By Ian Schuyt
Editor, the Gauntlet:
Concerned Christians Canada Inc., a for-profit group, has started a campaign to remove Calgary North MLA Jim Prentice from his position because of his recent support of the gay marriage bill. Jim Prentice has decided to support the bill after talking to his constituents in Calgary North, putting aside his own values as a Christian. CCC is raising $100,000 for the campaign and has started a web site to collect donations (http://www.concernedchristians .ca/removejimprentice/content/index.htm). Homosexuality was removed from the “mental illness” list back in 1973, but this site includes questionable links to pages like www.hopeforhomosexuals.com.
I contacted Craig Chander, CEO of CCC, to express my dismay at the organization’s goal to remove my elected official, simply because they disagree with the view of Prentice’s constituents. When I asked what this $100,000 was for, Chandler replied, “We have some tricks up our sleeve and we will not reveal them to our enemies who wish to wipe us out like Jim Prentice.” What really shocked me was that he called Jim Prentice a “New Nazi”!
It turns out that the site’s poll is rigged too. I asked my friends and co-workers to vote on the CCC’s site, which was obviously one-sided, so it better represented the constituents. The poll numbers quickly reversed, but a few days later (and within a one-hour time span) the poll suddenly received over 300 votes on the other side! Removing elected officials and rigging polls shouldn’t be acceptable from any organization, especially one headed by an individual who was a candidate for leadership of the Conservative Party.