Western Standard - EXCLUSIVE MLAs say Brian Jean challenged caucus member to fight

00:00:00.000 UCP MLA and leadership hopeful Brian Jean challenged his colleague Shane Getz into a fistfight

00:00:04.900 as tensions rose during last week's caucus meeting in which MLA's decided who would lead the party

00:00:10.140 and government, sources in the UCP caucus have told the Western Standard. The UCP caucus met

00:00:15.700 for six hours on May 19 before deciding Premier Jason Kenney will stay on until a new leader and

00:00:21.480 premier is chosen. Kenney announced the previous night his intention to resign as leader. After a

00:00:27.080 leadership review revealed he has the support of just 51.4% of the UCP membership. According to

00:00:33.680 numerous sources, Jean interrupted the proceeding multiple times during the meeting. The events

00:00:38.960 were confirmed to the Western Standard by five MLAs who were in the room when the altercation occurred.

00:00:43.840 They are being granted anonymity since they are not authorized to speak about the matter publicly.

00:00:48.940 Sources said Jean intervened in the caucus meeting repeatedly until, quote, MLA's Jane Getzen said

00:00:54.840 something along the lines of, look, Brian, you got to stop talking because every time you open your

00:00:59.540 mouth, you lose support, end quote. Sources told the Western Standard Jean was visibly upset and moved

00:01:06.900 towards Getzen and said, quote, let's take this outside, end quote. At this point, MLA Devin Dreeshan put

00:01:13.960 his hand on Jean's left shoulder to push or hold Jean in his chair, according to the MLAs. The accounts of

00:01:20.520 MLAs who spoke with the Western Standard do not all confirm if Jean stood up and moved towards

00:01:24.860 Getzen. One MLA confirmed the details of the story, but could not say definitively if they saw Jean rise

00:01:30.740 from his chair. They confirmed Dreeshan intervened to restrain Jean. Quote, he definitely got out of his

00:01:36.900 chair and was moving in the direction of Mr. Getzen, said another who described Jean's movements as a

00:01:42.000 lunge towards Getzen. One MLA said Jean tried to get up, but was unable as he was being restrained by both

00:01:49.260 Dreeshan and MLA Jason Luan. Another source said Jean came into the meeting upset and was, quote,

00:01:55.860 looking for a fight, end quote. Getzen was beaking at Jean with comments like, you don't do yourself

00:02:01.860 any favors, the source said. One described the incident as very awkward, while another said it

00:02:07.660 was remarkably tense. Beyond Dreeshan's restraint, there was no physical contact between Jean or anyone

00:02:13.780 else, sources said. Jean told the Western Standard there was no altercation and refused to comment

00:02:20.040 further, citing caucus confidentiality. Nothing like that happened, Jean said. An altercation? That's

00:02:26.260 ridiculous. In a statement to the Western Standard, Shane Getzen said, quote, I respect caucus

00:02:32.180 confidentiality and as such have no comment to provide regarding conversations, debates, or interactions

00:02:38.460 between colleagues and caucus meetings. One MLA said they were unconcerned for their safety because

00:02:43.700 the men involved are, quote, old and out of shape, end quote. But another MLA said a lot of female

00:02:49.960 caucus members, quote, feel Brian's actions are unhinged, end quote. Jean was elected to represent

00:02:57.100 Fort Marie Lac La Biche after running in a March by-election to take Kenny's job. Prior to running,

00:03:03.100 Jean publicly criticized Kenny's COVID leadership and called for the Premier's resignation.

00:03:07.140 Just ahead of the caucus meeting, Jean told reporters Kenny must immediately resign to allow for a new

00:03:14.260 interim leader and Premier. Quote, the healing process can't start until Jason Kenney leaves.

00:03:20.340 He knows that. We know that. And we need to start the renewal process of the UCP, end quote.

00:03:26.700 Leading up to the altercation, sources said Jean used his interventions to slander people in the room

00:03:32.120 and call his colleagues' names. He also made crazy and inflammatory claims about the RCMP that didn't

00:03:38.760 reflect how the criminal justice system operates, several sources said. Jean told MLAs they were going

00:03:44.820 to jail soon, that he was smarter than all of them, and that he knows Kenny better than anyone else,

00:03:49.820 one MLA told the Western Standard. Quote, every time he opened his mouth, it was crazy and out there,

00:03:56.400 end quote. Another MLA said. MLAs in the room grew frustrated, multiple sources said. Quote,

00:04:04.120 Brian is just a difficult person to listen to, one MLA said. He's difficult to understand and follow,

00:04:10.720 end quote. Sources said Getson thought the whole thing was ridiculous and said after the meeting,

00:04:15.920 Jean showed his true colors. MLAs also said while UCP caucus meetings can be lively, nothing remotely

00:04:22.820 similar has ever occurred. Quote, for someone to be doing that to another person in their caucus,

00:04:28.620 it is totally insane, end quote, one MLA said. Jean has been clear about his intentions to run for

00:04:35.460 the UCP leadership. He's yet to officially launch his bid. After the Progressive Conservatives and the

00:04:41.200 Wild Rose Party merged to create the UCP in 2017, Jean came second to Kenny in the leadership contest.

00:04:46.860 But the race has been fraught with allegations of cheating, and an RCMP investigation is ongoing.

00:04:53.660 Rachel Emanuel for the Western Standard, reporting from Calgary.

Western Standard - May 27, 2022

EXCLUSIVE MLAs say Brian Jean challenged caucus member to fight

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