REST IN POWER

Dr. Michael Marshall's death an 'irreplaceable' loss for transgender health services in Alberta

Madeline Smith - 

Four years ago, Dr. Michael Marshall entered a room like he always did — with a burst of energy.


Dr. Michael Marshall, an Edmonton psychiatrist specializing in transgender health, died last month at 45.

It was where he made a vivid first impression on Glynnis Lieb, who described Marshall as a “ball of colourful life,” talking to her a mile a minute.

At the time in 2018, she laughs, he was trying to talk her out of money. While they’d eventually become partners, their first meeting was at a work function. She’s the head of the University of Alberta’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, and he had recently moved to Edmonton from Red Deer to establish the gender health program at the U of A Hospital. Like everything else in his life, Marshall was full of ambition and ideas about the future.

Marshall, a psychiatrist specializing in transgender mental health, died unexpectedly on Sept. 23, cutting short his work caring and advocating for gender-diverse people. He was 45 years old.

Lieb said she’s still waiting for answers about the cause of his death. He’d recently suffered a head injury, but it’s unclear if that contributed in any way, or if there was another medical issue at play.

Marshall connected with and treated hundreds of gender-diverse people in Alberta since he arrived in 2015. He was renowned for his expertise and advocacy focused on dismantling barriers to gender-affirming care, the spectrum of procedures and services that trans people may pursue to align their body and physical appearance with their gender identity. Marshall stressed that this care can be not only be life-changing but life-saving.

Related
'Barely surviving': Wait times, limited information keeping trans Albertans from health care

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“Not being oneself leads to a degree of disquiet, unhappiness that is understandable by most people,” he said at a workshop for health workers learning about trans patient care in 2019.

“It is important that people live their true selves, because it’s a fundamental human need.”

That session was part of his national and international work to educate medical professionals about giving safe, competent service to trans people and the broader 2SLGBTQ+ community.

“He became a global voice for recognizing that people deserve access to affirming care, and people know themselves and their wishes should be respected,” Lieb said.

“Higher rates of mental health problems aren’t linked to being gender diverse, they’re linked to being ostracized and stigmatized and bullied.”



Dr. Michael Marshall, pictured here with his youngest son, was an Edmonton psychiatrist specializing in transgender health. (Supplied by Glynnis Lieb)© Glynnis Lieb

As Lieb sees it, Marshall had already packed seven average lifetimes into his four-and-a-half decades, with a life and career that took him from his home in Saint Lucia to a stint in the British armed forces, becoming a practising physician by the time he was 24 and working in Scotland, then Canada.

He and Lieb were parents to six sons. Lieb’s biological son and five boys adopted from Saint Lucia — all members of the same family that they wanted to ensure weren’t separated.

“He moved with dizzying speed,” Lieb said.

“And he couldn’t understand why the rest of the world couldn’t keep up.”

‘The potential of people like us doesn’t have an end point’

Adebayo Katiiti also met Marshall for the first time in 2018, walking into his clinic as a patient after waiting a year and a half for care. Long wait times for referrals for gender specialists and affirming procedures are a well-documented issue in Alberta and beyond, and part of Marshall’s work was aimed at reducing the delays.

As a Black transgender person, Katiiti says there’s a legitimate fear of judgment or mistreatment by doctors. But during the appointment, Marshall disclosed that he was trans, too.

“For me, seeing a Black trans person in that position — it was like, the potential of people like us doesn’t have an endpoint,” Katiiti said.

“Society has deemed us unworthy of life. Seeing Michael do his work and carrying that candle for us showed us that you can reach wherever you want to reach, despite your identity.”

Marshall was one of only a handful of psychiatrists across Alberta who specialize in serving transgender people. His loss is yet another blow to efforts to fix the care deficit that leaves many suffering while they wait for the affirming care they need.

In Katiiti’s view, Marshall’s leadership and lived experience are irreplaceable.

“The space that has been left by Michael’s passing is huge,” he said.

“He wasn’t perfect, but he has given life and joy to many trans communities. I’m one living testimony of his work … The community and the entire world need to name him as a hero.”


Dr. Michael Marshall, pictured on Jan. 23, 2018, in Edmonton.© Greg Southam

Marshall left the U of A Hospital gender program the year after he arrived, speaking publicly about how it was a difficult decision, but he felt he wasn’t getting enough resources and funding to adequately meet the community’s needs.

