'No Thanks Given' protests target UCP government’s pandemic response




Timm Bruch
CTV News Calgary Video Journalist
Published Oct. 9, 2021 

CALGARY -

Fourteen UCP MLA constituency offices were plastered with messages and signs during a cross-province protest on Saturday.

"No Thanks Given" was an Alberta-wide event aimed at showing the government that citizens are unhappy with the province's pandemic response.

It was originally planned by the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), though individuals organized specific gatherings in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Airdrie and Red Deer.


"It's so huge to send a message to (the party) that we are not OK with the current health system," Keira Gunn told CTV News.

Gunn posted signs and messages on Health Minister Jason Copping's northwest Calgary office doors.

There didn't appear to be anyone inside, but Gunn is hoping the notes might be read at a later date.

"Please start listening to us," she said.

"I'm at the point of absolute despair when it comes to UCP MLAs listening to the public," added Mary Spensley from Calgary-Currie. "I'm more used to them mocking us."

Spensley was at Nicholas Milliken's constituency office. She's part of a group angered by this summer's policy decisions.

"To declare that COVID was over was absolutely magical thinking," she said. "And now where we are today is a rather tragic place to be."

If trends hold, COVID-19 is on track to be one of the top two causes of death in the province in 2021.

"Almost everything that they touch has turned to disaster, particularly their COVID policy," said AFL president Gil McGowan. "The unacceptably high rate of infection, the unacceptably high rate of death and the fact that our hospitals are overwhelmed are all a result of irresponsible and reckless decisions made by this government.

"They're always too little, too late."

A recent ThinkHQ poll suggests Premier Jason Kenney is continuing to see a decline in approval across the province.

More than 1,100 respondents gave their opinion on the Kenney's leadership, with only 22 per cent offering any degree of approval.

Of the respondents, 77 per cent disapprove of Kenney’s leadership.


Sixty-one per cent of those strongly disapprove.

CTV News reached out to both the premier's office and Alberta Health for comment on the protests.

Neither responded to our request.