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A 488-word article on page three of a small rural Alberta newspaper has led to a second apology from Wildrose MLA Rick Strankman.

Strankman, member for Drumheller-Stettler, was one of nine MLAs who signed a blog post comparing Alberta’s carbon tax to the Holodomor.

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The original June 2 post said it was a lack of work ethic caused by socialist ideals that resulted in the starvation of millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s. Ukraine and more than a dozen countries recognize the man-made famine as an act of genocide carried out by the Soviet Union.

A social media outcry led to the column being pulled and, four days later, fellow Wildroser David Hanson read an apology on the floor of the legislature on behalf of all signatories to the post.

The controversial article was printed in the June 14 edition of the Oyen Echo, a weekly newspaper in Strankman’s constituency.

The Echo requires letters to be submitted a week before they appear in print — five days at the very latest — yet Strankman’s letter appeared 12 days after his original blog post was pulled.