Route route links
- news
- Local news
“I believe these attacks…were driven by people who want to silence my voice and our campaign”
Publication date:
Aug 24, 2022 • 6 hours ago • 3 min read • 30 comments Chestermere-Rocky View MLA Leela Aheer speaks to the media at the McDougall Center in Calgary on May 19, 2022. Photo by Gavin Young/Postmedia
Content of the article
A candidate in the UCP leadership race says he won’t back down after hackers breached his personal and public Facebook pages and posted criminal material on them.
Advertisement 2
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
Leela Aheer said she was shocked to wake up Tuesday morning to messages that her accounts had been hacked and that Facebook had flagged several posts on the pages for violations of its standards on “child nudity and sexual exploitation.”
Sign up for daily headline news from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
By clicking the sign up button, you agree to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, check your junk folder.
The next issue of the Calgary Herald Headline News will be in your inbox soon.
We encountered a problem registering you. Please try again
Content of the article
Chestermere RCMP confirmed Wednesday that they have opened an investigation into the incident, but said additional details could not be shared yet. Aheer said he was working with the RCMP’s victim services unit and thanked the Mounties for their help.
“I believe these attacks on my account were carried out by people who want to silence my voice and our campaign,” an emotional Aheer told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
“Whoever perpetrated this attack on me and my family, you will not win. I will not back down.”
Advertisement 3
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
Aheer said he believes the hack was targeted, but said he doesn’t believe it originated from another campaign.
The campaign said it is taking extra precautions, both for Aheer’s in-person events and to protect his social media accounts.
The leadership candidate said she believes the incident transcends the ongoing political race.
“The only impact it should have is on us as a society. How do we want to move forward?” Aheer said. “That’s not anybody’s vision for Alberta. So let’s take a moment to take a collective stand, to stand up to the kind of people who would do this kind of thing.”
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt agreed, saying the issue “isn’t right or left, it’s right or wrong.”
She said it follows a trend of public and vicious attacks on women politicians and journalists that moves across party lines.
Advertisement 4
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Rachel Notley or Michelle Rempel Garner. It doesn’t matter if you’re Shannon Phillips or if you’re Leela Aheer. … This is a trend and it seems to be getting worse,” Bratt said.
“There’s a tapping into that anger, and I think that’s dangerous, and this is just another escalation.”
Aheer is a United Conservative Party MP representing the Chestermere-Strathmore constituency. She was first elected with the Wildrose Party in 2015 and served as Alberta’s Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women for two years starting in 2019. She was ousted shortly after openly criticizing the first Minister Jason Kenney.
He is one of seven candidates vying to replace Kenney as UCP leader. Brian Jean, Todd Loewen, Rajan Sawhney, Rebecca Schulz, Danielle Smith and Travis Toews are also vying for match director.
Advertisement 5
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
Content of the article
Sawhney tweeted in support of Aheer on Wednesday, calling the attack unacceptable and adding: “Being a woman in politics is not easy.”
AHS says no patient data was accessed in its Facebook breach
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Alberta’s health authority was hit by a hack of its own.
Shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Alberta Health Services EMS Facebook page began broadcasting a live stream showing a loop of someone playing the online video game Dota 2. The stream continued for almost four hours.
Officials were trying to regain control of the page, followed by about 11,000 people, on Wednesday.
“We are actively working with Facebook to help shut down the page as a short-term solution,” AHS said in a statement. “We are also working to determine the root cause and long-term solutions to remove the infringing content and regain control of the page.”
The site is only used to share public education and EMS information, AHS said, adding that no patient information has been breached. The health authority does not store patient information on any social media platform.
jherring@postmedia.com
Twitter: @jasonfherring
Share this article on your social network
Advertisement 1
This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.
comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil discussion forum and encouraging all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour to be moderated before appearing on the site. Please keep your comments relevant and respectful. We’ve enabled email notifications: You’ll now receive an email if you get a reply to your comment, there’s an update to a comment thread you follow, or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.