Ralliers at Chris Alexander speech call for Alberta premier to be locked up

The video shows the ralliers start by chanting “Vote her out,” but as they grow louder, the message changes.

As they chant “Lock her up,” Alexander smiles and appears to gesture in time with the chant, nodding along.

Someone can be heard shouting, “That’s enough! That’s enough!” in the background, and as Alexander smiles and nods, the camera turns to face the crowd.

At no point in the video does Alexander stop the protesters or say anything about their chant.

“You don’t pick it up in the video, but I started to say the words in time with them, ‘Vote her out,’ and then the next point I made was about the ballot box,” he said. “I expressed my disapproval by talking about something completely different: voting. I think that was pretty clear.”

He said he thinks the chants came from a place of pain.

“Alberta’s hurting. Unemployment there is at nine per cent; that’s the highest in 22 years,” he said, adding that many of the people in the crowd had lost their jobs.

The province is introducing a broad-based carbon tax on gasoline at the pumps and home and business heating bills, starting on Jan. 1, which Alexander says will just make things harder for people who are already struggling, though the NDP say it’s an important part of lowering carbon emissions.

Representatives for Notley declined to comment on the incident.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Ralliers at Chris Alexander speech call for Alberta premier to be locked up

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