Province bars award winner’s speech from airing during ceremony
Posted Jul 16, 2020 2:59 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
EDMONTON (660 NEWS) — An Alberta student who won a prestigious scholarship award for performing and visual arts says the provincial government censored him as they prevented his speech from being aired during the ceremony.
Jesse Drwiega, from Red Deer, was one of two Alberta students to win the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award, where he received a $5,000 scholarship as he attends school in Scotland for his masters in musical theatre.
In a Facebook post, Drwiega says he received a call from a staffer within the Ministry of Culture, Multiculturalism and the Status of Women asking that he re-record a new video because of his criticism of the United Conservative Party.
“It saddens me that the current assembly has, and continues to, cut funding for arts and education in Alberta. The speaker even saying, quote, the arts simply aren’t in our mandate,” he said in the nearly 90 second video.
He credited a past assembly for creating the award in the first place, and hopes that there will be more support for the arts in the future.
“I am only one student,” Drwiega added, “there are many more young people who need access to quality arts education in Alberta.”
Drwiega posted that he felt his free speech rights were infringed upon and felt too strongly about the issue to back down.
“Fast forward to (Tuesday’s) ceremony, without informing me beforehand, the office of the Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism, and Status of Women, pulled my entire speech from airing. Escalating their request that I self-censor my freedom of expression, to actively suppressing that constitutional right at a Government event.
A statement from Minister Leela Aheer’s office confirms they asked Drwiega to record a new video, out of the interest of the award ceremony being a non-partisan event.
“Mr. Drwiega was given the opportunity to re-film his video after it appeared to dismiss the non-political nature of the event, given that the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta was hosting the virtual ceremony,” said Press Secretary Michael Forian.
Drwiega concluded in his post that free speech is most effective when it causes some people to be uncomfortable, and was disappointed about what happened.
“Welcome to the UCP’s Alberta,” he wrote.
