'The case is closed': Calgary man told oil and gas shirt not welcome in Senate receives apology

A Calgary man is ready to put his recent experience on Parliament Hill behind him after receiving political support and an apology for being told he couldn't wear an "I love Canadian oil and gas" T-shirt while visiting the Senate of Canada.

Earlier this week, William Lacey, who works as the chief financial officer for Steelhead Petroleum Ltd. in Calgary,was stopped by a security guard before embarking on a tour of the Senate.

The guard told him he had two options.

"He looked at me and said, 'Sir ... you can either turn the shirt inside out or you can leave," Lacey, told The Homestretch, Friday afternoon.

"[He] said some people may view the message on that as being offensive."

Lacey eventually did turn his T-shirt inside out and continue the tour, but later in the day while touring the House of Commons he turnedhis top right side out again and faced no objections from other security guards.

National attention

After flying home the next morning, Lacey wrote a letter to various figures in government detailing what had happenedand gained national attention.

The letter addressed figures including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Lacey's local MPs, Premier Jason Kenney and senators from Alberta.

"I had a couple of the senators, Doug Black first, reaching out to me personally," said Lacey. "I had Jason Kenney reaching out to me saying that they didn't think that that was acceptable."

"I believe Brad Wall retweeted it and that really caused sort of a pickup across the country in terms of people seeing the note and reaching out," he added. "Nowhere in my wildest imagination would I have expected this sort of uptake."

Lacey said some senators picked it up during a committee meeting in Toronto and"they actually read the letter and started questioning the head of security at that meeting."

Quick resolution

Lacey promptly received an apology from Guillaume Vandal, superintendent for the Parliamentary Protective Service.

"I was really appreciative of how quickly it was dealt with. The head of parliamentary security reached out to me personally," said Lacey. "[He] assured me that going forward that won't be happening. So, yeah, I was really impressed by how the whole thing was handled."

Lacey said he never did get a clear answer as to why he was asked to remove his T-shirt, but from his conversations since the event he believes there are others"who want to have a greater understanding of the appropriateness of attire within the Senate."

"They dealt with it quickly and were exceptionally polite about it. And, in my books ... the case is closed."