EDMONTON—Premier Jason Kenney is not scheduled to attend the Pride march in Edmonton on Saturday, a United Conservative Party spokesperson said Thursday.

Although Edmonton doesn’t have an official Pride parade this year due to disagreements among various LGBTQ groups that were involved, Pure Pride is holding a Unified Pride March on Saturday at 9 a.m. from Louise McKinney Riverfront Park to City Hall and back. Evolution Wonderlounge is also hosting an Edmonton Pride Community Street Festival on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. in front of its building at 10220 103 St.

The UCP did not give a reason why Kenney will not be there, and said it was up to individual ministers whether to attend.

Kenney joins the ranks of several other conservative politicians who have chosen not to attend Pride events this year. A spokesperson for federal Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer told CTV that Scheer won’t be going to any Pride events in Canada, but the party supports the LGBTQ community in other ways. And a spokesperson for Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he won’t attend Toronto’s parade because uniformed officers aren’t welcome.

Kenney’s support for the LGBTQ community has been questioned in the past due to his previous positions as a federal MP on LGBTQ issues and for actions he took as a student at the University of San Francisco to restrict the visitation rights of loved ones to see their same-sex partners who were dying of AIDS. Kenney has said he regrets his actions as a student.

More recently, Kenney has been criticized for opposing Bill 24, which prohibits teachers from telling parents if their children are in a gay-straight alliance, and for introducing the Education Amendment Act, which does not include that same protection.

In 2018, the Edmonton Pride Festival Society rejected the UCP’s application to participate in that year’s Pride parade. The society says it bases its applications on five criteria: How connected the applicant is to the LGBTQ community, their policies and values of inclusion, their plans to make the future more inclusive, and their sincerity.

At the time, the society said the committee reviewed the UCP’s application and found it “did not meet expectations.”

Alison Redford became the first Alberta premier to walk in the Edmonton Pride Parade and address the Pride Festival in 2012. In 2014, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Jim Prentice, who would later become premier, marched in the Calgary Pride Parade.

Kenney’s non-attendance is also in contrast to his predecessor Rachel Notley, who attended Pride parades in Edmonton and Calgary every year.

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