WATCH ABOVE: Close to 200 people showed up to the legislature Saturday afternoon to condemn comments made by Alberta Premier Jim Prentice. Eric Szeto has the details.
EDMONTON – Dozens of people descended on the Alberta Legislature grounds Saturday afternoon, mirrors in hand, to condemn comments made by Premier Jim Prentice earlier this week.
Chanting the words, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s to blame for this shortfall,” protesters directed their mirrors toward the legislature to demonstrate who they think is responsible for the province’s current fiscal crisis.
“We want the government to look in the mirror,” said one protester.
“It’s so irresponsible of the government to totally not even take any responsibility for what’s happened and just to blame the very people who are making this very society function,” added another. “For him to say it’s every Albertan’s fault is completely ridiculous.”
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The protest came just days after Prentice made his now infamous comments, saying “We all need only look in the mirror” when it comes to who is responsible for the province’s financial mess.
“All of us have had the best of everything and have not had to pay for what it costs,” Prentice told an Edmonton radio station Wednesday.
“Collectively, we got into this as Albertans and collectively we’re going to get out of it, and everybody is going to have to shoulder some share of the responsibility.”
The comments caused a social media fire storm and the hashtag #PrenticeBlamesAlbertans quickly became the top trending topic nation-wide.
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In the following days, opposition members demanded an apology from Prentice but it never came. Prentice did, however, say Friday that his comments were taken out of context.
“What I said was that as Albertans, we’re in the circumstance that we’re in together. We got into it together, and the only solutions are going to be for us to get out of it together,” Prentice said Friday.
“That’s quite consistent with what I’ve been saying for quite some time.”
Those at Saturday’s rally called for change, but admit it may take a bit of self-reflection for that to happen. After all, Albertans have been voting in the Progressive Conservatives for the past 40 years.
“Albertans should come out and vote and vote for a change,” said a protester. “Instead of having the same old result every time we go to the polls and have a low voter turnout, I’d like to see more people care and more people get involved.”
With files from Eric Szeto, Global News.
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