This is a free country, and people are free to eat breakfast with whoever they please, but when you are running for the leadership of Alberta’s United Conservative Party, attending a Liberal-hosted Justin Trudeau Stampede breakfast likely isn’t the best campaign strategy.

According to Angus Reid, only 38% of Canadians approve of Justin Trudeau’s leadership. That number drops to 26% in Alberta. Numerous polls show that over 30% of Albertans want out of Canada, and far more certainly want Ottawa to butt out of Alberta, with Justin Trudeau mockingly being heralded as a patriarch and great advancer of the separatist agenda in the province. Suffice it to say that the man is certainly not popular in the prairies, which left me wondering why UCP leadership hopeful Leela Aheer was rubbing elbows with folks at a Trudeau-attended Liberal Stampede breakfast last weekend.

Her attendance wasn’t exactly advertised, in fact, it was solely due to some selfies posted by folks in attendance with Aheer that we were able to determine that she attended the event at all, but the fact that at least a few people were able to stop here for selfies suggests she wasn’t merely returning some overdue books.

With Trudeau doubling down on big government spending and progressive ideology to an extent that will leave future generations financially and psychologically wrecked, and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek following closely behind in his footsteps, the last thing Alberta needs is a so-called conservative leader who spends their free time milling about at staged Trudeau press events.

Alberta needs someone who will stand against Trudeau, not with him.

It is likely worth noting that when Leela Aheer was a Wildrose MLA, her party ran a literature drop in PC MLA Prab Gill’s constituency decrying him as a phony conservative and a Justin Trudeau supporter, so pointing out her attendance at a public event is certainly fair game. People deserve to know where politicians stand, and who they stand with.

I’ve already reached out to the Aheer team, and it is entirely possible that there is some justifiable basis for her mingling with Trudeau supporters, but until we receive a reply, the optics on this simply are not good.

For all the latest on the leadership race for the United Conservative Party and to potentially determine the next premier of Alberta, check in regularly at UCPLeadership.com.