WATCH ABOVE: Wildrose leader Brian Jean joins Global Calgary with details on how their campaign is going so far, and why Russ Kuykendall won’t be their candidate in Calgary Varsity.
CALGARY — The Wildrose party is looking for a new candidate in Calgary.
Leader Brian Jean said in a statement that the party received a vetting package on Wednesday on some candidates and now is seeking a new candidate in Calgary Varsity.
Russ Kuykendall was going to be the candidate in that riding.
Jean says Wildrose wants candidates that will protect the rights of all Albertans.
“We just decided that, that particular candidate in Calgary Varsity was not going to be a Wildrose candidate,” said Jean while on Global Calgary’s Morning News.
“We want to represent all Albertans.”
The statement did not say why the party decided against Kuykendall, but in 2007, Kuykendall wrote a blog criticizing a gay pride brunch that was held in a Catholic church hall.
“Evidently, whoever rented the hall on behalf of the event was not entirely forthcoming with the parish priest and administration as to what event would convene,” Kuykendall wrote in June 2007.
“Then, apparently anticipating (wanting?) trouble, the event organizers arranged for two uniformed members of the Edmonton Police Service to be posted at the entrance to the hall.
“The message that appears to be sent to Catholic Christians who don’t accept this “lifestyle” as acceptable is that “equality” means that gay activists can take their agenda not just to your front door, but inside the door to places that are consecrated to the Catholic faith, with uniformed police officers (!) exercising state coercion to defend that right!”
In the 2012 provincial election, Wildrose appeared to be on the road to winning when it was derailed by controversies that included comments by one of its candidates who, in a blog, had urged gays to repent or face an eternity in hell’s “lake of fire.”
Kuykendall was never officially endorsed by Wildrose, the party said Wednesday. The party is confident it will have a candidate in place by Friday.
– With files from Melissa Ramsay
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