During the 2023 Alberta General Election, the United Conservative Party (UCP) found themselves at the centre of controversy after controversy. While some UCP candidates made headlines for their anti-2SLGBTQIA+ statements, other right-wing organizers helped spread misinformation and stoke reactionary outrage that mostly evaded the mainstream media spotlight. This included disinformation around healthcare accessibility, cost of living and infrastructure, while several UCP campaigns advocated openly for “parental rights” — a Trojan Horse strategy that banked on conservative social values to spread mis/disinformation.
Progressive movements in Alberta and across Canada face the challenge of maintaining a united front while the organized right-wing spreads mis/disinformation to fracture the movement.While some unions and advocacy groups have started organizing to combat this issue, they need a more comprehensive strategy to address the complex social, cultural, and political factors breeding intolerance in Alberta. Only through examining the many tactics used by UCP and how it has affected various communities can progressive movements develop a deeper understanding of the evolving dynamics of political discourse in Alberta and the broader implications for social cohesion and engagement in democracy, across Canada.
Mis/Disinformation
The distinction between types of problematic information lies between misinformation and disinformation.1 While both spread inaccurate or distorted content, misinformation is unintentionally sharing false information, while disinformation is intentionally created and shared to deceive.2 While it is a challenge to determine the intentions of both misinformation and disinformation sharers – especially when they are unorganized, ordinary social media users – this distinction captures an important difference. It is necessary to understand how both types of problematic information are spread by right-wing extremists.
In North America, believing conspiracies and misinformation as part of an individual’s general understanding of politics is linked to right-wing extremism. Individuals who strongly exhibit a “conspiracy mindset” – a belief system attached to mis/disinformation in the political and public sphere – are likely to be “associated with disliking powerful societal groups and perceiving them as responsible for political and economic events with negative implications.”3
In the wake of recent global movements based on mis/disinformation, such as the QAnon conspiracy theory and political movement, as well as protests against COVID-19 vaccines and public health measures, Alberta has seen a surge in conspiracy theories and moral panics among citizens. These conspiracies and moral panics centre around alleged threats to children, ranging from, “godlessness, pedophilia, public schools, unions, Justin Trudeau, and COVID-19 vaccines”. Since the start of the pandemic, these narratives have manifested in movements across Alberta, like the so-called “Save the Children” far-right convoy which frequently employs anti-2SLGBTQIA+ sentiments. These narratives lead to increased fear and suspicion among Albertans, whose anxieties are leveraged effectively by right-wing disinformation.
Challenges to Alberta’s Education Institutions
Alberta’s education system has emerged as a primary battleground for mis/disinformation conflicts. Historically, conservative groups in the province have championed expanded “school choice” and privatization, allegedly to promote educational freedom and efficiency.4 However, these efforts have been recently underscored by increased religious influence in education and reduced public oversight. Education advocacy by conservative groups has now shifted to challenging sexual orientation and gender identity curricula. Organizations such as the Alberta Parents’ Union (APU) and Parents for Choice in Education (PCE) have routinely made claims about sexually inappropriate content being taught in schools, attempting to encourage parental fears and suspicion of public education.
These claims are often carried forward by right-wing media outlets to spread the story and give some authority to the narrative, without critical interrogation of the stories. For instance, to push forward on Alberta Premier’s Danielle Smith’s “pronouns policy” in schools, APU executive director Jeff Park was quoted by right-wing media outlet Rebel News making unsubstantiated claims that a 13-year-old boy had been removed from school without his parents’ knowledge. In this article, Park shared that the student was taken to a conference at a hotel and “given a 50-page flip book about how to have sex and 153 condoms,” to argue for the entrenchment of queer inclusivity in schools.
This is just one example of the disinformation from conservative activists that has been spread by right-wing media and has been challenged by Alberta’s education institutions.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) has criticized the spread of these narratives, stating that conservative political figures, including the Premier of Alberta, “remain silent or actively promote falsehoods and inflammatory narratives about public education in the cynical pursuit of short-term political advantage.”
