Sask. Party candidate resigns after apparent engagement with QAnon supporters online

Daryl Cooper, the Saskatchewan Party candidate for Saskatoon Eastview, has resigned his nomination. 

The resignation comes after it was publicized Cooper has been engaging with members of the QAnon conspiracy group online and shared an unproven theory about the cause of pandemics on planet earth.

“Today, Daryl Cooper offered his resignation to the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Party,” a statement from the Sask. Party said.

“The content and views that Mr. Cooper interacted with on social media are concerning and are not representative of the values of the Saskatchewan Party, our leader, or our members. As such the Saskatchewan Party accepted his resignation.”

Earlier today in Prince Albert, Sask. Party Leader Scott Moe said he became aware of the posts involving QAnon on Friday night.

Cooper’s candidacy page on the Sask. Party website and his candidacy Twitter account and Facebook page have also been removed.

“This is concerning. I would say that first and foremost and I’ll have more to say on this as we move through the day today,” said Moe about the online activity, and whose party is running for a fourth consecutive term in the upcoming Oct. 26 election.

“This is something we’re taking a very thorough look at. I’m not aware of this particular group. I know very little about the nature of the content that has been shared.”

Press Progress — a left-leaning online publication that bills itself “as a counter-balance to corporate ownership in Canadian media and the growing influence of right-wing think tanks” — first reported on the interactions Friday evening, publishing three tweets in which Cooper interacted with QAnon supporters.

QAnon is a fringe belief propagated online that, in part, claims “deep-state” traitors are plotting against U.S. Donald Trump. Its supporters also make more wild claims, including alleging a number of high-profile, and generally liberal, figures are Satan-worshipping pedophiles who are running  the world and operating a child sex-trafficking ring that can only be stopped by Trump.

Experts have criticized the group widely and last year, the FBI designated the group a “domestic terror threat” because of its potential to incite extremist violence.

In one of the posts published by Press Progress, Cooper liked a Tweet from a user who referred to Trump as the “Big Kahuna” and claimed he had found a secret message by looking at correlations between Twitter posts by Trump and QAnon supporters.

In another post published by Press Progress, Cooper appears to have liked a tweet from a Twitter account named “Save or Children” that regularly posts QAnon conspiracy theories.

“Satan is ruling the world his time is 1000 year reign is almost up and remember as soon as there is a worldwide announcement claiming world peace and security is the start of the great tribulation,” the Tweet said.

In another tweet reported on by Press Progress, Cooper liked a message from another user who said they were excited to hear their neighbours were Trump supporters and “Q followers.”

CBC Saskatoon attempted to locate the Tweets Cooper liked on his candidate Twitter account, but they appear to have been removed.

Moe also said the Saskatchewan Party, if re-elected, would continue to get its guidance on COVID-19 from medical professionals and the province’s chief medical health officer. 

CBC Saskatoon has reached out to Cooper for comment, but a response was not immediately received. 

A statement from the Sask. Party indicated they’ll be selecting a new candidate for the Saskatoon Eastview electoral district in the coming days.

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