The Alberta Prosperity Project, a group that supports Alberta's separation from Canada, has unveiled a draft of a proposed constitution for an independent Alberta. The moment the group had been building toward, however, was quickly overshadowed after one of the speakers at the event used a racial slur.
The draft was presented at an event that was posted live on August 13 from Airdrie, Alberta. Alongside the proposed constitution, the group also set out what it described as a new Alberta bill of rights, framing the two documents as the basis for a future independent province.
Mitch Sylvestre, who leads the Alberta Prosperity Project, presented the draft to a group off screen. He referred to the document as the foundation of freedom and described it as an outline of what a constitution could look like for a new Alberta.
During the presentation, Sylvestre introduced Ian Parkinson, who was involved in producing the draft. Parkinson spoke on a portion of the document dealing with rights and freedoms, touching on the principle that every citizen has the right to life.
It was in the course of the event that the racial slur was used, a remark that drew attention away from the substance of the constitutional proposal the group had set out to present. Instead of the draft itself, the language used by the speaker became the focus of the coverage that followed.
In response, the Alberta Prosperity Project sought to distance itself from the comments. The group said its purpose is to make room for disagreement, not for disparaging people's articles of faith or cultural identity, drawing a line between political debate and the remark that had been made.
Sylvestre confirmed that Parkinson will no longer participate in the group's events. The move was an attempt to contain the fallout, even as the draft constitution, meant to advance the case for an independent Alberta, was pushed into the background by the controversy.