“My candidacy has been taken away by the leadership. I do not agree with the grounds they removed it on,” Southern wrote on the party’s private Facebook group page. “I shared a satirical video about trans-everything on twitter which I deleted soon after because a party member was offended. I later found out my profile had been removed from the website and I was no longer a candidate.”
“Either everything is open to satire or nothing is. I believe there has been some pandering to certain groups, and if I had posted a satirical video poking fun at the radically religious, T.V. show hosts, blonde girls etc. the same actions would not have been taken. As a Libertarian, I obviously support the rights of every group and have many friends in every group. Whether it be religious, LGBTQ, left wing, right wing, rich, poor, big, small. Comedy and satire include exaggeration and stereotypes of all these groups.”
The sudden announcement of the removal of Southern’s candidacy caused an immediate and identifiable rift in the party as a whole. Many took issue with the reason Southern was removed.
After “about an hour” of people demanding an explanation, Moen posted a response, taking full responsibility for the decision to remove Southern as a candidate. “I am the one who has to sign off on candidates as per Elections Canada rules.
