Kerry Diotte Explained

Kerry Diotte
Birth Name:Kerry Thomas Diotte
Birth Date:26 February 1956
Birth Place:Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
Residence:Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Riding:Edmonton Griesbach
Parliament:Canadian
Term Start:October 19, 2015
Term End:September 20, 2021
Predecessor:Riding established
Successor:Blake Desjarlais
Office1:Edmonton City Councillor
Constituency1:Ward 11
Term Start1:October 26, 2010
Term End1:October 29, 2013
Predecessor1:Ward established
Successor1:Mike Nickel
Party:Conservative
Occupation:Journalist
Alma Mater:Carleton University

Kerry Thomas Diotte (born 1956) is a Canadian journalist and former politician who was the member of Parliament (MP) for Edmonton Griesbach from 2015 to 2021 and sat on the Edmonton City Council from 2010 to 2013. A Conservative, Diotte was elected to the House of Commons twice–in the 2015 and 2019 elections–but would lose his seat to New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Blake Desjarlais in 2021. He ran for mayor of Edmonton in 2013, placing third. In June 2022 he joined Rebel News to become their Alberta Legislature reporter and political correspondent.[1] [2]

Early life and career

Diotte was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on February 26, 1956. He was educated at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario.

Diotte was employed at the Edmonton Sun from 1985 until October 2009 where he worked as Legislature bureau chief, as well as a copy editor, reporter, and assignment editor. Prior to that, he worked for the Calgary Sun and newsmagazines, including Alberta Report and Maclean's. He has also worked for a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation affiliate where he was an on-camera television reporter. For many years, Diotte was president of the Edmonton chapter of the Canadian Association of Journalists and a national director of the organization. He resigned those positions to campaign for a city council seat in the 2010 Edmonton municipal election.

2004 police sting

On November 18, 2004, seven members of the Edmonton Police Service targeted Diotte along with then-police commission chairman Martin Ignasiak in a controversial undercover drunk-driving operation at an Edmonton bar, the Overtime Broiler & Taproom. Police were staked out in anticipation of catching the two men driving home drunk, but both took cabs home.

Subsequent legal proceedings produced evidence, including police radio conversations from that night, showing officers set up the operation because they were upset by Diotte's newspaper columns about policing, including criticism of photo radar operations. After an internal police investigation exonerated the officers involved in the unwarranted would-be sting, then-police chief Fred Rayner was fired from his position by the Edmonton Police Commission.

In September 2008, Alberta's Law Enforcement Review Board ruled a senior police officer abused his power by targeting Diotte because the law enforcement official was frustrated by the columnist's viewpoints on police matters. The panel decided there was "no credible evidence" to suggest Diotte would drive drunk when leaving the November 18, 2004 function and noted the journalist has no criminal record.[3] In the decision, the panel chair wrote: "Mr. Diotte had the right, without fear of police reprisal, to freedom of speech, which includes the freedom to write critical articles about policing in his community."[4]

Political career

Municipal politics

Diotte ran for city council in the 2010 Edmonton municipal election, winning Ward 11 with 44.3% of the vote.[5] On May 16, 2013, Diotte announced his candidacy for the mayoralty of Edmonton.[6] He finished in third with 32,917 votes.[7]

Member of Parliament

On February 26, 2014, Diotte announced his intention to seek the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in the new federal riding of Edmonton Griesbach.[8] Diotte won the nomination election on December 6, 2014.[9] In the 2015 election, Diotte won the seat, defeating his closest opponent, Janis Irwin, by less than 3,000 votes.[10] [11] [12]

On September 15, 2016, he was appointed deputy critic of Urban Affairs in Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose's shadow cabinet.[13]

Diotte was a member of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations in the 42nd Parliament.[14]

He was appointed in September 2018 as a member of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.[15]

Diotte sponsored private member's Bill C-306, An Act to establish a Crimean Tatar Deportation ("Sürgünlik") Memorial Day and to recognize the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 as an act of genocide. This bill sought to recognize the mass deportations of Crimean Tatars in 1944 by the Soviet Union as genocide and establish May 18 as a day of commemoration.[16] Bill C-306 was defeated at second reading.[17]

Diotte was appointed Deputy Shadow Minister for Public Services and Procurement in Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer's shadow cabinet.[18]

On February 6, 2020, Diotte voted in support of Bill C-233 – an act to amend the Criminal Code (sex-selective abortion), which would make it an indictable or a summary offence for a medical practitioner to knowingly perform an abortion solely on the grounds of the child's genetic sex.[19]

On October 28, 2020, Diotte voted in favour of Bill C-6 in the second reading, which proposed amending the Criminal Code to include a ban on conversion therapy.[20] However, on June 21, 2021, he voted against the bill during the third reading, expressing concerns that the legislation wasn't worded precisely enough to exclude certain conversations in religious counselling. After losing his seat in the 2021 Canadian federal election, the amendment passed in the first session of the next Parliament in Bill C-4.[21]

Diotte lost his Edmonton-Griesbach seat to the NDP's Blake Desjarlais in the 2021 federal election.[22] MLA Janis Irwin attributed Diotte's loss to anger directed towards the Conservative Party due to their actions federally – such as Diotte's vote against the conservation therapy ban – and their association with the unpopular United Conservative Party (UCP) government provincially. As well, growing support of the People's Party voters siphoned off support from the Conservatives.[23]

