Share this Story: Coal for Kenney protest visits Vegreville; MLA calls it "threatening"
Coal for Kenney protest visits Vegreville; MLA calls it "threatening"
James Bonnell
On Dec. 18 protestors rallied in Vegreville to deliver coal to their UCP MLA. Photo Supplied.
On Wednesday, December 18, a dozen Albertans gathered in Vegreville and marched to MLA Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk's constituency office to deliver coal in protest of the recent cuts by the United Conservative Party.
The protest in Vegreville was part of a province wide protest against the actions of the Alberta Government, called Coal For Kenney. The holiday themed protest, organized by Climate Justice Edmonton in conjunction with local residents, delivers coal to MLA's that have gotten onto the publics 'naughty list'. Although the theme of the protest is light-hearted, the Coal for Kenney website states that Kenney's cuts are no joke.
Coal for Kenney protest visits Vegreville; MLA calls it "threatening" Back to video
"Jason Kenney has only been in power for seven months, but he's already rushed out much of his austerity agenda," reads the Coal for Kenney website. "Budget cuts, job losses, broken agreements and attacks on our public institutions. It seems like every day there's a new outrages."
The website outlines the impacts of UCP policies.
Another person taking the protests as 'no joke' was the recipient of the coal, UCP MLA for Fort Saskatchewan/Vegreville, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk. Armstrong-Homeniuk told The Record that she thought the protests were threatening.
"I don't even know what happened actually; from what I understand they had basically threatened my office," said Armstrong-Homeniuk "My staff didn't feel safe, let's be frank. And yeah they weren't even people from the riding."
Armstrong-Homeniuk said that she was not present at the time of the protest as she was out of town visiting a senior's home, but said that her office staff felt unsafe.
"They said they were going to bring rocks to the office and so that made my staff not feel safe."
MLA Armstrong-Homeniuk told The Record that the Sergeant-at-Arms had ordered the closure of her Vegreville office for the day in response to the protests.
Dane Woychuk, one of the organizers for the Fort Saskatchewan/Vegreville protest, said that the protest was entirely peaceful, but noted that there were RCMP officers monitoring the demonstration.
Woychuk lives in Willingdon, 30 minutes North of Vegreville in the Fort Saskatchewan/Vegreville riding. Woychuk organized the Vegreville demonstration through the Coal for Kenney website. Woychuk told The Record that the main issues that prompted him want to organize the Vegreville protest were his MLA's support for bill 21, which changed the rules surrounding the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program, for bill 22, which fired the Elections Commissioner amidst an investigation into elections fraud by Jason Kenney and other members of the UCP, and MLA Armstrong-Homeniuk's lack of communication with her constituents.
"I had initially written an email to MLA Armstrong-Homeniuk kind of defining my concerns about this and I never got any reply back from her office at all about it." said Woychuk.
Armstrong-Homeniuk told The Record that she directed Woychuk to speak with the Minister of Community and Social Services and she considered the issue to be resolved. MLA Armstrong-Homeniuk said that she had been busy in the legislature and had not had time to meet with constituents. She has held all meetings until January 2020.
"There are 55,000 people in this constituency and I'm an MLA for everybody, and everybody has to wait until January."
The protestors left two pieces of actual coal on the doorstep of the MLA's constituency office and taped paper cutouts of coal to the door with written messages expressing the protestors concerns with the UCP. Some of the messages written on the coal deliveries included: "The UCP promised jobs but are causing layoffs," and "Public money should not be used for private schools!"
The Coal for Kenny website has a 'naught list' petition for residents to sign and a stories section where residents can share stories about how the UCP government's policies have effected them.
"I'm a teacher from Alberta and I understand how the cuts to education are going to translate to our classrooms," says one Fort Saskatchewan resident's testimonial. "This holiday season I'm thinking of the students who are not getting what their needing, I'm thinking of the teachers who are being laid off, I'm thinking of the families that won't be able to afford christmas and I'm thinking of the children who are going to be losing out on years of their education under the UCP in underfunded, overcrowded classrooms."
According to the website, in addition to the Vegreville protest, coal will be delivered to UCP offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Camrose, Drayton Valley and Canmore.
jbonnell@postmedia.com
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