Sundre's rodeo parade an early casualty of Alberta's separation referendum
Social media algorithms and influencers put a big target on community volunteers
Years from now the history books might record the Sundre Pro Rodeo Parade as an early casualty of Alberta’s separatist referendum campaign of 2026.
Online harassment of volunteers organizers led to the cancellation of the annual summer parade in the small town nestled in the scenic foothills of west central Alberta.
Probably hoping to avoid getting drawn into the Alberta separatism debate as much as possible, the parade organizers initially denied the entry of a pro-separatism float that would have been draped with blue Alberta flags. The rodeo parade then became the target of a concerted online campaign that led the committee to reverse its decision and allow the float to enter the parade. But that didn’t stop the harassment and the organizers decided to just cancel the parade entirely this year.
Sundre Rodeo spokesperson Darby Crouch told The Albertan that the committee tried to be reasonable but later had to involve the RCMP after criticism turned into threats.
“Board members, including myself, had gotten threats,” Crouch told the Albertan on June 16.
A statement from the Sundre Pro-Rodeo and Race Association read:
These volunteers are members of our community who dedicate countless hours each year to organizing events that benefit Sundre and its residents. They are not paid employees, nor are they public figures. They are neighbours, friends, parents, business owners, and community members who volunteer their time because they care deeply about this event and our town.
After hearing concerns from all sides, the association reconsidered its original decision, reached out directly to the float organizers, apologized, and invited them to participate in the parade. Despite those efforts, the volume of hostility directed toward volunteers continued to grow.
The decision to cancel the parade is not a statement about any political viewpoint, movement, or cause. The Sundre Pro Rodeo and Race Association respect the right of individuals to hold and express differing opinions. This decision was made because the ongoing attacks directed at volunteers have created an environment that is no longer conducive to organizing and delivering the community-focused event that residents have come to expect.
We want to be clear: disagreement is a normal and healthy part of any community. Harassment, intimidation, and personal attacks against volunteers are not. No volunteer should be expected to endure ongoing online abuse for helping organize a community event.
“I personally called (them) and said that they were allowed to be in it, but they decided they didn’t want to and it still blew up,” said Crouch, who also works as the Chief of Staff to Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Tara Sawyer and is President of the United Conservative Party constituency association in the Camrose riding.
“There was still the narrative that we weren’t allowing them, but that wasn’t true,” Crouch said.
The blow up over the Sundre rodeo parade is a reminder of how incredibly divisive the separation referendum that Premier Danielle Smith has called is becoming in communities across Alberta — especially in the UCP’s rural strongholds like the Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre riding.
While most polls show the majority of Albertans would vote for Alberta to remain in Canada, those polls also show that a majority of UCP supporters would vote to leave.
Alberta separatists have been very active in this part of the province, with various groups organizing information town halls and community suppers up and down the Cowboy Trail. The region has been a hotbed of organizing for some of the UCP’s most enthusiastic activists after many of them jumped into politics to oppose public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of the separatist organizers are also actively involved in local UCP constituency associations in the region.
The sprawling rural riding is one of the strongest UCP-voting ridings in the province. Local MLA Jason Nixon, who currently serves as Minister of Finance, was re-elected with 81.6 of the vote in 2019. Nixon only saw his vote drop to 69.4 per cent in the 2023 election because his main challenger was independent right-wing candidate Tim Hoven, who had been disqualified from the UCP nomination race.
Hoven has since been affiliated with various separatist efforts, including the controversial Centurion Project, which Elections Alberta claims is responsible for uploading the official voters list — including the personal contact information of 2.9 million Albertans — on to a publicly searchable database.
Social media anger fuelling division in Alberta
What happened in Sundre is a warning about how algorithms that decide what people see on social media platforms are promoting outrage and opportunistic influencers looking to score clicks are helping fuel that division. It means that local issues, like a decision made by a small town rodeo parade committee, can have a much broader reach and be a target for backlash from people (and AI-bots) from far and wide who might have no real connection or interest in the community.
Sparking anger over Alberta separatism has even become financially lucrative for some people outside the country and is almost certainly a target for foreign governments and groups who have an interest in destabilizing Canada.
In response to the parade’s cancellation, separatist social media accounts promoted AI-generated posters calling for a convoy of trucks with Alberta flags to converge on Sundre over the weekend. It’s unclear if the drive-by convoy showed up but Sundre Mayor Richard Warnock said he hoped “that they do it peacefully and come in and out of Sundre.”
Not all rodeo parades are drawing the same controversy as Sundre this summer.
A parade held during the Innisfail Rotary Pro Rodeo earlier this month welcomed former deputy premier Thomas Luakszuk’s Forever Canadian Unity Bus and an Alberta separatist tractor, with no big blow ups. Lukaszuk even won a first-place ribbon for the Unity Bus parade entry.
It is going to become increasingly difficult for groups like the Sundre Rodeo to stay out of the fray as the October 19 separation referendum approaches. This is an extremely explosive political issue that has big potential to divide families, neighbours and communities across the province.
Small town rodeos are fun and we should support them
Rodeos are a summer tradition on the prairies and attract people from near and far, including competitors and their families who travel from long distances to watch the competition and take in the parades and midway carnivals. The weekend-long rodeos are also a moment of great pride for smaller communities, with legions of local volunteers putting in hours of work to make the events are a success.
If you have never experienced a small town rodeo, they can be a lot of fun and are worth the trip.
