EDMONTON—On a recent June day, a large billboard on the south side of Edmonton cast a shadow over the passing cars below.

“Is Trudeau leading us to civil war?” asked the blood-red lettering emblazoned across a black background on the 10-foot-by-20-foot electronic sign.

Above the main text was a series of phrases provided without context, among them: “mass migration,” “firearms ban,” “normalizing pedophilia,” “eco-hysteria” and “globalism.”

The man behind the billboard, and another like it on the city’s west side, sums it up: “These are the kinds of things that people are talking about online,” said Peter Downing.

Downing is a former Mountie. His lobby group, Alberta Fights Back, also funded a billboard in February that asked “Should Alberta Ditch Canada?”

He said he has more billboards on the way.

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“It’s pointing out the dysfunction and bringing it out in the public to have this discussion,” he said.

Some of the most heated topics on the internet — including conspiracy theories and out-and-out falsehoods — have morphed from right-wing message boards to the streets of the Alberta capital, often in the form of antipathy in Alberta toward Trudeau and the federal government.

University of Alberta political science professor Jared Wesley said the Alberta election discourse validated some of the emotions that underlie the extreme messaging pushed by groups like Alberta Fights Back, and politicians have failed to step up and condemn them.

“Before social media, I think we lived in a time where establishment parties would snuff that out. They would either stifle it, or they would make public comments to the effect of, ‘This is not who we represent, this is not what we’re about.’ But we haven’t seen any parties do that,” Wesley said.

“The embers will keep burning until somebody snuffs them out. And I just don’t get a sense from Alberta politicians that they’re interested in doing that.”

He said it’s unlikely these groups will have an impact on the federal election, as there is nothing the prime minister could do to win them over.

“These folks are not persuaded by knowledge, facts, evidence, law.”

But the messages cross a line from commentary to misinformation, and an Edmonton lawyer said that could land Downing in trouble.

The notion of a “firearms ban” comes from a rumour spread by independent MP Tony Clement, who said in May that Trudeau was planning to announce a ban on all legal firearms during a women’s conference. However Trudeau never announced a ban.

The “normalizing pedophilia” point stems partly from a Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation document that contains a triangular logo, vaguely resembling one that the FBI has identified as being used by pedophiles to secretly discuss their sexual proclivities.

Triangular logos are used by many companies and organizations, but Downing draws the pedophilia link based on a belief in the debunked “Pizzagate” conspiracy that influenced a 2016 shooting at a Washington, D.C., pizzeria. The conspiracy falsely suggests a number of high-ranking politicians are involved in child sex-trafficking rings.

Media and defamation lawyer Sean Ward said while Canada has broad protections for people expressing opinions on matters of public interest, the defence of fair comment requires the comment or opinion to be based on facts.

“There’s obviously an expectation of heated political rhetoric, and perhaps a greater deference to criticism of public officials, but the people who are making comments about political figures are not immune from defamation actions,” Ward said.

“There is still a legal risk where you’re making those kinds of allegations if they’re not based on provable facts.”

A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office declined to comment.

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At pro-oil Yellow Vest protests in Edmonton last winter, some held signs depicting violence against Trudeau. A quick scan of Yellow Vests Canada’s Facebook page at the time showed commenters accusing the prime minister of treason and calling for his assassination.

Mount Royal University political science professor Lori Williams said the “garbled” messaging on Downing’s billboard is reminiscent of the rhetoric from the truck convoy that drove from Alberta to Ottawa in February, when people with a range of political concerns diluted the messaging to the point that it wasn’t clear what was going on.

“There obviously are some people in Alberta that are extremely angry,” Williams said.

“This billboard tries to touch on a number of different issues and concerns, but there’s no sort of coherent line that runs through them. And some of those will appeal to one group and be abhorrent to another group.”

Resentment toward “Ottawa” — nothing new in this province — has been stewing once more in Alberta since the 2014 recession, with some believing Trudeau has ignored the western provinces and obstructed progress on pipelines.

Premier Jason Kenney frequently targeted Trudeau during his spring election campaign, disparagingly accusing NDP Leader Rachel Notley of forming an “alliance” with the prime minister.

But even some of those who donated to Alberta Fights Back think Downing has gone too far.

Elections Alberta records show Downing himself is the group’s biggest financial contributor, but he has received $1,000 from the second-highest donor, former Wildrose Party candidate Sharon Maclise.

Maclise said she donated to fund the February pro-separatism billboards but was surprised to learn about the latest ones.

“I do not endorse it and I would not have agreed for my money to be used for it,” she said.

“That does not say that I like Justin Trudeau, but I think that is radical nonsense and I don’t want to be associated with it and I am very upset. I didn’t even know it was up.”

Alberta Fights Back paid to put the Trudeau signs up for a week at two major intersections in early June, sparking some shock and anger on social media.

The ads have since run their course and have come down.

Wesley said the group’s extreme views only represent a small portion of the population — a post-election poll conducted by U of A researchers found about 12 per cent of Albertans favour separation — but added “history tells us you can’t ignore these things.”

“You need to take a firm stance in favour of, in this case, staying in Canada. And I can’t believe we have to say that,” Wesley said.

“They’re playing on emotions. And they’re getting attention for doing it.”

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