He went on to found the LGBTQ+ Wellness Centre , which brought numerous services for trans people under one roof. But the community need still outstripped resources, and Marshall was continually looking for more support and funding.

Dr. Bill Gibson, a geriatrician who knew Marshall for almost 20 years, said they had been discussing the need for trans people to keep getting appropriate, affirming care as they age. The two doctors wanted to try to integrate that into the Wellness Centre too.

“He was absolutely passionate about what he knew to be right,” Gibson said.

“He was clear with me that if I let him know that I’d seen injustice and not challenged it instantly, he’d be absolutely on me, saying, ‘Look, come on. You’ve got to stand up. You’ve got to use your privilege here.’

“Now I’ll be in a situation and I’ll think, ‘If Michael found out what I was doing about this, how would that go down?'”

Speaking to the Edmonton Journal three years ago, while Marshall detailed the barriers and challenges trans people face in their everyday lives, he underlined how that isn’t the whole story.

“In the face of discrimination, in the face of victimization, in the face of stigmatization, minority stress, trans people thrive, too,” he said.

“And I feel it is important we shine a light on that.”

masmith@postmedia.com

@meksmith

Edmonton Journal -Thursday's letters:

 Smith oblivious to realities faced by minorities

Clearly, our new premier is out of touch with the current realities faced by Alberta’s minorities. Her naive, untrue and flippant comments on discrimination and anti-Canada comments are a frightening distraction. A pathetic attempt to curry favour from a small minority of equally selfish Albertans that refuse to vaccinate.


On Sunday May 8, 2022 the City of Edmonton officially proclaimed May 10, 2022 as the National Day of Action Against Anti-Asian Racism. A group walked from city hall to Pacific Rim Mall in Chinatown, where members of the community rallied to share experiences and impacts of racism, hate and discrimination.© Larry Wong

A simple Internet search tells us that many of those refusers led the charge in discriminating. In 2021, hate-motivated crimes targeting religion jumped 67 per cent, those targeting sexual orientation climbed 64 per cent and those targeting race or ethnicity rose six per cent. Facts and realities are lost on Smith.

Another quick search finds that Muslim women, Indigenous peoples, people of colour, GLBTQ community, the Jewish community continue to be the most discriminated against. Alberta’s population of about 4.5 million is less than 12 per cent of Canada’s population. The majority of our families have roots in other parts of the world, making the majority of Albertans a part of a minority group.

Smith’s silly ideas of leadership to focus on division and not on inflation, health care and education assure her place in history of the shortest term of any Alberta premier ever.

Murray Billett, Edmonton

Smith trying to scapegoat Hinshaw

I am absolutely disgusted at Danielle Smith’s decision to fire Deena Hinshaw, though not surprised. I was extremely worried she’d be the one the Conservatives would wind up placing as their leader as they have lost their way as the leading party for Albertans.

We now have this group of people who don’t believe in medical science, follow conspiracy theories, wish to disrupt rules of law, ignore provincial and federal regulations and acts to go their own way. Kenney was bad, but good Lord, she’s 10 times worse. Any body of people who decide that they know better than the medical profession when it comes to keeping people safe during a pandemic scares me. Trump did that to Dr. Fauci in the States and effectively muzzled him, leading to the deaths of countless more people who didn’t need to die.

Smith is trying to make Hinshaw our scapegoat here in Alberta. Shame, shame on her.

Sharon Flemming, Edmonton

Trump-ish talk will doom conservatism

Danielle Smith says unvaccinated people have suffered greater discrimination than those based on race, gender, sexuality and other. Really?

I wonder if Premier Smith has the intestinal fortitude to preach that rubbish to a Jew whose home was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti? What about a woman who earns far less than her male co-workers despite doing exactly the same job, a Black man who is routinely pulled over

several times a year while driving his car by police officers who racially profile, a Muslim who is pulled out of the line every time they go to the airport and harassed by Islamophobic customs agents, an Aboriginal survivor of residential schools, or a gay teenager who endures daily bullying at high school?

I predict that Smith and Pierre Poilievre will be the electoral ruin of Canadian conservatism with their right-wing, Donald Trump-style rhetoric.

