Alberta UCP candidate apologizes for comparing transgender children to feces

A United Conservative Party candidate is facing the heat for comments she made in September 2022, which include comparing transgender children in schools to having feces in food.

Lacombe-Ponoka candidate Jennifer Johnson, who is running in this month’s election, in a statement to CityNews, apologized and says she has nothing but “love and compassion for everyone equally.”

“I apologize for the way I discussed these issues in September of 2022,” her statement reads.

“I have nothing but love and compassion for everyone equally and am embarrassed that I have caused hurt in this way.”

Johnson says she has concerns about potentially life-altering medical procedures for young children.

“This is an extremely sensitive topic for so many, and I need to do a much better job communicating my concerns and objectives in a manner that is respectful to teachers and those in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community,” she said.

“If elected as an MLA, I will seek advice and counsel on how to best communicate my views and discuss these issues meaningfully moving forward.”

Recently, the NDP shared audio of a meeting she had last fall, and on Wednesday, NDP candidate David Sheperd called for UCP leader Danielle Smith to “take action.”

“(Johnson) literally compared transgender children in schools to putting a scoop of feces in your chocolate chip cookie batter,” Shepherd said.

“In the past, (Smith) has been openly supportive of the LGBTQ2S+ communities.

“The premier has said it herself: don’t judge me by what I said, judge me by what I do. So here is the opportunity for Danielle Smith to take action.”

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The recording from Sept. 1 features her speaking to the Western Unity Group in Stettler about “The Hazards of the Public Education System and Homeschooling/Pod Schooling as a Solution.”

This happened before she won the UCP nomination.

Johnson pushed debunked stories about schools having litter boxes for students that identify as cats, saying, “We can be top three per cent, but that little bit of poop wrecks it.”

She also said Alberta has a first-rate education system but is against transgender children as young as 14 getting double mastectomies and chemical castrations to help them transition.

“This is more than a teaspoon of poop in the cookie pouch,” Johnson said.

“It does not matter that we’re in the top three per cent in the world. Who cares if they got an 89 in Chemistry 30? Who cares that they are entering post-secondary if they are chemically castrated?”

She also tells the audience that “hard-core pornography” is available in elementary schools.

“And if you studied anything about pornography, you know how that affects your brain for life. So this is really serious,” she said.

“I talked to these teachers and superintendents and said, ‘How do we fix this?’ They’re stuck. They didn’t have any answers.

“We’ve got to get rid of sex education from the schools, K to 12.”

She made these calls to action as U.S. states like Florida have started banning certain books in schools.

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Johnson’s comments slammed by political expert

Kristopher Wells, Canada Research Chair for the public understanding of sexual and gender minority youth, called Johnson’s remarks “some of the worst and most homophobic or transphobic comments we’ve ever seen from a political candidate.”

“This is often the gateway,” said Wells, an associate professor at MacEwan University in Edmonton.

“First, you start with the dehumanization, then you move to strip away rights, and, pretty soon, you see the violence. And it’s exactly this kind of rhetoric that contributes to that.”

Asked about Johnson remaining a candidate, Wells said, “How can you have somebody who espouses that? What if you changed those words to (refer to the) Black community, Jewish community, Indigenous community?”

These latest controversies are happening amid what many experts call the tightest race in Alberta election history.

In March, Torry Tanner, a former UCP Lethbridge-West candidate, resigned for saying children were being exposed to pornography and that teachers were helping kids change their gender identities.

Smith previously faced questions over candidates and controversial comments when she led the Wildrose Party in the 2012 Alberta election.

She stood by a candidate despite his past comments warning gays need to repent or face eternal suffering in hell’s “lake of fire.”