Lacombe-Ponoka MLA who made derogatory remarks about trans students could join UCP caucus: Danielle Smith

Premier Danielle Smith is open to letting MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus, but not until after the legislature passes new transgender policies this fall.

Johnson was elected last year as a United Conservative member for the Lacombe-Ponoka riding, but the UCP excluded her and made her sit as an Independent because of derogatory remarks she had made about transgender students. 

There's a groundswell among some party members to welcome Johnson into the government benches, saying either she said nothing wrong or has made amends, or both.

At a private town hall for party members in Red Deer last week, one member asked the premier why Johnson isn't a member of the UCP caucus.

In a recording shared on social media, Smith said she doesn't want the MLA to distract from the government's attempt to pass upcoming reforms on transgender youth rights, including a ban on hormone treatments for minors under 16 and changes to pronoun usage rules at school.

"I think she doesn't want this fall debate to be about her comments during the election. I think she wants it to be about us passing the policy," the premier told the Red Deer crowd.

"And we need to pass that policy. It's important to protect the kids. So let's get through the fall and ask me again when I come back here."

Smith also said Johnson can have an opportunity to regain her constituents' trust while discussing the upcoming legislation, which is likely to be tabled in late October or November.

In September 2022, before Johnson became a UCP candidate, she spoke at an event in Stettler about the education system. 

A leaked recording captured her saying the system's high international ranking is meaningless while transgender students are in school. She compared their presence to adding a teaspoon of feces to a batch of cookies.

"We can be top three per cent, but that little bit of poop is what wrecks it," said Johnson.

Johnson also claimed without evidence that a Red Deer school had litter boxes in classrooms for students who identify as cats, and that schools should end sex education.

She apologized for her comments when they emerged during last year's spring election campaign, but amid backlash against the party and its candidate, Smith pledged Johnson wouldn't be included in the UCP caucuses if elected.

Johnson won comfortably in the rural riding, and has spent more than a year since as an Independent. Smith has said the MLA has to rebuild trust with the 2SLGBTQ+ community. When asked about the new video of Smith's remarks, a premier's spokesperson said in an email Friday that Johnson's work on trust continues to be "ongoing."

Johnson did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Friday.

Jonathan Luscombe, the executive director of the Lacombe Pride Society, says Johnson has done little to build relationships with the local constituents her comments have hurt. He said she has been invited to many events hosted by his community or others in her riding, but not attended.

He speaks of the "hell to pay" for Smith if she did admit Johnson as a UCPer as she pursues her trans policy overhaul.

"The headlines would be absolutely infuriating to thousands of queer people across the province," he said. "Because not only have we consistently called against these policies to even be implemented, we have consistently called to make sure she is not a part of any of that."

Others in the UCP have already urged Smith and caucus to admit her.

Party president Rob Smith expressed hope that would happen "in the not terribly distant future" in a speech to a February fundraiser in central Alberta. The nearby Red Deer-South constituency association passed a resolution in April calling for the "immediate welcoming" of Johnson to the UCP benches.

Jason Stephan, the UCP backbench MLA for that riding, agrees. In an interview Friday, he said Johnson has been "unfairly labelled" and misrepresented by the media.

"I believe she should have been back in caucus" for some time now, he said.

Smith promised last January a wide array of changes to health and education policies governing transgender youth, and has reiterated to United Conservatives her determination to introduce those reforms ahead of a leadership review at her party's convention in November.

Groups that support transgender youth and the opposition NDP are among those that have sharply denounced Smith's demands.

But their push against them largely hasn't included mention of the inflammatory things that Johnson, a non-UCPer, has said.

The Independent MLA has remained a card-carrying United Conservative, despite her exclusion from caucus. Johnson introduced the premier at an August party event in Lacombe, the premier told the Red Deer town hall.