SEPARATIST

Danielle Smith under fire for past online comments on Ukraine invasion

Smith posted on the platform Locals.com in February questioning if areas of Ukraine should be allowed to break away.

Author of the article:Dylan Short

Edmonton Journal 
Publishing date:Oct 15, 2022 

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Danielle Smith called unvaccinated people the most discriminated against group in her lifetime during a news conference on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. 

PHOTO BY LARRY WONG /Postmedia

Premier Danielle Smith is coming under fire for comments she made in the past on a right-wing social media platform around the conflict in Ukraine alongside a number of other topics.

Smith posted on the platform Locals.com in February questioning if areas of Ukraine should be allowed to break away if they wanted to, saying it appears borders were poorly drawn after the Second World War resulting in ensuing conflict.

“It seems to me the great powers of the world did a terrible job defining the new borders of countries after WWII,” wrote Smith on the website Locals.com on Feb. 24. “So much of the conflict we have had since is due to different people being crammed under one national government that don’t like each other. I’ve read that two regions of Ukraine feel more affinity to Russia. Should nations be allowed to break away and govern themselves independently? If that’s truly what people want, then I think so.”

Smith’s posts were first brought to light Friday by freelance journalist Justin Ling.

The premier went on to question if it was true those regions felt an affinity to Russia or if it was propaganda, saying “it is hard to know what to believe anymore.” She asked her followers for help in analyzing the conflict.

In a post from early March, which no longer appears on Smith’s public feed but was captured and posted elsewhere online, and later reported on by independent media, she linked to an article that appears to imply Ukraine and NATO had shown aggression in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion. Smith’s post goes on to say Ukraine may need to adopt a more neutral stance to remain independent.

The article she linked to came from a website that has been criticized as promoting disinformation coming out of Russia. A second post, which also no longer appears on Smith’s feed but was captured by journalists and posted elsewhere, linked to a report from Fox News’ Tucker Carlson questioning if the United States had been funding secret Biolabs in Ukraine where weapons are being created. That story has since been debunked by several fact-checking sources.

In follow-up posts, Smith showed support for Albertans who had provided assistance to Ukrainian refugees. Speaking earlier this week, Smith showed support for the Ukrainian people saying she supports former Premier Jason Kenney’s initiatives providing assistance to Ukraine. She also showed support for fundraising efforts spearheaded by former MLA Thomas Lukaszuk and former Premier Ed Stelmach.

“We have a large patriot Ukrainian population in Alberta and I would hope that we would be able to do more,” said Smith. “I’ll reserve judgment until I have a chance to talk to get a briefing on intergovernmental Affairs as well as talk to my caucus and cabinet on that. But, I’m supportive of the decisions that we’ve made so far.”

Alberta has committed more than $20 million to support Ukraine.

Lukaszuk, who helped raise millions to support Ukraine, said Saturday that Smith’s online posts are heartbreaking. He said the premier has shown support for his efforts to assist Ukrainians, but the posts show she held different beliefs when posting online.

“To read what she actually says behind the scenes is heartbreaking. Duplicitous, would be the understatement of the year,” said Lukaszuk. “The world community under United Nations agrees that Russia is the unprovoked aggressor — that Russia is engaging in war crimes.”

Lukaszuk said the posts are unforgivable and dangerous.

In response to the posts, NDP leader Rachel Notley released a statement condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin and reaffirming her party’s support for Ukraine.

Smith’s Locals.com feed on Saturday showed she had made numerous posts in support of the Freedom Convoy that took over downtown Ottawa and blockaded several border-crossings earlier this year. She also made several posts against vaccine mandates and shared anti-vaccine content.

In another post, she questioned the legitimacy of reports that unmarked graves had been found at residential schools across Canada.

When asked for comment on her posts, the premier’s office responded with an email referring back to comments Smith made this week regarding her support for Kenney’s initiatives around Ukraine. Her office did not respond to requests asking for confirmation if the premier had deleted posts.

Reports on Smith’s online posts come shortly after she claimed that unvaccinated people were the most discriminated-against individuals in her lifetime. Backlash to those comments led her to clarify, but not apologize, saying she did not mean to trivialize discrimination that minority groups have faced in the past half-century.

Speaking on a radio show Saturday, she said she should have said government discrimination when she had made her comments on unvaccinated individuals.

— with files from Anna Junker