Further there are direct connections between the disinformation propagated by conservative organizations and the right-wing media that proliferates their disinformation in Alberta. Hilton O’Brien—a columnist for the conservative publication Western Standard and executive director of the PCE Alberta group—argues for privatization and school choice by raising concerns about Pride and 2SLGBTQIA+ policies in schools. In a column published ahead of the 2023 election, O’Brien falsely claimed that the Alberta Children’s Hospital Pediatric Gender Services 78 Critical Education Clinic (which he refers to only by its former name, the Metta Clinic), “is accepting referrals of children as young as five years old, from teachers. Parents don’t need to be in the loop”. While the hospital has since clarified that this claim is not true and such practices do not occur, these claims have become the foundation of Alberta’s upcoming legislation focusing on gender-affirming care for minors.
1 Million March 4 Children
Recent years have witnessed an escalation in the intensity and scope of extreme rhetoric in Alberta,5 focused on cultural values rather than substantial issues of political economy. The province has shifted from isolated, single-issue conflicts to more pervasive and interconnected forms of ideological contestation.
This is evident in the so-called “1 Million March 4 Children” protests by anti-trans groups that took place in Alberta and across Canada in September 2023. These protests expressed discontent referencing intersecting issues around health care provision, education reform, and the human rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Notably, the protest movements brought unprecedented convergence of disparate social and political factions, because of the protests’ broad agenda. As a result, right-wing advocates found themselves in unlikely alliances with ethnic minorities, who often represent more diverse political viewpoints and conflicting cultural values, despite finding common cause in other ideological values with conservative political movements.
Politicians from the United Conservative Party (UCP) of Alberta have also found this tactic useful in recent years. UCP members have actively engaged in these movements by attending and speaking at rallies opposing LGBTQ+ inclusive school policies, publicly endorsing organizations promoting conservative views on education, and introducing legislation like Bill 8. Titled the Education Amendment Act, the bill is designed to scale back protections for LGBTQ2S+ students in schools that were put in place by the previous NDP government.
In 2023, a demonstration related to the 1 Million March 4 Children in Red Deer featured MLA Jason Stephan as a prominent speaker. He stated, “We are here today because it is not right for our government inserting themselves between our children and keeping secrets from us.” The Calgary version of the 1 Million March 4 Children was again facilitated by an unregulated online social media platform, this time employed by a group claiming to represent a religious minority. It was primarily organized by Mahmoud Mura, who presented himself as a “concerned parent,” using the “YYC Muslims” Group on Facebook to mobilize participants. Organizing through online platforms provides a fertile ground for political actors to exploit these movements, targeting specific demographics and amplifying particular viewpoints with minimal oversight.
Wedge Politics and the “Parental Rights” Movement
The parental rights in education movement in Alberta exemplifies a striking phenomenon of ideological cross-pollination that blurs traditional political boundaries. This movement has brought together a diverse coalition around a shared stance on education policies, transcending typical demographic and geographic divides. Protest groups have emerged with remarkable consistency, demonstrating the movement’s expansive reach across Alberta’s varied socio-spatial landscape.
The diversity of this coalition is illustrated by two key examples: a white, elected official leading a protest in the largely rural town of Red Deer, alongside an organizer from a religious and ethnic minority spearheading another in urban Calgary. This motley supporter base encompasses various ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic strata, and challenges simplistic narratives about the composition of these movements.
Central to the movement’s strategy is the deployment of the “concerned parent” trope, which effectively appeals to conservative values among demographically diverse populations. This approach has proven powerful enough to mobilize in-person protest groups out of the online world, activating reactionary tendencies across disparate communities. The movement’s ability to unite individuals and groups that might otherwise hold divergent views on many social and political issues underscores its capacity to override conventional political affiliations.
