Two Saskatchewan Politicians Held An Actual Shootout To Settle A Debate On Tuesday (PHOTOS)
Two Saskatchewan PPC candidates, Mark Friesen and Guto Penteado, held a shootout on Tuesday to decide who should represent the People’s Party of Canada at an upcoming debate. The Saskatchewan politician shootout was scheduled to take place on Monday, Sept. 2, but was postponed after the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation shot down the idea. Alas, Friesen and Penteado persevered, relocating the shootout to private property and settling their friendly quarrel on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
The debate the two were both hoping to attend is a pre-election debate held by the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, said CBC News. The Chamber invited one candidate from each party to attend the debate on Sept. 10, and they both thought they were the man for the job.
Both pro-gun advocates, Friesen and Penteado thought the dispute was best settled in a shooting contest. The two politicians took to Youtube, sharing a video on Friesen's account documenting the journey to the shootout location.
Sitting in an R.V. covered in army-print with their campaign managers, they headed out to the Wildlife Federation where they had been disallowed to hold their shootout. They went briefly to touch base with the media before heading off to the new private location for the contest. The contest itself was not recorded because of what Friesen called "privacy issues," but they jumped back on camera shortly after to share their results in a second video.
The video shows Penteado holding up his target for the camera “I want to proudly announce that I didn’t win and Mark Friesen won, and it was a big pleasure for me to lose against him,” he told viewers. He went on to praised his opponent's preparedness for the debate, saying that he will surely represent the PPC well.
According to the National Post, the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation was not interested in the shooting competition taking place at their range. SWF past president and fundraising chairman Robert Freberg told the National Post that neither of the candidates are currently members and the competition would not be in keeping with how the federation wants to be seen publicly.
Friesen, a former member of the SWF addressed this in one of his Youtube videos, saying “the office staff was instructed by the board not to renew my membership.” Though the change of plans didn't stop the shootout, it simply forced a relocation.
The shootout has received significant backlash from individuals who don't agree with the message it portrays. In response to the backlash, Maxime Bernier tweeted "say NO to politically correct nonsense."
As of now, Mark Friesen will be representing the PPC at the Sept. 10 debate. With people lashing back at the PPC's anti-immigration billboards and generating buzz surrounding the party, we're curious to see what unfolds at the debate.
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