CALGARY—In 2012, Alberta’s Wildrose Party saw its political fortunes go up in smoke after a candidate’s blog post about LGBTQ people being “destined to suffer the rest of eternity in a lake of fire” was publicly revealed.

In 2019, it remains to be seen whether similar “bozo eruptions” — as they became known after the 2012 campaign — could hurt the United Conservatives in this election.

At the halfway point in this year’s campaign, several UCP candidates have had to publicly answer for — or at least dodge questions about — comments with racist, Islamophobic or anti-LGBTQ sentiment. Two of those people, Caylan Ford and Eva Kiryakos, resigned. In more recent days, candidates David Dorward, Roger Reid and Mark Smith have all come under fire for past offensive statements.

Smith, in particular, has been scrutinized for a 2013 sermon attributed to him in which a comparison is drawn between homosexuality and pedophilia, and a 2015 policy paper where he states schools should have the right to fire gay teachers.

Smith is an elected MLA, and has been the UCP’s education critic as a member of the official Opposition. He’s also considered a potential future education minister if the UCP takes power. And while UCP Leader Jason Kenney said Wednesday that he “condemns” the remarks, he said he hasn’t heard Smith make any similar comments over the last 16 months. Smith isn’t being removed as a candidate.

Smith said in a statement that he doesn’t “specifically recall” the comments that were brought to light, but added he regrets how his commentary was framed.

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“Of course I do not believe that homosexuality is akin to pedophilia. I unequivocally apologize if anyone was offended or hurt. Obviously that would never be my intention,” Smith said.

Dorward also issued a statement apologizing for “any offence I may have caused” after posts came to light where he perpetuated myths that gender-neutral washrooms pose a threat to students in schools. Reid didn’t apologize for a sermon in which he referenced a book that contains Islamophobic rhetoric, but he said that he was specifically referencing a 1993 version of the book, which doesn’t contain the objectionable content.

University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley said that while the province isn’t the bastion of social conservatism people have long thought it to be, it’s meaningful that these issues keep popping up in the public realm. And as Alberta gets ready to head to the polls on April 16, whether voters can look past the bozo eruptions is meaningful, too.

“Alberta remains at this crossroads ... as a society that I don’t think anybody would agree we’re entirely socially conservative anymore. But are we going to allow people who espouse these views to hold key leadership positions in government?”

Political blogger Dave Cournoyer said it’s difficult to pinpoint a single reason for problem candidates popping up in Alberta’s conservative parties. Social conservatism is undoubtedly a part of the UCP’s base, but he said he also sees clear problems with the UCP’s efforts to thoroughly vet the people in their ranks.

“I think that their vetting process was woefully inadequate. And it’s been proved by the bozo eruptions we’ve been seeing.”

Smith and Reid both issued statements responding to their past comments being made public. Both included an identical line: “Albertans are tired of revisiting old, divisive debates from many years prior. Our focus is on reigniting the economy in order to get Alberta back to work.”

Wesley said the move to steer the conversation back to the economy is a deliberate tactic.

“Either (the UCP) hasn’t learned the lessons from the past, which I find unlikely given the political acumen of the Kenney team, or they simply are betting on the fact that Albertans care more about jobs and the economy than they do about social issues.”

University of Calgary political science professor David Stewart said the UCP might not be as vulnerable now as the Wildrose was in 2012, but news about problematic candidates certainly doesn’t help the party’s campaign.

“I think that’s clear because it focuses attention, for as long as it lasts, on an issue where the UCP does not seem to be in step with most Albertans.”

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After 2012’s “bozo eruptions,” one of the big lessons from the 2015 election came from voter frustration over political entitlement in the decades-long Progressive Conservative dynasty. Among Albertans’ grievances at the time was the luxury suite former premier Alison Redford was planning at taxpayers’ expense, dubbed the “sky palace.”

NDP Leader Rachel Notley is already making hay of the political memories from the last two votes, hoping it comes back to haunt the UCP.

“Mr. Kenney didn’t bring the best of the Wildrose and the PCs together,” she said in Calgary on Wednesday. “He brought the sky palace to the shores of the lake of fire.”

Kenney has shown he’s willing to go a step further than former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith in condemning a candidate’s hateful views.

When Wildrose Party candidate Allan Hunsperger’s “lake of fire” comments were revealed in 2012, Smith said her party would not legislate on “contentious social issues.” But she didn’t specifically condemn or apologize for Hunsperger’s comments, dismissing them as personal viewpoints that he was entitled to hold. Hunsperger stayed on as a candidate.

That moment is seen as a major turning point for Alberta — a big reason why an electorate that seemed primed to vote in a Wildrose government changed their minds, handing the PCs another majority instead.

Unlike Smith, Kenney has issued statements about some of the UCP candidate statements being unacceptable, or at least not views the party holds.

But he also has yet to boot a candidate from the race himself over their views, and he said party memberships won’t be revoked unless people belong to organizations “actively promoting hatred.” He praised Kiryakos as “selfless” when she stepped down over statements promoting Islamophobic and transphobic conspiracy theories.

Irfan Chaudhry, director of MacEwan University’s office of human rights, diversity and equity, said it’s important to recognize the way the ideas some candidates have promoted can have a real impact on people’s health and feelings of safety and inclusion in society.

“I think there’s a risk of normalizing hate. And so even the comments made by the UCP leader saying, ‘I strongly condemn these statements, but they were made prior to any involvement with the party’ — that, to me, doesn’t really do much,” Chaudhry said. “I think Mr. Kenney owes it to Albertans to take a strong position on this issue.”

He also questions why party vetting processes aren’t catching people who express hateful views.

“I think that just needs to be more of a higher litmus test, or some better threshold set before people even come to be a candidate,” he said.

“Otherwise, you get, to be quite frank, a garbage pool to choose from. And the ramifications are huge, because these are the people that have decision-making power in our province.”

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