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A brouhaha over comments made about Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in the Alberta legislature continued to escalate Friday with the Opposition Wildrose party suspending the MLA who made them.
But by late Friday, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean issued a terse, short news release saying Fildebrandt had been suspended from caucus for making “an unacceptable comment on social media that does not represent the values of the Wildrose caucus.”
Fildebrandt had responded to a comment made by one of his supporters on his Facebook page, who congratulated him on telling “the truth about Mr. Wynne or whatever the hell she identifies as.”
Fildebrandt replied: “Proud to have constituents like you,” but later insisted he had misread the posting and said the insult against Wynne, who is openly gay, was “entirely against my views.”
“I feel terrible at the thought that anyone in the LGTBQ community thought even for one second that I shared those views,” he wrote.
“It’s not appropriate or something that should be lightly joked about. My criticisms of Ms. Wynne are based on policy and not anything personal. It never should be personal.”
It was more trouble for the Wildrose, which came under widespread criticism for the attack on Wynne on Thursday.
“The questions that we asked were fair, but certainly a more appropriate time could have been found, particularly when a visiting dignitary was not in the gallery,” Cooper admitted Friday.
“We didn’t have a respectful tone yesterday. We express regret for how things unfolded. The intention was never to embarrass the (Alberta) premier or the premier of Ontario.”
Fildebrandt also chastised Notley for inviting Wynne before she had invited Premier Brad Wall of Saskatchewan, and as Notley tried to answer his question, he shouted across the aisle “Invite Premier Wall here! Invite Premier Wall!”
On Friday, Wynne was in Calgary meeting with Mayor Naheed Nenshi and local business leaders.
Nenshi criticized the Wildrose.
“The first thing I did this morning was apologize on behalf of the people of Calgary for the childish, petulant behaviour in the legislature yesterday,” Nenshi said.
“We can have some common courtesy regardless of politics. That is something we should strive for, especially if we strive for leadership.”
The NDP fired back at the Wildrose in the legislature Thursday. Government house leader Brian Mason called them “embarrassing cousins” and Notley said their actions prove the Wildrose is not ready to govern.
Wildrose MLA suspended after saying he was ‘proud’ of constituent who made homophobic slur about Wynne | National Post
A brouhaha over comments made about Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne in the Alberta legislature continued to escalate Friday with the Opposition Wildrose party suspending the MLA who made them.
But by late Friday, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean issued a terse, short news release saying Fildebrandt had been suspended from caucus for making “an unacceptable comment on social media that does not represent the values of the Wildrose caucus.”
Fildebrandt had responded to a comment made by one of his supporters on his Facebook page, who congratulated him on telling “the truth about Mr. Wynne or whatever the hell she identifies as.”
Fildebrandt replied: “Proud to have constituents like you,” but later insisted he had misread the posting and said the insult against Wynne, who is openly gay, was “entirely against my views.”
“I feel terrible at the thought that anyone in the LGTBQ community thought even for one second that I shared those views,” he wrote.
“It’s not appropriate or something that should be lightly joked about. My criticisms of Ms. Wynne are based on policy and not anything personal. It never should be personal.”
It was more trouble for the Wildrose, which came under widespread criticism for the attack on Wynne on Thursday.
“The questions that we asked were fair, but certainly a more appropriate time could have been found, particularly when a visiting dignitary was not in the gallery,” Cooper admitted Friday.
“We didn’t have a respectful tone yesterday. We express regret for how things unfolded. The intention was never to embarrass the (Alberta) premier or the premier of Ontario.”
Fildebrandt also chastised Notley for inviting Wynne before she had invited Premier Brad Wall of Saskatchewan, and as Notley tried to answer his question, he shouted across the aisle “Invite Premier Wall here! Invite Premier Wall!”
On Friday, Wynne was in Calgary meeting with Mayor Naheed Nenshi and local business leaders.
Nenshi criticized the Wildrose.
“The first thing I did this morning was apologize on behalf of the people of Calgary for the childish, petulant behaviour in the legislature yesterday,” Nenshi said.
“We can have some common courtesy regardless of politics. That is something we should strive for, especially if we strive for leadership.”
The NDP fired back at the Wildrose in the legislature Thursday. Government house leader Brian Mason called them “embarrassing cousins” and Notley said their actions prove the Wildrose is not ready to govern.
Wildrose MLA suspended after saying he was ‘proud’ of constituent who made homophobic slur about Wynne | National Post
