www.facebook.com/stodd.beasley
S. Todd Beasley, shown here in a photo from his Facebook page, is an independent candidate running in the Brooks-Medicine Hat riding. Beasley and UCP Leader Jason Kenney are trading shots about Beasley's short time running for the party nomination in the riding and hypocrisy.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Jason Kenney says voting for a candidate that his party rejected early on is a “wasted vote” and stressed that an independent candidate in Brooks-Medicine Hat would not be welcomed into the United Conservative Party.
That candidate, Todd Beasley, says he has no such plans, but it’s “hypocritical” for the UCP leader to ask Albertans to look past Kenney’s comments about gay rights, while bringing up Beasley’s on Muslims.
The UCP party leader raised the issue Monday during a noon-hour rally in Medicine Hat in support of three UCP candidates in the region, including Michaela Glasgo, who is running against Beasley in the northern Medicine Hat riding that extends west to Bassano.
She won the party’s nomination contest last summer after a controversy involving Beasley’s social media comments that disparaged the religion of Islam.
Injecting the comments between questions from the media, Kenney said Beasley was ejected from a nomination process for hateful remarks and voters shouldn’t believe he would be welcomed by the UCP caucus.
“I’d like to be very clear that Mr. Beasley would not be elected into a United Conservative caucus,” he said. “Should he be elected as an independent – and I hope that doesn’t happen – he would only sit as an independent.”
Kenney said the party has formalized rules against accepting MLAs looking to switch parties unless they run for re-election and win under a party process.
“If the residents of Medicine Hat want a common-sense conservative candidate, I’d ask them to vote for Michaela Glasgo … a vote for Mr. Beasley is a wasted vote.”
Beasley told the News on Tuesday he had heard the comments in reporting on the rally and was disappointed.
He said the UCP leader’s comments are further proof that his campaign to lend “conservative opposition” to a likely UCP majority government is needed.
“In politics when your opponent starts to mention you, then you’ve got them on the back foot,” he said. “Our campaign is resonating.”
Beasley is running as an independent and has previously said that as MLA, he could speak freely and be able to criticize UCP legislation that didn’t meet the strictest definitions of conservatism.
“I like Jason Kenney and I’ve worked for Jason Kenney,” he said, stating he’d likely support most if not all of Kenney’s policies, but working outside the party structure has had advantages.
“If people want to elect a say-anything-to-get-elected politician, that’s their business.”
Beasley also took issue with rekindling past controversies by Kenney, who has fought off criticism by other parties that he campaigned against same-sex rights in the past.
Beasley said his controversial comments were made in “the heat of passion” following the bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. At the time he likened Muslim to Satan worshippers.
He has said since that he stands by the comments.
Kenney’s statement this week “reeks of hypocrisy,” said Beasley.
