Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for sharing post about American activist’s death

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine is apologizing for sharing a post about the killing of U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

WINNIPEG — A Manitoba cabinet minister apologized Friday for sharing a social media post about the killing of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine shared another person’s post Thursday night that described Kirk as racist, sexist and transphobic, calling him a “white nationalist mouthpiece.”

The post’s author said they had no empathy for Kirk -- save for his children, who are believed to have witnessed the killing earlier this week at a university south of Salt Lake City, Utah.

“The man stood for nothing but hate,” the post read in part.

Fontaine removed the post shortly after, but screenshots had already begun to circulate on social media and criticism quickly followed.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives called for Fontaine to be removed from cabinet, and possibly the NDP caucus as well.

“Her post is atrocious, it’s despicable, it’s disgusting,” Tory Leader Obby Khan said.

“She must be removed from her cabinet position.”

Premier Wab Kinew, who had condemned the killing of Kirk earlier in the week and stressed the need for empathy, said he spoke with Fontaine Friday and asked her to apologize. She will remain in cabinet, he added.

“I don’t believe in cancel culture,” Kinew told reporters.

“It would be too easy to show her the door. It is a much harder task to say we’re going to work through this together and I am going to try to help you understand why we need to bring people together and not divide people at this time.”

Fontaine was not made available for interviews. She issued a brief written statement in which she apologized for sharing the post.

“Violence has no place in our democracy. Political debate is achieved with words and discussion,” the statement read in part.

It’s the second time in recent months that Fontaine has stirred up controversy.

In July, a camera caught her complaining about a sign language interpreter who was on stage with her at a public event. Fontaine suggested the interpreter was distracting and should not have been on stage. She later apologized.

A political analyst said Fontaine’s two missteps could suggest a pattern.

“I think she’s walking on thin ice right now and I think that she’ll have to be much more careful about what she’s doing on social media or (saying) in public places,” Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Manitoba, said.

The fact Fontaine’s post contradicted the statesman-like tone of the premier a day earlier is also problematic in a provincial cabinet, Adams said.

“Everyone is supposed to be in line, marching to the same rhythm of the drummer, and this is not marching to the same beat of the drummer. And there’s only so long that the premier can tolerate this.”

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Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press