Speech Began With 'What a Traitorous B----!' An Ovation Followed

Sandra Jansen rallies colleagues against harassment
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2016 8:34 AM CST

It's not often that a room full of bickering lawmakers rises together in a standing ovation, but then it's not often one begins a political speech with "What a traitorous b----!" That's exactly what a Canadian lawmaker did in the Alberta legislature on Tuesday. Sandra Jansen—who was heavily criticized for crossing the floor to Alberta's ruling New Democratic Party last week just nine days after dropping out of the race for leadership of the province's Progressive Conservative Party—rose Tuesday to repeat a few of the insults and threats leveled against her on social media in recent days, which have resulted in her receiving a temporary protection unit, reports the CBC. Among them: "dead meat," "dumb broad," "blonde bimbo," and "useless tit."

"Let us be strong and clear in our resolve that no matter where we sit along political lines, we stand together against this," said Jansen, who previously claimed she dropped out of the Conservative leadership race because she was harassed by volunteers from a rival campaign; the Canadian Press reports the harassment reached an "intolerable" point. "Don't excuse it," Jansen added, per a speech transcript from the Edmonton Journal. "Our daughters are watching us." A 20-second standing ovation followed her two-minute speech. The reaction was even more pronounced on Twitter. "Thank you for dragging what a lot of people face into light," one user wrote to Jansen. "What you did was awesome—and badass!" (Also in Canadian politics: a debate over the word "fart.")

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