The Saskatchewan Party turfed Daryl Cooper over the weekend. Cooper was the Saskatchewan Party candidate for Saskatoon Eastview until Oct. 3. The day after, Cooper was replaced by a federal Liberal supporter and member of the Saskatoon & Region Homebuilders’ Association, Chris Guérette.
Cooper’s career with the Saskatchewan Party ended after a flirtation with the online-based QAnon conspiracy cult, but this would-be-nominee proved to be controversial long before his passion for online conspiracies were revealed.
Cooper’s QAnon association announced on Saturday Oct. 3 likely represented a mild interest on the MLA-contender’s behalf. Still, many wondered why he’d clicked onto QAnon posts at all, as Premier Scott Moe discovered on Friday.
Daryl Cooper said in a statement on Sunday, Oct. 4 and published in the Canadian Press, "Reading a post, or sometimes even clicking the 'like' button does not signify support for, or agreement with, every word and every position held by the account holders while not participating in discussions."
But why would a sane person click ‘like’ onto a QAnon post?
QAnon’s orthodoxy centres on Trump planning to arrest leftist deep-state operatives. Some QAnon posts allege Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis was staged; the POTUS will arrest the country’s deep-state enemies when he’s in isolation. Others believe Trump is taking hydroxychloroquine – a drug the POTUS promoted despite the FDA’s cautions about the side effects.
QAnon activists said the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by galactic cosmic rays from 5G technology.
Centre to QAnon orthodoxy is the belief of Trump saving America and the world from themselves.
The online conspiracy sect achieved popularity on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms in 2020. QAnon epitomizes a church of sock-eyed individuals, staring at computer screens, writing and spreading unfathomable and paranoid ideas of a divine dictatorship organized to conquer the deep-state.
Trump is the key – he’ll resolve the Plannedemic, members of QAnon allege.
British Columbian supporter, Pb QAnon from Kelowna, wrote on November 3, “The ballot count will be postponed for as long as possible as a tactic to fumigate the siting POTUS if a decision isn’t decided by Inauguration Day. The pandemic event will cease to even be a figment our imaginations … no death toll, no mask debate, no virus … it will disappear from the air waves like it didn’t exist … Patriots need to prepare. This is not a warning or a test.”
QAnon’s beliefs are hard to comprehend, but they’re serious about warring against a cabal of elites, including members of Hollywood.
So, when reading about the ideals held by QAnon, the Saskatchewan Party were right for sending Cooper down the line – but there’s much more to the Cooper story, as the NDP revealed in a post issued on Saturday shortly before he resigned.
Cooper’s QAnon links might’ve been overstated. Yet, the candidate’s outspokenness had been problematic since November 23, 2017, when Cooper wrote a letter in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, advising the government to sell off SaskTel.
He wrote: “SaskTel is not an essential service and should be sold, at the very minimum 49 per cent of it.”
Even if the Saskatchewan Party were planning to sell off a Crown or two to maintain the tax cuts they’re hoping to implement in the next Legislature, the government must’ve decided Cooper leaned too far on right, or perhaps Cooper had been too candid about the Sask. Party’s plans to give SaskTel to the markets.
Certainly, privatizing SaskTel would be a mistake, because this Crown is an essential service.
Whether Cooper truly belonged to QAnon or not is an interesting detail, but not as vital as his opinions on having the government part with SaskTel.
In contradiction to Cooper, SaskTel must remain as a viable public service for the people of Saskatchewan in years to come, regardless of the party voted in to rule the Legislature on October 26.
