Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk is a Canadian politician who was elected in the

2019 Alberta general election The 2019 Alberta general election was held on April 16, 2019, to elect 87 members to the 30th Alberta Legislature. In its first general election contest, the Jason Kenney-led United Conservative Party (UCP) won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 ...

to represent the

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting. The electoral district, ...

in the

30th Alberta Legislature The 30th Alberta Legislative Assembly was constituted after the general election on April 16, 2019. The United Conservative Party (UCP), led by Jason Kenney, won a majority of seats and formed the government. The New Democrats, led by outgoing Pr ...

. She is a member of the United Conservative Party and has been the Associate Minister of Status of Women since June 2022.

Career

Armstrong-Homeniuk introduced

private member's bills A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in w ...

''Protection of Students with Life-threatening Allergies Act'' (Bill 201) which requires all publicly funded schools to have adrenalin autoinjectors (

EpiPens An epinephrine autoinjector (or adrenaline autoinjector, also known by the trademark EpiPen) is a medical device for injecting a measured dose or doses of epinephrine (adrenaline) by means of autoinjector technology. It is most often used for the ...

) at the ready, should someone have an unexpected, life-threatening allergic reaction. Bill 201 received Royal Assent on June 28, 2019, and came into force on January 1, 2020. On August 8, 2022, it was revealed that Armstrong-Homeniuk had led a judging panel that awarded $200 to an essay that supported

the Great Replacement conspiracy theory The Great Replacement (french: links=no, Grand Remplacement), also known as replacement theory or great replacement theory, is a white nationalist far-right conspiracy theoryPT71 disseminated by French author Renaud Camus. The original theor ...

. The entry finished third and was attributed to someone called S. Silver. The essay called immigration "a sickly mentality that amounts to a drive for cultural suicide," that women are “not exactly” equal to men, and that it was "misguided" and "harmful" to let women have careers traditionally dominated by men. The essay proposed financial incentives to boost birth rates, and awarding medals to women with more than two children. The essay was submitted in the Her Vision Inspires contest, a contest announced in February that was a partnership between the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Canadian Region. Young women between the ages of 17 and 25 were asked to describe their "unique vision for Alberta" and what they would do if they were elected to be an MLA. The entry was first spotted by NDP MLA

Janis Irwin Janis Irwin (born September 9, 1984) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 2019 Alberta general election. She represents the electoral district of Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood as a member of the Alb ...

, who posted screenshots of the essay to her Twitter account on August 8, 2022. In a statement on August 9, 2022, Armstrong-Homeniuk said the essay contest was intended to reflect a “broad range of opinions” from young Alberta women and agreed "the essay in question should not have been chosen." She sent a second statement later that day apologizing after hearing public and private criticism from colleagues in the UCP caucus and cabinet, including Legislature Speaker Nathan Cooper and UCP leadership candidates and MLAs

Rebecca Schulz Rebecca Schulz (born July 30, 1984) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to represent the electoral district of Calgary-Shaw in the 30th Alberta Legislature. She was appointed to the Executive Council o ...

and

Rajan Sawhney Rajan Sawhney (born May 2, 1971) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to represent the electoral district of Calgary-North East in the 30th Alberta Legislature. She is a member of the United Conservat ...

. UCP MLA

Jackie Lovely Jackie Lovely (born 1964/1965) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to represent the electoral district of Camrose in the 30th Alberta Legislature. She is a member of the United Conservative Party. B ...

confirmed she was also part of the judging panel on August 10, 2022 and apologized. Both MLAs did not explain how the essay was selected.

Electoral history

2019 general election

References

People from Vegreville United Conservative Party MLAs Living people Women MLAs in Alberta 21st-century Canadian politicians Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian women politicians {{Alberta-politician-stub