Notley target at oilmen association golf tournament touches off storm of protest online
Emma McIntosh
First posted: Saturday, June 18, 2016 09:30 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, June 18, 2016 11:12 PM EDT
As politicians reacted with dismay after learning Premier Rachel Notley's face was on a target used at an oilmen's golf tournament in Brooks, the man behind it all offered an apology for his attempt at "light-hearted humour."
"My goal was just to make people laugh," said Ernest Bothi, president of the Big Country Oilmen's Association in Brooks, Alta.
"It was a thing of humour. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by it. . . . It was my idea, and I take sole responsibility."
The photo was first seen in a now-deleted post by Twitter user Ken Fleury, also a commentator for the Brooks Bandits junior hockey team.
The image was captioned: "Just love the #notley target at the oil men's golf tourney."
He later tweeted an apology.
Other users had already taken screenshots and the image quickly circulated on social media.
The Big Country Oilmen's Association held its annual golf tournament at the Brooks Golf Course Friday.
Golf course officials said they were unaware of the sign and don't agree with it.
NDP MLAs, including Minister for the Status of Women Stephanie McLean and Culture Minister Ricardo Miranda, expressed outrage.
McLean called the target "appalling," noting that British MP Jo Cox had been killed talking to constituents only a few days earlier and calling for Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt, who was tagged in Fleury's original post, to denounce the target.
"This is totally unacceptable inexcusable and indefensible beyond words," said Miranda via Twitter.
But Bothi said he hadn't heard about Cox's death.
"One thing I'm guilty of is poor timing," he said. "Had I known that, I never would have put it up."
Bothi said it wasn't a gender issue, and was actually about his dislike for Notley's policies. Though he said he knows low oil prices aren't the Premier's fault, Bothi said said many in the energy sector feel frustrated with tax increases by the provincial government.
"There's massive unemployment here and it seems like the Premier doesn't care," Bothi said.
"I can't help but think if we'd put Stephen Harper's face up there, no one would be complaining about it."
NDP MLA Marie Renaud said the target was "disappointing," but not representative of the province as a whole.
"I've been hearing that same excuse for many years. That's not a joke, that's not funny," she said.
"I know 98 per cent of Albertans are not OK with this... We're so much better than this."
Fildebrandt, who represents Strathmore-Brooks and was temporarily ousted from the Wildrose caucus last month for his own social media scandal, condemned the sign later Saturday.
"It's come to my attention that a casually misogynistic tweet was posted by a random person while I was in meetings this morning, 500 KM away," Fildebrandt said in a Facebook post.
"In light of the senseless murder of female MP Jo Cox in the U.K., this kind of activity has no place whatsoever in decent society. It feeds a growing culture of disrespect of people who chose to dedicate their lives to public service, regardless of political stripe."
Fildebrandt said all his colleagues in the legislature, including Notley, deserve respect, and denied having anything to do with the target.
"To suggest that being tagged in a post by a random member of the public equates to endorsing those views, is cheap politics that feeds this growing disrespect for those of us trying to serve our communities," he said.
Calgary MP Michelle Rempel, who has been outspoken about the online threats female politicians often face, expressed incredulity over the sign.
"You spent a whole bunch of time actually printing up the Premier's face and putting it up as a target?" she said. "Don't do that, people."
More than that, Rempel said she has often faced violent threats.
"It was in such poor taste, so ill-conceived," she said. "Nobody who's entering public service should ever have to fear for their life."
— With files from James Wood
emintosh@postmedia.com
Notley target at oilmen association golf tournament touches off storm of protest
Emma McIntosh
First posted: Saturday, June 18, 2016 09:30 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, June 18, 2016 11:12 PM EDT
As politicians reacted with dismay after learning Premier Rachel Notley's face was on a target used at an oilmen's golf tournament in Brooks, the man behind it all offered an apology for his attempt at "light-hearted humour."
"My goal was just to make people laugh," said Ernest Bothi, president of the Big Country Oilmen's Association in Brooks, Alta.
"It was a thing of humour. I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by it. . . . It was my idea, and I take sole responsibility."
The photo was first seen in a now-deleted post by Twitter user Ken Fleury, also a commentator for the Brooks Bandits junior hockey team.
The image was captioned: "Just love the #notley target at the oil men's golf tourney."
He later tweeted an apology.
Other users had already taken screenshots and the image quickly circulated on social media.
The Big Country Oilmen's Association held its annual golf tournament at the Brooks Golf Course Friday.
Golf course officials said they were unaware of the sign and don't agree with it.
NDP MLAs, including Minister for the Status of Women Stephanie McLean and Culture Minister Ricardo Miranda, expressed outrage.
McLean called the target "appalling," noting that British MP Jo Cox had been killed talking to constituents only a few days earlier and calling for Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt, who was tagged in Fleury's original post, to denounce the target.
"This is totally unacceptable inexcusable and indefensible beyond words," said Miranda via Twitter.
But Bothi said he hadn't heard about Cox's death.
"One thing I'm guilty of is poor timing," he said. "Had I known that, I never would have put it up."
Bothi said it wasn't a gender issue, and was actually about his dislike for Notley's policies. Though he said he knows low oil prices aren't the Premier's fault, Bothi said said many in the energy sector feel frustrated with tax increases by the provincial government.
"There's massive unemployment here and it seems like the Premier doesn't care," Bothi said.
"I can't help but think if we'd put Stephen Harper's face up there, no one would be complaining about it."
NDP MLA Marie Renaud said the target was "disappointing," but not representative of the province as a whole.
"I've been hearing that same excuse for many years. That's not a joke, that's not funny," she said.
"I know 98 per cent of Albertans are not OK with this... We're so much better than this."
Fildebrandt, who represents Strathmore-Brooks and was temporarily ousted from the Wildrose caucus last month for his own social media scandal, condemned the sign later Saturday.
"It's come to my attention that a casually misogynistic tweet was posted by a random person while I was in meetings this morning, 500 KM away," Fildebrandt said in a Facebook post.
"In light of the senseless murder of female MP Jo Cox in the U.K., this kind of activity has no place whatsoever in decent society. It feeds a growing culture of disrespect of people who chose to dedicate their lives to public service, regardless of political stripe."
Fildebrandt said all his colleagues in the legislature, including Notley, deserve respect, and denied having anything to do with the target.
"To suggest that being tagged in a post by a random member of the public equates to endorsing those views, is cheap politics that feeds this growing disrespect for those of us trying to serve our communities," he said.
Calgary MP Michelle Rempel, who has been outspoken about the online threats female politicians often face, expressed incredulity over the sign.
"You spent a whole bunch of time actually printing up the Premier's face and putting it up as a target?" she said. "Don't do that, people."
More than that, Rempel said she has often faced violent threats.
"It was in such poor taste, so ill-conceived," she said. "Nobody who's entering public service should ever have to fear for their life."
— With files from James Wood
emintosh@postmedia.com
Notley target at oilmen association golf tournament touches off storm of protest