Liam Duc Looi, Okotoks

Nelson: UCP Must Abandon COVID War To Retain Power

Opinion by Chris Nelson, For The Calgary Herald - 

It’s often said generals invariably fight the previous war. Politicians often make that same mistake, too.


It's time for some UCP members to move onwards from a focus on COVID, past pandemic restrictions and vaccinations, writes Chris Nelson.

© Provided by Calgary Herald

So, the question today is whether the fragility of our current provincial government can triumph if insisting upon making our recent collective pandemic response a major part of its upcoming election campaign.

Maybe it’s me, but when those dreary numbers of how many Albertans were dead, sick or infected finally stopped being announced every day, it was a blessed relief.

Confucius was right; living in interesting times is indeed a curse. And, let’s face it; our collective global fight against COVID 19 became a social, medical and political experiment involving a larger slice of humanity than any previous event in history. Yep, interesting barely covers it.

These days, statistics show we’re approaching 13 billion vaccinations administered, with more than two-thirds of the world’s population receiving at least one jab.

But, as we know too well, details of that mammoth logistical success barely scratch the surface of how this pandemic affected us. Yes, it’s still here, but if for no other reason than our mental health, discussing COVID in the past tense is hugely restorative.

Yet, it appears certain the current United Conservative Party, under Premier Danielle Smith, won’t let the issue slumber. There are too many party members who consider what was done in the name of COVID cause for an existential fight to ever allow retreat from this dreary battlefield.

The war — with its mask mandates, vaccine requirements and social gathering restrictions — will be refought, regurgitated and relived ad nauseam. It has become, to some, a reason to be.

Smith’s acceptance speech was, for the most part, an appeal to unity and a magnanimous reach-out to her Tory opponents and the rest of Canada — except when it came to the COVID call-to-arms.

“We will not be told what to put in our bodies in order to work or to travel,” she declared. It was but a single sentence yet raised the loudest cheer of the evening. The fight is far from over in a sizable section of the current UCP membership.

But 91 per cent of Albertans of voting age are vaccinated to some degree, while in the two major cities those numbers are even higher. In upper northeast Calgary those receiving at least one jab stands at an astonishing 100 per cent.

Probably many of those people still question some rules and strictures surrounding that whole COVID campaign, maybe even their own decision to get vaccinated, considering how goalposts constantly moved regarding effectiveness against ever-evolving viral strains.

Nevertheless, people indeed rolled up their sleeves — more than three and a half million Albertans made that choice — for what they considered both a personal and societal good. Therefore, to infer they were somehow dupes or simple-minded sheep by doing so would be a stunningly stupid strategy for any political party seeking office.

Nobody could be that daft, could they? Don’t rule it out.

This current kumbaya pause amongst the various Tory factions might only last until the party’s AGM, due in Edmonton next week.

Take Back Alberta, an influential group taking much credit for getting Smith elected, now wants to control the UCP board. The Edmonton gathering provides that opportunity.

The group’s founder, David Parker, said if the move was successful, then it would allow them to decide who runs as an MLA candidate and how party funds are spent. That’s real political power, for those keeping score.

Of course, its major goals include halting future vaccine mandates and stopping future lockdowns.

Inflation, pipeline access, educational shortcomings, exploding substance abuse and so forth don’t get a mention. The seemingly endless COVID campaign, marching in circles under that flowing banner of freedom, is all that matters.

Well, it will be a march ending in electoral oblivion. Danielle Smith knows this, but these are the folk that brought her to the dance. Will she jettison them now?

Hey, she abandoned her supporters before .

Chris Nelson is a regular columnist for the Calgary Herald.

Canadians condemn Alberta premier: ‘Has Danielle Smith ever met an Indigenous person, Black person, Brown person?’

Abhya Adlakha
·Editor, Yahoo News Canada
Wed, October 12, 2022 

Danielle Smith, sworn in Tuesday as Alberta's new premier, has drawn the ire of Canadian doctors and residents with her comments on unvaccinated Canadians. A day after being sworn in, Smith pledged to amend the Alberta Human Rights Act, said she will change the health system within three months and alter the provincial human rights law to protect those who choose not to get vaccinated.