This unexpected alignment of diverse groups has caused confusion and disappointment among some observers. As one Calgary counter-protester articulated, expressing a sentiment of surprise, they witnessed “the same Far-Right folks standing side by side with the same people they demonized”. This realignment of political coalitions presents a significant challenge to progressive movements in Alberta and demonstrates how single-issue movements can create unconventional partnerships, highlighting the complex and sometimes unpredictable nature of grassroots political organizing.
The phenomenon manifested in two interconnected ways: through grassroots movements and high-level political changes. At the grassroots level, groups like “Take Back Alberta,” a self-described movement against the “ruling elite,” have successfully leveraged anti-2SLGBTQIA+ rhetoric to mobilize support. Initially focused on replacing Premier Jason Kenney with Danielle Smith in 2022, they have since shifted their attention to exerting greater control over Alberta’s school and library boards through local elections. This strategy highlights how mis/disinformation campaigns can translate into tangible political influence.
The impact of these movements is evident at the highest levels of government. Premier Danielle Smith’s announcement of upcoming legislative changes regarding pronoun use in schools exemplifies how grassroots pressure can shape policy decisions. This announcement garnered support from diverse quarters, including unexpected allies. For instance, the leaders of Al Rashid Mosque publicly endorsed Smith’s policy, adopting the “parental rights” language commonly used by far-right elements.
The impact of this rhetoric warrants closer examination by progressives as the emergence of unexpected alliances around these issues poses significant challenges for progressive coalitions. This phenomenon resembles a complex form of ‘wedge politics’— a political strategy employed to divide opposition—but with nuances that defy simple categorization.
Terror in Ethnic and Religious Communities
The evolution of wedge politics in Canada has taken a targeted turn, with right-wing organizers deploying sophisticated disinformation campaigns to manipulate immigrant and diaspora communities. Disinformation targeting minority communities as a form of voter manipulation, particularly within immigrant and diaspora communities, is not a new phenomenon in Canada. The relationship between misinformation and disinformation is complex; disinformation campaigns often rely on individuals within targeted communities to unwittingly spread misinformation. A better understanding of how these communities receive and interpret such information is crucial. Progressives need to comprehend the cultural contexts and value sets that inform these communities’ perceptions, as well as how various narratives elicit certain reactions.
In contemporary Canadian political communications, messages targeting diaspora communities often navigate complex linguistic landscapes. These communications, whether factual or false, frequently encounter translational ambiguities between the communities’ mother tongues and English. This phenomenon is particularly evident in social media usage among diaspora communities for political engagement.
A study of such communities found that false information often arose in, “WhatsApp groups relying on slight mistranslations that can at times misconstrue facts – both intentionally and not”.6 Language barriers and cultural nuances can inadvertently or deliberately distort information, complicating political discourse within these communities.
Political messaging over social media often exploits “ideological fault lines” and uses “religion to sow doubt” about the views of candidates and political parties on fundamental values. While oversimplification of complex policies and issues is prevalent in social media communication in general, it takes on added significance in this context. The inherent brevity and simplification of social media posts, when combined with translational ambiguities and cultural nuances, can exacerbate misunderstandings and amplify the impact of both intentional disinformation and unintended misinformation. This confluence of factors—targeted messaging, language barriers, cultural diversity, and the oversimplified nature of social media discourse—creates added challenges for accurate political communication within diaspora communities.
In Canada, there is evidence that organizers of “parental rights” protests target immigrant and ethnic minority communities over social media using manipulative tactics. Religious and ethnic minority groups are also the target of mis/disinformation campaigns that invoke cultural or religious trauma.7
In Alberta, these organizers use inflammatory stereotypes and extreme rhetoric that appeal to certain conservative value sets and activate reactionary political action. In one instance of social media mis/disinformation, a grossly inaccurate comparison of, “children being taught about sexual and gender diversity to children being taken from home and put into residential school,” was used to invoke a reaction. The comparison not only trivialized the genocidal nature of the residential school system but was designed to elicit “affective, emotional, and visceral responses” from its audience through sensational messaging.8 By framing their cause in such provocative terms, organizers tap into conservative values of paternalistic protection of children and family, and incite reaction when facts are obscured by dis/misinformation. By taking genocidal realities of the residential school program as true facts of Canada’s history, right-wing organizers are able to leverage truth to embellish and disinform targeted groups of contemporary issues to suit their political agenda. The targeting of minority populations in Alberta with mis/disinformation reshapes the political landscape in unexpected ways. Rather than leading to disengagement, this strategy has galvanized these communities into increased political activity, often aligning them with conservative causes.
