Sundre, Alta., float decried as racist was 'political satire,' area rancher claims

WARNING: This story contains images that readers may find distressing and offensive.

A woman associated with a parade float that appeared in a southern Alberta rodeo over the weekend that depicted a man with a fake beard and a turban says the display had "absolutely nothing to do with racism" — but the head of a local Sikh cultural centre disagrees.

Over the weekend at the Sundre Pro Rodeo, two men riding a float with the words "The Liberal" pasted on its side were photographed. The men on the float appear to be depictions of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh.

The man driving the tractor wore a mask apparently intended to represent Trudeau, while the white man in the manure spreader behind wore a fake beard and turban, worn by Sikhs worldwide as part of their religious practice.

The float was widely criticized as racist, including by Jason Nixon, Alberta finance minister and UCP MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, George Chahal, the Liberal MP for Calgary Skyview, and the Dashmesh Culture Centre in Calgary, a Sikh community hub.

CBC News called Bio Equine, a horse and pet supplement company based in Sundre, Alta., listed as being run by someone named B. Lynne Hoff. Hoff was discussing putting the float together on a Facebook group days prior to the event.

The woman who answered would not identify herself and only said she's a Sundre rancher, adding she had provided a piece of equipment to the float. 

She would not answer multiple questions posed by CBC News, but did provide a statement.

"The float in the Sundre parade had absolutely nothing to do with racism and everything to do with a laugh after two years of lockdown by the Liberal government, supported by the NDP," the woman said. "It was a political satire, just like you see in newspapers and publications.

"If Mr. Singh was not the leader of the NDP party, he would not be depicted as the leader of the NDP party. If it was somebody else, they would have been dressed another way."

Dashmesh Culture Centre president Amanpreet Singh Gill, however, said the depictions present in the float were disappointing.

"The undertones of racism against Jagmeet and the Sikh community is unacceptable," he said. 

"Kids are facing these issues every day. On a public event where all level of government, even the local township and people are invited to watch and making fun of the community, that's hurting … This has to stop. This kind of narrative is not good for the community."

Sundre Mayor Richard Warnock said the images going viral draws negativity to the town.

"The town of Sundre council does not condone racism in our community of any kind. We are extremely disappointed to learn an unauthorized float, and their attempt at a political statement, gained access this past weekend to an event our community has celebrated for years," Warnock said.

"We feel confident that the parade community will review their procedures and make the needed changes to prevent issues like this from happening in the future."

Organizers with the rodeo had previously posted a statement on its Facebook page, writing that they did not know about the float and would never have approved it.

"We do send our deepest apologies and something like that will never happen again," the post read.

However, as of 12:15 p.m. Monday, the statement from the rodeo had been removed. No subsequent statement was posted to replace it, and organizers with the Sundre Pro Rodeo did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

In a statement on the parade organizers' Facebook page, officials said they didn't know the float was going to be in the parade.

"The entry was not approved and upon further investigation joined the parade without passing through any registration," the statement read.

Gill with the Dashmesh Culture Centre said now may be the time to start a dialogue between the Sikh community and smaller communities in Alberta.

"These kinds of acts happen in rural Alberta, and we're still facing the racism. It's very hard to explain to your kids," he said.