"(The unvaccinated) have been the most discriminated-against group that I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime,” Smith told reporters.

Smith says Alberta won't have any vaccine mandates, which will help attract more employees to the province.

Moreover, she has warned Albertans of upcoming rapid changes to the management health care team in the province. She has already decided to replace Alberta's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, and recruit a new team of advisors in public health.

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a situation in my lifetime where a person was fired from their job or not allowed to watch their kids play hockey or not allowed to go visit a loved one in long-term care or hospital, not allowed to get on a plane to either go across the country to see family or even travel across the border. We are not going to create a segregated society on the basis of a medical choice. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith

Her statement on the ongoing discrimination being faced by several unvaccinated groups was received negatively by doctors, medical professionals, and several residents of Canada. After a massive backlash, the premier tracked back her comments in a statement.

Here is what people across the country are saying about

 Premier Smith's comments:

Keith Gerein: What can Alberta municipalities expect from Danielle Smith?

WHEN THE TERM LIBERTARIAN IS USED IT MEANS AYN RANDISM

Opinion by Keith Gerein - Tuesday

A decade ago, I was among the Postmedia reporters covering the 2012 provincial election.

UCP Leader and incoming premier Danielle Smith.© Provided by Edmonton Journal

My assignment was the Wildrose Party, which meant I spent most of the campaign within tape recorder distance of then-party leader Danielle Smith.

Many will recall that once promising campaign turned sour in the final days when Smith refused to take action against Wildrose candidates with unsavoury views. That stance drew the ire of Alberta’s two big city mayors, including Edmonton’s Stephen Mandel, who was already livid with Smith for what he saw as unsolicited, outsider criticism of city infrastructure choices.

Though unconfirmed, my sense at the time is that a lot of the big campaign decisions — including the fatal one to defend awful candidates — were controlled by party officials, even though Smith was the one who had to go out and sell them.

But as for Smith herself, I found the 2012 version of her to be articulate, determined and hard working, with an ability to instantly switch from graciousness and humour to gut-punching criticism.

And despite occasional obtusity in defending weird Wildrose positions, I found her to be generally on the right side of reasonable.

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The question now, for current municipal leaders who have to work with her, is whether the same can be said for the 2022 version of Smith. Based on some of the proposals she intends to implement , that characterization seems more tenuous than it did a decade ago.

Of particular interest to civic leaders is Smith’s stated desire to continue efforts to replace the RCMP with a new provincial police force — a major shakeup that so far has little public support, near universal opposition from municipalities, and minimal faith in Smith’s dubious suggestion the move would be cost neutral .

The UCP leader did offer a thin olive branch on this issue Saturday, telling media she knows there is a need to get more municipalities on board. That suggests at least a token aspiration to consult.

Still, it would be wise for Edmonton-area communities to quickly ramp up discussions with the city around establishing a regional police force .

Regardless, whatever differences may exist from 2012 Smith to 2022 Smith, one consistency over the last decade is a strong streak of libertarianism. Which is an interesting lens to consider how she might approach provincial-municipal relations, and where the limits of the libertarianism might lie.

“She did talk to municipalities a lot about funding and she does have some good ideas. So I think there is some hope,” said Cathy Heron, the mayor of St. Albert and president of Alberta Municipalities.

For one thing, Smith has said she is seriously considering a long-standing plea from municipalities to keep all of the property tax they collect rather than transferring a big chunk of it, known as education property tax, to the province.

In Edmonton, this could be worth about $500 million a year , and about $800 million in Calgary.

“I know that I complain a lot about how much extra money is taken out of Alberta that goes to Ottawa and that doesn’t come back, and quite frankly, we do the same thing to our municipalities,” Smith is quoted as saying in Livewire Calgary.

For civic leaders, this potential application of libertarianism has to be tantalizing, though it may not be the windfall some might hope. There is an open question as to whether a move like this would mean the end of existing provincial infrastructure grants and other funding. Likewise, it’s fair to wonder if it could mean more provincial downloading to municipalities.

One also has to be curious whether the new premier would really be able to resist the temptation to intervene if she doesn’t like specific spending decisions. Remember the Smith of 2012 was eager to blast Edmonton for choices to redevelop the City Centre Airport and prioritize the new Royal Alberta Museum.