The consequences are twofold:
- It skews perspectives on key issues.
The spread of misleading information has the potential to push these groups towards conservative viewpoints that may not align with their broader interests.9
- It can distort understanding of critical issues
This manipulation can lead to political engagement that may not authentically represent these communities’ long-term values.10 The result is a significant shift in political allegiances, exemplified by minority participation in “parental rights” protests and potential changes in voting patterns. The long-term implication is not silence, but a profound alteration of these communities’ political voice, potentially diminishing their influence on policies that directly impact their lives.
By examining Alberta’s political landscape, we can see how the exploitation of mis/disinformation is reshaping traditional political coalitions and engagement patterns through targeted messaging and cultural manipulation. Right-wing organizers leverage “parental rights” narratives and social media platforms to mobilize diverse communities, creating unexpected alliances that challenge progressive organizing and democratic discourse across the province. This strategic deployment of inflammatory rhetoric and cultural anxieties produces tangible political impacts, from school board elections to provincial policy, fundamentally altering the dynamics of political engagement in Alberta.
Notes
Click to Expand for a full list of notes.
- Armitage, Rachel, and Cristian Vaccari. “Misinformation and Disinformation.” The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism, edited by Howard Tumber and Silvio Waisbord, London, Routledge, 23 Mar. 2021. ↩︎
- Jack, Caroline. Lexicon of Lies: Terms for Problematic Information. Data & Society Research Institute, 2017. ↩︎
- Imhoff, Roland, and Martin Bruder. “Speaking (Un-)Truth to Power: Conspiracy Mentality as a Generalised Political Attitude.” European Journal of Personality, vol. 28, no. 1, 11 July 2014, pp. 25–43, https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1930. ↩︎
- Froese-Germain, Bernie. “What We Know about School Choice.” Education Canada, vol. 38, no. 3, 1 Jan. 1998, pp. 22–25. Accessed 31 Aug. 2024. ↩︎
- Scarfe, Brian L. “The Federal Budget and Energy Program, October 28th, 1980: A Review.” Canadian Public Policy, vol. 7, no. 1, 2 Feb. 1981, pp. 1–14, ideas.repec.org/a/cpp/issued/v7y1981i1p1-14.html. Accessed 31 Aug. 2024. ↩︎
- Oral, Didem, and Anna Lund. “Mother Tongue Instruction: Between Assimilation and Multicultural Incorporation.” Education Sciences, vol. 12, no. 11, 31 Oct. 2022, https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12110774; ↩︎
- Nguyễn, Sarah, et al. “Studying Mis- and Disinformation in Asian Diasporic Communities: The Need for Critical Transnational Research beyond Anglocentrism.” Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, vol. 3, no. 2, 24 Mar. 2022, https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-95. ↩︎
- Miles, James. “Seeing and Feeling Difficult History: A Case Study of How Canadian Students Make Sense of Photographs of Indian Residential Schools.” Theory & Research in Social Education, vol. 47, no. 4, 1 July 2019, pp. 472–496, https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2019.1626783. ↩︎
- Starr, Paul. “The Flooded Zone: : How We Became More Vulnerable to Disinformation in the Digital Era.” The Disinformation Age, edited by W. Lance Bennett and Steven Livingston, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 15 Oct. 2020, pp. 67–92. ↩︎
- Aguirre, Adalberto, et al. “The Cultural Production of Mexican Identity in the United States: An Examination of the Mexican Threat Narrative.” Social Identities, vol. 17, no. 5, 15 July 2011, pp. 695–707, https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2011.595209.
↩︎
