‘Ridiculous, racist’ remark leads to member’s exit from Alberta Prosperity Project events

A member of the prominent pro-separation group the Alberta Prosperity Project has “resigned” after he used a racial slur at an event on Thursday where the group presented a draft constitution for an independent Alberta.

The event, held by the group behind the “Stay Free Alberta” citizen initiative petition, featured members of the Black Hat Gang, a group from Medicine Hat who were credited with contributing to the plan and who presented the document.

One of its members, Ian Parkinson, was introduced as a co-writer of the draft constitution called the “Foundation of Freedom,” which was presented in Airdrie and livestreamed online.

“Every citizen has the right to life, liberty and security to the person — your own security, not some flip flop, towel-headed police officer who doesn’t even speak Canadian,” Parkinson said to applause by members of the audience.

The derogatory remark made by Parkinson is typically directed at Sikh, Muslim or Arab individuals in reference to cultural or religious headdresses.

On Friday afternoon, Mitch Sylvestre, the leader of the Alberta Prosperity Project, said he had accepted Parkinson’s resignation from the group effective immediately, and that Parkinson will not participate in, speak at or represent the group’s events or initiatives.

“I want to be plain about it. The Alberta Prosperity Project does not condone or tolerate what was said. We strongly oppose those comments, and we are disappointed they were made from a platform we provided,” the statement read.

The group Parkinson is associated with, the Black Hat Gang, met with senior government officials and proposed a new draft document of Albertans’ rights in 2024.

Parkinson was not a board member or officer of the Alberta Prosperity Project, the group confirmed.

CBC News reached out to Parkinson for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

In an interview with CBC News, Sylvestre said he was backstage when the comment was made and did not hear what Parkinson said. 

“That was very, very unfortunate,” he said of Parkinson’s comment, adding that it doesn’t represent his group’s views. “Had I heard that, I would have dealt with it right there on the spot.”

“It took away from what the event was supposed to be.” 

Parkinson’s comment drew widespread criticism, including from several within the separatist camp who say it paints their side with “broad brushes.”

Keith Wilson, co-leader of the pro-independence group and registered third-party advertiser Let Alberta Decide, denounced the remark made by Parkinson in an interview with CBC News.

When asked whether Parkinson’s comment reflects poorly on separatists, Wilson said: “That’s always the challenge when people are painting with broad brushes, that when you get someone, like happened last night, from some subgroup called the Black Hats making ridiculous, racist and inappropriate comments, that it taints the whole movement. 

“And that’s why it’s upsetting and troubling because it doesn’t reflect the values of the Albertans I know that support independence from all walks of life.”

The Alberta Prosperity Project’s draft constitution has also received backlash from those representing other groups in the separatist camp.

Some of the proposals included in the “Foundation of Freedom” document include a fourth branch of government called the “oversight branch,” no property taxes, four-year term limits for most elected officials and that judges would be elected in a sovereign Alberta, not appointed.

The document was not made publicly available online or shared with CBC News before this story was published.

Several prominent Alberta separatist leaders, including Wilson, took to X before the event to distance themselves from Sylvestre’s draft constitution.

Wilson called it an “unhelpful distraction by a vocal group.”

“I think a number of the concepts in the document that they described, because I haven’t seen it, but what they described in their presentation are nonsensical. And it’s really unfortunate, but this is part of a process of democracy and free speech,” Wilson said.

“People get to exchange their ideas, even sometimes bad ones.”

The event and livestream were marketed by FreedomCalendar.net on X, which posted that the proposal was “the result of years of work with many parties involved,” including Wilson, Bruce Pardy (a law professor at Queen’s University and advocate for the independence movement), and others.

But Wilson said he did not sign off on the document; rather he took part in discussions with the group and others last year.

“I participated in a two-day meeting back in November where one of these individuals was present, if my memory is correct. We discussed a range of concepts. There was a law professor there. There were some other lawyers and … we didn’t reach consensus on any particular point,” he said.

Alberta independence group readies its separation blueprint, seeks expert review

Pardy also took to X Thursday morning to decline endorsing the discussion paper, saying, “I do not endorse Mitch’s proposed constitution. It is not a consensus document. In my opinion, it has serious flaws and is not ready. It would not make Alberta a free country.”

In a statement to CBC News on Friday, Pardy said, “If an independent Alberta is to be a genuinely free country, it will need a different kind of constitution than Canada has. What that constitution should look like is the subject of competing proposals and great debate.”

Sylvestre said the draft shared on Thursday is a jumping-off point for greater discussion around a future Alberta constitution, not a final document, and that a “constitutional conference” would be had if a future binding referendum on separation were to be held and won.

“We want people to understand that, ‘Hey, this is something that we’re going to have to do and it’s something that’s going to have to last for a long time, and we want everybody to weigh in on it.’ That was the entire point of the exercise.”

When asked about a lack of consensus among the separatist camp, Sylvestre said other independence groups “have a choice just to support this or not. This is not legislation. I think they’re entitled to their own opinion.”

Follow all of our Alberta referendum coverage

Jared Wesley, a political science professor at the University of Alberta, said this recent friction is a sign the independence movement is still not united with the referendum weeks away.

“I think Albertans at some point are going to be asking, ‘What is the plan? If we are leaving Canada, what is the plan to do so?’ And we still don’t have a solid answer or a single answer from the separatist movement,” said Wesley, who is a federalist advocate fighting against the idea of Alberta separating. 

Albertans head to the polls on Oct. 19.