Tucker Carlson’s Alberta Visit Makes Waves in Canadian Politics

The visit to Alberta this week by American media personality Tucker Carlson was seized on by the Liberal government, which dispatched four ministers to denounce it.

“It’s unacceptable what we heard yesterday,” Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge told reporters on Jan. 25 outside the Liberal caucus meeting on Parliament Hill.

She was speaking alongside Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez, and Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault.

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Ms. St-Onge said it’s “absolutely deplorable” that Conservative politicians invited the American “far-right” to Canada.

Mr. Carlson, the former Fox News host who now posts highly watched videos on the X platform, gave talks in Calgary and Edmonton on Jan. 24. The video of his Edmonton speech has gathered over 1.8 million views on his account since being posted on Jan. 25.

In Calgary, he took aim at Canadian government policies such as medical assistance in dying and “safe supply” of drugs, and warned about unchecked immigration diluting the voting power of “people who are invested in the country.”

“You should recognize what is happening to you,” he told the audience. “This is not a political debate to which you’ve been invited to participate. This is a destruction of you and your culture and your beliefs and your children and your future.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith attended both events held in her province. Her comments about Mr. Guilbeault, whom she blames for encroaching on Alberta’s jurisdiction through laws and regulations, were singled out by the Liberal ministers.

During the event, Mr. Carlson asked if Mr. Guilbeault is an engineer, to which Ms. Smith replied, “he’s an environmental zealot.”

“I wish you would put Steven Guilbeault in your crosshairs,” Ms. Smith said.

The Liberal ministers said this amounted to calling for “political violence.”

“The fact that I was targeted last night at this event, this increases political violence against everyone who runs for office in this country,” said Mr. Guilbeault.

Mr. Boissonault accused Ms. Smith of bringing the “mouthpiece of the conservative MAGA far-right” to the “progressive” riding of Edmonton Centre he represents.

“You do not summon the dogs of MAGA conservatism to come and somehow try to scare us and to try to incite violence against politicians of any stripe,” he said.

Mr. Guilbeault also called Mr. Carlson a “fallen” TV host “because he lied publicly” and said he’s “one of those responsible” for the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The reason that led to Mr. Carslon’s departure from Fox News, where he dominated the ratings, is not clear, and Mr. Carlson has not been implicated or charged with regard to the Jan. 6 events.

The provincial NDP has also taken issue with Ms. Smith taking part in the event.

Ms. Smith has defended her participation in the talks with Mr. Carlson by saying she takes a “wide range of media requests.”

“I don’t do a screening test to make sure that every person that interviews me matches 100 percent of what I believe,” the premier said in a press conference on Jan. 25.

“My job is to get our message out about Alberta and I told everyone that I wanted to make sure that somebody who has a very loud voice in America knew that we were a partner in being able to provide energy security and energy affordability, and I got that message out.”

Omid Ghoreishi contributed to this report.