As part of a fundraising effort for a charity that helps victims of domestic violence, Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides recently scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, where he hoisted the provincial flag.

With a goal of raising $100,000 before climbing Africa's highest peak, Nicolaides raised over $250,000 for what was called Melanie's Ascent, named after the minister's sister, who was stabbed to death by her estranged husband in January 2024.

Despite his role in the provincial government, some in the media took aim at Nicolaides's decision to hoist the provincial flag atop the mountain — something Rebel Roundup hosts Sheila Gunn Reid and Lise Merle criticized on Tuesday's livestream.

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“He's a government minister, and you know what he didn't do? Turn to the government to do this,” Sheila said, praising Nicolaides for not using his influential position to push for more government funding, instead undertaking the task himself.

“He's just a good guy, and the media in this province is like, 'you raised the Alberta flag on Kilimanjaro, you must be a separatist,'” she added.

The minister is “the exact kind of elected official that I want in my life,” replied Lise. Not only was he capable of identifying domestic violence as an issue, but he also then “worked to offer solutions,” Lise said.

Todd Loewen, a fellow Alberta cabinet minister, was also on the trip, “raising money for an initiative in Alberta, to help Alberta women” Sheila continued, wondering “what other flag should they raise?”

Lise further said that if she had a brother, she'd “want him to be exactly like this guy.”

Leave it to the media to “make it somehow controversial instead of an incredible initiative,” Sheila said.