Controversy

On November 19, 2018, Diotte launched a lawsuit against University of Alberta student publication The Gateway for publishing two articles that the suit deemed "defamatory", objecting to claims that he is racist.[24] The Gateway issued a quick apology and retraction, stating: "That characterization of Mr. Diotte is false, damaging to his reputation, and caused Mr. Diotte and his family unwarranted embarrassment. The Gateway sincerely apologizes to Mr. Diotte for this wrongful characterization and retracts the offending articles."[25] In a statement, Diotte stated that he was “glad that my lawyer and theirs could come to a mutually agreeable solution without a protracted court fight,” and that he was “a strong believer in free speech, but it’s important to remember there are legal lines that can’t be crossed.”[26] On July 24, 2019, the Progress Report republished the story with the hope of triggering a SLAPP lawsuit. The podcast episode detailing this story still remains online.[27]

Electoral history

2010 Edmonton Ward 11 election! Candidate !! Votes !! %
Kerry Diotte7,34144.2
Chinwe Okelu4,72828.5
Brent Schaffrick1,783 10.7
Shane Bergadhl 1,427 8.6
Vishal Luthra 8905.4
Roberto Maglalang 4382.6
2013 Edmonton mayoral election[28] ! Candidate !! Votes !! %
Don Iveson 132,162 62.2
41,182 19.4
Kerry Diotte 32,917 15.5
Joshua Semotiuk 2,596 1.2
Gordon Ward 2,248 1.1
Kristine Acielo 1,292 0.6

External sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Trudeau's Supreme Court chief judge says you'd better not criticize him — he's 'warning' you .
  2. Web site: Kerry Diotte on Instagram: "I'm thrilled to join Ezra Levant at Rebel News as their Political correspondent and Alberta legislature bureau chief. Today more than ever people need solid, independent journalism to tell the other side of the story. @news.rebel @rebelnews_ca @ezra.levant #yegcc #ableg #cdnpoli #canpoli #journalism" .
  3. Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board decision 002-008
  4. News: Karen . Kleiss . Officer faces suspension for Overtime sting; Journalist targeted by senior EPS member for 'reasons other than law enforcement' . Edmonton Journal . September 6, 2008 . 2015-11-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150427182959/http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=6df4e2a5-64c2-4e08-8350-54cc9c2183ce . April 27, 2015 .
  5. Web site: Sault native wins seat on Edmonton city council. The Sault Star. October 21, 2010. 2015-11-08.
  6. Web site: Councillor Kerry Diotte running for mayor. Global News. May 16, 2013. 2015-11-08.
  7. Web site: Don Iveson elected Edmonton's next mayor. CBC News. October 21, 2013. 2015-11-08.
  8. Web site: Kerry Diotte takes a run at federal politics. CBC News. February 26, 2014. 2015-11-08.
  9. Web site: Diotte wins federal Conservative nomination. Edmonton Journal. December 10, 2014. 2015-11-08.
  10. Web site: Edmonton Griesbach goes to Conservative Kerry Diotte, dashing NDP's hope in Janis Irwin. Edmonton Journal. October 19, 2015. 2015-11-08.
  11. Web site: Conservative Kerry Diotte wins in Edmonton Griesbach. Global News. October 19, 2015. 2015-11-08.
  12. Web site: Conservatives elected in five of eight Edmonton ridings. CBC News. October 19, 2015. 2015-11-08.
  13. News: Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet as of September 15, 2016. 2017-10-25.
  14. Web site: REGS – Home. www.parl.ca. en. 2017-10-25.
  15. Web site: HUMA – Home – House of Commons of Canada .
  16. Web site: LEGISinfo – Private Member's Bill C-306 (42–1). www.parl.ca. en-CA. 2017-10-25.
  17. Web site: Vote Details. www.ourcommons.ca. en. 2017-10-25.
  18. News: Team. 2017-10-25. en-CA.
  19. Web site: House of Commons . June 2, 2021 . 2nd reading of Bill C-233, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sex-selective abortion) . June 28, 2022 . LEGISinfo.
  20. Web site: Diotte. Kerry. June 25, 2021. Post about conversion therapy vote. December 27, 2021. photo. Facebook.
  21. Web site: LEGISinfo – Private Member's Bill C-4 (44–1). www.parl.ca. en-CA. 2021-12-27.
  22. Web site: Diotte loses Edmonton seat . 2022-03-31 . saultstar . en-CA.
  23. News: Aiello . Rachel . 'I want to leave a mark': Meet NDP Blake Desjarlais, Canada's first openly two-spirit MP . 25 October 2021 . ctvnews.ca . . Bell Media . 23 October 2021 . en.
  24. Web site: Edmonton MP suing university newspaper over articles on his associations with controversial right-wing commentator. 2021-04-06. Global News. en-US.
  25. Web site: Apology and retraction to Kerry Diotte, Member of Parliament . 30 April 2019 .
  26. News: Edmonton MP wins fight against student newspaper who called him racist The Star. Toronto Star. 30 April 2019.
  27. Web site: ‎The Progress Report: Episode 2 - "Kerry Diotte sue us bitch" on Apple Podcasts . 2024-08-08 . Apple Podcasts . en-CA.
  28. Web site: 2013 Official Elections Results . City of Edmonton . October 24, 2013 . November 9, 2013.