NDP nominates MLA David Eggen and David Shepherd for re-election
The longest serving MLA in the Alberta Legislature is hoping to extend his winning streak by another four years. NDP MLA David Eggen was selected to run for re-election in Edmonton-North West at a nomination meeting on June 16.
Eggen has represented that Edmonton riding since 2019 and previously represented Edmonton-Calder from 2004 to 2008 and 2012 to 2019. He was Minister of Education for the entire four years of the NDP’s time in government from 2015 to 2019 and currently services as chair of the NDP Opposition Caucus and Advanced Education critic.
The high level of churn in Alberta’s recent provincial elections has meant that not many MLAs make it to five-terms like Eggen has.
Also nominated for the NDP was David Shepherd in Edmonton-City Centre. Shepherd was first elected in the central Edmonton riding in 2015 and was re-elected in 2023 with 74.8 per cent of the vote.
More nomination news:
Former city councillor and mayoral candidate Jeff Davison had some strong words of criticism for Councillor Dan McLean, who is running for the UCP nomination ahead of the by-election in Calgary-Shaw.
Airdrie CityView reported on Mavy Mangat’s campaign for the UCP nomination in Cochrane.
Here is a list of upcoming candidate nomination meetings:
June 24: NDP MLA Sarah Elmeligi will be nominated in Banff-Kananaskis. Mike Derry and Dan McLean are running for the UCP nomination in Calgary-Shaw ahead of an expected by-election.
June 25: NDP MLA Marie Renaud will be nominated in St. Albert and NDP MLA Sharif Haji will be nominated in Edmonton-Decore.
June 26: Kyle Campbell is running for the NDP nomination in Calgary-Shaw.
June 28: NDP MLA Brooks Arcand-Paul will be nominated in Edmonton-West Henday.
June 29: Nomination applications are due for candidates interested in running for UCP nominations in Calgary-Bow, Calgary-West, Camrose, and Chestermere-Strathmore.
A full list of nominated and nomination candidates running in the next Alberta election can be found on this page:
Former UCP President running for Progressive Tory nomination
Former UCP staffer and constituency president Matthew Bissett has announced his plans to run for the Progressive Tory Party nomination in the Sherwood Park riding just east of Edmonton.
Bissett was president of the UCP constituency association in the riding from 2023 to 2024 and worked as a policy advisory to Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis and Minister of Infrastructure Nathan Neudorf. He was an active member of the Progressive Conservative Party in the 2000s and early 2010s.
Bissett shared a statement about his candidacy with Daveberta, including why he believes he was dismissed as a staffer by the UCP government:
I’ve been involved in conservative politics for 25 years in Sherwood Park and the surrounding area. Starting my with the PCs and then the UCP, I have worked in volunteer and professional capacities; including serving as policy advisor to two separate UCP Deputy Premiers.
Shortly after Danielle Smith was elected, it was clear that the moral compass that had once steered the heart of the party was gone. After asking too many questions, and raising concerns about what was happening with MHCare, and why Sam Mraiche’s family was suddenly working at high levels in ministerial offices with no experience; I was dismissed from my position. I was not the first staffer this happened to, and I wasn’t the last.
Many of us tried to keep the party from going off the rails from the inside at the highest levels, but our advice and opinions were no longer welcome. Serving then as the UCP Constituency Association President in Sherwood Park, I was shown the door in a clear demonstration that only certain members of the UCP mattered to the Premier’s Office.
I had the privilege of working with Peter Guthrie in the UCP caucus as a staffer. After over 20 years in politics, I had only ever seen a few elected officials from any party that were there for the right reasons. It’s rare to find someone with integrity, drive, charisma that genuinely wants to work for the betterment of the electorate, not themselves. Peter’s resignation from the UCP cabinet came as no surprise to me. His reasons for leaving were the same issues I had raised as a staffer. Corruption, cronyism, and an extreme disregard for inside opinions that even slightly deviated from Premier Smith’s. When Peter became the leader of the Progressive Tory Party, I immediately knew as a conservative that had become politically homeless; that is where I belonged.
As a staffer, I accomplished many things, but for Sherwood Park I’m most proud that I put phase 2 of our hospital back on the government’s radar. I pushed hard for it and the standalone Stollery to be approved. This was something at the time that was not even on the radar of Minster Glubish or Jordan Walker until I raised it as a potential replacement of the then scrapped South Edmonton Hospital project.
I intend on standing for nomination for the Tories in Sherwood Park to attempt to restore faith not only in the progressive conservative brand of politics, but politics in general. Too many voters have given up, and just as many are voting for one party simply out of dislike or fear of the other. It’s time to do things differently. I want to offer a political option that people can believe in and be proud of. I believe the Tories are that option. Win or lose, I want to be able to look my kids in the eye and say that as a conservative, I stood against separatism and that I did it with integrity.
The Progressive Tory Party has not announced a nomination date in the riding.
Sherwood Park is currently represented by NDP MLA Kyle Kasawski, who was first elected in 2023 and has been nominated to run for re-election in 2027.
Former UCP MLA Jordan Walker is running for his party’s nomination.
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Dave
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After much complaining about being initially banned from the parade, the organizers did indeed have a "slow roll" through Sundre. After inviting anyone to join their "parade/convoy" one organizer said, "as long as it isn't political" or "sends the wrong message." We are in very stupid and dangerous times, when suppressing the other side is considered a solution in every instance.