This is what I mean when I wonder about the limits of her libertarianism, and whether municipalities would really have autonomy if their choices conflicted with Smith’s battle against Ottawa, her view of freedom, or her opposition to certain public health measures.

Would a municipality, for example, be allowed to implement its own mask mandate?

“We talk about getting out of the way of municipalities … but my experience with provincial governments is they say that until what the municipality is doing they disagree with,” Heron said. “So I think we need some bigger conversations about legislating that autonomy.”

In this vein, respect for the big cities is another important question for the Smith tenure. This is particularly so for Edmonton, which was more often treated as a punching bag than a partner by the Kenney government. But even in Calgary, doubts now have to be raised after Smith’s decision to hold a byelection for herself in the rural southeast, while refusing to hold one in the vacant constituency of Calgary-Elbow.

The new premier could help herself by keeping current Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver, who seems to have the respect of most civic leaders. As well, more balanced action to help cities with addiction, mental health and homelessness would go a long way.

“My approach to governing is always about relationships so it does scare me to hear her dislike for our prime minister … because that is not the way you get anything done in my opinion,” Heron said.

“She has talked a lot about that libertarian view but that is not the majority view in Alberta, so if she wants to be re-elected, she’s going to have to become more central, and appeal to the middle and hopefully keep the UCP together.”

kgerein@postmedia.com

Smith's discrimination remark making Alberta an international embarrassment: NDP

EDMONTON — Alberta’s Opposition NDP leader says Premier Danielle Smith has made the province an international embarrassment by proclaiming those who didn’t get vaccinated during COVID-19 endured the worst discrimination she's seen in her lifetime.


Smith's discrimination remark making Alberta an international embarrassment: NDP© Provided by The Canadian Press

Rachel Notley says the United Conservative Party premier needs towithdraw the comment, apologize and be clear where she stands on previous controversial statements, including that smoking isn't necessarily bad for your health and about patients having control over whether they get early-stage cancer.

“Over the last 48 hours, I’ve been overwhelmed by thousands and thousands of folks reaching out to me who feel deeply hurt and frankly a little fearful as a result of the comments coming from our new premier,” Notley said Thursday.

“We understand that hundreds of thousands of Albertans face discrimination each and every day because of characteristics over which they have no choice.


Notley said the story has made international headlines, including one published online earlier Thursday in the U.S.-based Forbes magazine, which is published in various editions around the world.

“This is a story about Alberta in one of the world’s most well-read economic publications,” said Notley.

“It is a story that hurts Alberta’s reputation, and we will now have to spend months undoing it.”

Smith, 51, made the discrimination comment at a news conference Tuesday, hours after she was sworn in as premier.

“(The unvaccinated) have been the most discriminated-against group that I've ever witnessed in my lifetime,” she said.

"I don't think I've ever experienced a situation in my lifetime where a person was fired from their job or not allowed to watch their kids play hockey or not allowed to go visit a loved one in long-term care or hospital, not allowed to get on a plane to either go across the country to see family or even travel across the border.”

Related video: Unvaccinated are Alberta's 'most discriminated' group, new premier says
Duration 2:33
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Minority groups, health professionals and some premiers across Canada condemned the remarks as ridiculous and insensitive, pointing out that in Smith’s lifetime there was still forced sterilization, residential schools and bans on gay marriage.

As furor escalated Wednesday, Smith’s office issued a statement clarifying that she did not seek to minimize the experiences of other discriminated groups. The statement did not withdraw her original comment or offer an apology.

Smith’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Smith won the leadership of Alberta’s governing UCP last week to become the new premier on a promise of no more vaccine mandates or health restrictions that violate personal liberties.

A former journalist, Smith stated in early 2021: “My entire adult life and career has been spent questioning authority and institutions and conventional wisdom.”

In a May 2003 column for the Calgary Herald newspaper, she questioned whether smoking is harmful to one’s health. “The evidence shows moderate cigarette consumption can reduce traditional risks of disease by 75 per cent or more," she wrote.

In October 2012, as leader of the Opposition Wildrose Party, Smith said those in poverty should be fed beef tainted with E.coli, so the unsellable product didn't go to waste.

“We all know meat can be safely eaten if cooked properly,” Smith tweeted.

