Thread by @MgS_2011

Let's put aside the weak attempts at deflection from the #UCP for a second and look objectively at how this party manages to attract far right/alt right groups. #abpoli /1

It's not secret that Jason Kenney has long been a hardline SoCon. Prior to being elected, he had a long career as a speaker on the shadowy anti-abortion talk circuit. /2

That makes him attractive to hardline religious groups that are generally opposed to LGBTQ rights and women's rights (especially WRT medical access). /3

But, even those groups are going to be horrified (I hope) by the kind of violent racism that groups like Soldiers of Odin represent (and yes, any group that talks about "patrolling" is inherently violent, and no amount of disavowal in their website profile changes that) /4

But we can't ignore things Jason has done in the past as a federal politician which make him attractive to the more overt racists. /5

You can start with the "fake citizenship ceremony" in 2012:

nationalpost.com/news/canada/ke…

This is bad enough, but even it carried some undertones of racism. /6

But we can't ignore the revisions Kenney made to the study guide that used for new citizens, which removed any mention of LGBTQ topics (which makes both SoCon and Racist groups happy) and added commentary about "barbaric cultural practices". cbc.ca/news/politics/… /7

Then we have Kenney's direct attempt to ban the Niqab in Canada:

cbc.ca/news/politics/… /8

... and the "Barbaric Cultural Practices Hotline" gambit in the 2015 election: ctvnews.ca/politics/chris… /9

Which is part of a larger strategy of playing Canada's Muslim community off against other ethnic groups in a bid to secure votes in those other ethnic communities. newrepublic.com/article/123140… /10

There's a long history of the Reform conservatives pandering to a variety of far right elements going back decades. nationalpost.com/news/politics/… /11

... and Kenney is just as much a part of that as anyone else - his protestations last night regarding the Soldiers of Odin ring hollow in light of history - and his history in particular. /12

Blow the dog whistle enough times, and the dogs will come. We aren't talking about hours of dog whistling here, we are talking about years of it. These groups are attracted to the UCP because decades of messaging has said "you will have a home here" to them. /13

Albertans now need to ask themselves if they are willing to hand the keys of power over to a party which has a long history of pandering to the extremists in its midst. /14 ~fin~ #ableg #abpoli

... and as Jim S. points out, some of the excuses the UCP damage control machine are cranking out are outright lies:

https://twitter.com/JimStorrie/status/1049065071857389568

PS: Just to firm up the idea that SoO really is connected to the racist parent group in Finland: nationalpost.com/news/canada/so…