople acting like idiots鈥�: Ambrose
Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose told reporters in the House of Commons Monday that the chant was 鈥渘ot only unoriginal (but) completely inappropriate.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to say,鈥� said the Alberta MP. 鈥淧eople acting like idiots.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 lock people up in Canada for bad policy,鈥� she added. 鈥淲e vote them out. That is how we live in a democracy.鈥�
Fellow Tory leadership candidates Michael Chong and Deepak Obhrai have also condemned the chants.
Chong, an Ontario MP, said the chanters were urging 鈥渦ndemocratic action鈥� that 鈥渨ould be more at home in a dictatorship.鈥�
鈥楾his has got to stop鈥�: Obhrai
Obhrai, a Calgary-area MP, told CTV鈥檚 Power Play the chant is proof of 鈥渋ntolerance creeping into Canadian politics since Donald Trump came onto the political scene.鈥�
鈥淧eople are expressing (their anger) in a very, very intolerant way and going to the extreme that was emphasized by Donald Trump,鈥� he said.
Obhrai added that it really bothers him that Canadian politicians travel around 鈥済iving lectures on democracy鈥� and 鈥渢hen in our own home cannot stand up to that test.鈥�
鈥淲e as politicians have to be thick-skinned,鈥� he said. But when such a line is crossed, according to Obhrai, 鈥測ou鈥檝e got to stand up and say, 鈥楴o, this is not right. This has got to stop.鈥欌��
Obhrai, who immigrated from Tanzania, said he was also concerned by anti-immigrant flyers handed out at the rally.
鈥淚n my 20 years in political life,鈥� he added, 鈥淚鈥檝e never, never seen this thing happen to this far an extreme.鈥�
With files from The Canadian Press