As a radio talk show host in 2020, she retweeted — and later apologized for doing so — a false claim that the drug hydroxychloroquine could defeat COVID-19. A year later, she backed ivermectin, a livestock anti-parasite medication, which was touted and later debunked as a possible COVID-19 cure.

This past July, during the UCP leadership campaign, Smith released a video of her interview with a naturopath in which Smith says responsibility for early-stage cancer is within a person's control. Patients and health professionals called the comment profoundly misinformed and cruel.

Smith's leadership opponents criticized her, including one who had lost his son to cancer, and she apologized for the hurt she had caused.

She said she had expressed herself "awkwardly'' and meant to say preventive health measures are just one more way to combat early-stage cancer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2022.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

OF COURSE SHE DID

Alberta's Smith says she didn't mean to trivialize with comment on unvaccinated

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she didn't mean to trivialize prejudice faced by minority communities when she suggested unvaccinated people have experienced the most discrimination she has ever seen in her lifetime.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Smith's comment on her first day as premier drew criticism from across Canada — including British Columbia Premier John Horgan, who called it "laughable," and at least one Jewish group that says it reached out to her office to express concern.

Smith said in a statement Wednesday that she intended to underline the mistreatment of individuals who chose not to be vaccinated.

"I want to be clear that I did not intend to trivialize in any way the discrimination faced by minority communities and other persecuted groups or create any false equivalencies to the terrible historical discrimination and persecution suffered by so many minority groups," said the statement.

Smith was sworn in Tuesday as Alberta's new premier after the United Conservative Party elected her in a leadership race to replace Jason Kenney as leader and premier.

Later in the day, at her first news conference as premier, Smith said she would shake up the top tier of the health system within three months and amend provincial human rights law to protect those who choose not to get vaccinated for diseases including COVID-19.

"(The unvaccinated) have been the most discriminated-against group that I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime," said the 51-year-old.

"I don't think I've ever experienced a situation in my lifetime where a person was fired from their job or not allowed to watch their kids play hockey or not allowed to go visit a loved one in long-term care or hospital, not allowed to get on a plane to either go across the country to see family or even travel across the border."

Horgan, who is to step down as B.C.'s NDP premier later this year, responded to Smith's comment Wednesday in an interview with C-FAX Radio in Victoria.

"It's laughable, quite frankly," Horgan said when asked about the comment.

Horgan said the global community has gone through an unprecedented time with the COVID-19 pandemic — "nothing like this in over a hundred years going back to the Spanish influenza."

He said the country is also dealing with a toxic drug supply that's killing people and running out of people to provide health services.

"For the incoming premier to focus on a sliver of the population who chose not to get vaccinated when there are all these other challenges seems short-sighted to me. And I just disagree with her. I believe the vast majority of Canadians understood we had a collective responsibility."

Alberta Health data shows more than 82 per cent of the province's total population has received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 78 per cent of the population has two doses.

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said Smith's comment would be laughable if she wasn't the premier.

"This shows what drove her campaign and who her supporters are," he said.

Bratt said Smith's comment is offensive because there has been a lot of discrimination in the past 50-plus years.

"We still had forced sterilization. We had residential schools up until the 1990s," he said. "We didn't have gay marriage until (2005)."

Bratt said race, religion, sexual orientation and disabilities are not choices.

"Those are things that you have and that's why we don't allow discrimination based on that," he said. "Deciding not to be vaccinated is a choice."

Some Alberta groups, mayors and civic leaders also expressed concerns about Smith's comments.

"We … are keen on meeting with the premier to discuss antisemitism, discrimination in our community and others in Alberta, the need for mandatory Holocaust education, and the story of Alberta's Jewish community," wrote Jewish Edmonton.

Alex Montiel, the CEO of Diversecities, a community organization that works with marginalized groups in Calgary, said he hopes Smith reflects on what she said.

“We understand that being unable to retain or find a job, having restricted mobility across the country, or not being allowed to enter a public gathering based on a medical choice can be considered discrimination," Montiel said in a statement.

"However, this is incomparable to the uncountable cases of people who have been verbally and physically assaulted in the street while walking with their children, demanding them to return to where they belong because they are of Asian descent.”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said on Twitter that there's a lot she could say.

