Letter: A lot of commotion over a few singing seniors

By Letter to the Editor on February 26, 2026.

Dear editor,

The past few Saturdays have held a few surprises of a curious kind. For nigh on a year now, a group of gentle, passionate individuals have gathered every Saturday in a visible area promoting a common theme – a love for Alberta to remain as part of Canada.

We cheer, wave Canadian flags, play musical instruments and, in general, wish the best for all. We believe in and promote freedom of speech.

Two Saturdays ago, as we arrived to park our vehicles in the always empty parking lot (one we had been ‘allowed’ to use for a year), two security guards met us and explained they had been hired to stop us from parking on the lot.

When we reached out to the person they said hired them, wanting to understand the reasoning behind this new deterrent, we were met with, ‘I think you were given wrong information. I believe the owner of the strip mall hired the security.’ We wondered why the confusing story. Oh well, ‘On to the next adventure,’ was our thought.

This past Saturday we convened outside Higdon Hall on the Stampede grounds. Once again we sang and waved our Canadian flags as our premier/mla and others gathered inside to talk about ‘important stuff.’

The police were called by one of the organizers to have us removed from the premises. Two very respectful officers spoke with us and confirmed we were within our rights to stay where we were.

Who knew a group of mostly grey haired singers would be seen as a potential threat? What ‘fear inducing kerfuffle’ might we get into next? Stay tuned as we ain’t done advocating for Alberta to remain in Canada!

Kym Porter

Medicine Hat

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