"I choose to focus on demonstrating to this premier the work that our city continues to do around anti-racism, Indigenous relations, Holocaust remembrance, allyship with the LGBTQ2S+ community and equity-based awareness," she wrote. "In other words, work that matters."

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said he doesn't agree with Smith's comments.

He added it's not for him to judge who experiences discrimination.

"What we're here to do, and what I'm here to do … is any of those individuals or groups that do feel they've been discriminated (against) in some way, that we're here to support them."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2022.

— with files by Mickey Djuric in Regina.

Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story; An earlier version had the incorrect spelling of Diversecities.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith should apologize and retract unvaccinated comment: Notley
Kellen Taniguchi -

Opposition Leader Rachel Notley speaks about the UCP electing Danielle Smith as their new leader Danielle Smith during a news conference along the North Saskatchewan River on Oct. 7, 2022, in Edmonton.© Shaughn Butts


Rachel Notley is calling on Premier Danielle Smith to apologize and withdraw her comment calling unvaccinated people the most discriminated against group of her lifetime.

The Opposition NDP leader said the comment tarnishes the province’s reputation and has “deeply hurt” hundreds of thousands of Albertans. She said she understands the discrimination Albertans face each and every day due to characteristics they have no choice over.

“Given the amount of hurt and pain that has generally been expressed to us over the last two days, I call on Premier Danielle Smith to reconsider her decision to not apologize and, in fact, to offer an immediate and authentic apology to the hundreds of thousands of Albertans who’s experiences she has negated and who her remarks have hurt,” Notley told reporters Thursday.

Smith issued a statement on Wednesday explaining the “intention” of her comment, made on her first day in office.

“My intention was to underline the mistreatment of individuals who chose not to be vaccinated and were punished by not being able to work, travel, or in some cases, see loved ones,” Smith said during a Tuesday news conference.

“I want to be clear that I did not intend to trivialize in any way the discrimination faced by minority communities and other persecuted groups both here in Canada and around the world, or to create any false equivalencies to the terrible historical discrimination and persecution suffered by so many minority groups over the last decades and centuries.”

Notley said Smith’s statement isn’t acceptable and she needs to genuinely apologize to Albertans. She added Smith’s comment and statement shows Alberta has a leader who is “incapable” of demonstrating good judgment initially and is incapable of understanding when she’s made a mistake.

“She then has to go further and withdraw her previous comments and send a message to people outside of Alberta that she understands the damage that they did, that Alberta is actually an open and welcoming place for folks around the world,” she said.

Notley said the comment will have a negative impact on the ability to attract people to Alberta. She added Smith’s comment landed in a story in Forbes Magazine.

“This is a story about Alberta in one of the world’s most well-read economic publications,” said Notley.

“It is not a good story about Alberta, it is a story that hurts Alberta’s reputation and we will now have to spend months undoing it.”

‘She’s not going to apologize’

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said Thursday Smith’s comment on Tuesday was completely wrong and offensive.

“That’s why she tried to clarify, not apologize, but tried to clarify yesterday by saying, no, she wasn’t trying to rank different forms of discrimination.

Amid calls for the new premier to apologize for her comment, Bratt said he isn’t expecting Smith to do so.

“She’s not going to apologize. She doesn’t feel she said anything wrong,” said Bratt.

“This was not a slip of the tongue. This was consistent with her campaign. So, no she is not going to apologize and she’s already in trouble with some of her supporters with the waffling of the sovereignty act, she’s not going to waffle on COVID.”

Bratt added that Smith’s supporters don’t want her to apologize.

“The people who support her are not going to let her apologize. They want her to do this, they want payback,” he said.

Mekwun Moses, an Alberta Indigenous activist who has organized anti-racism rallies and rallies for residential school awareness, said Smith, who is 51 years old, was alive when residential schools closed in 1996 and that Smith’s comment offended her .

“For her to say within her lifetime puts more discrimination on First Nations people because she’s not recognizing that they didn’t have their freedom, that they didn’t get to choose a lot of things like being put on reserves,” said Moses.

Postmedia reached out to Smith’s press secretary for comment but did not hear back prior to deadline.

ktaniguchi@postmedia.com

twitter.com/kellentaniguchi