A Manitoba cabinet minister has offered a public apology after reposting an Instagram message filled with disparaging commentary about conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the day after he was shot and killed in the United States.
Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine shared a message from @che_jim, a U.S.-based Indigenous activist, for several hours Thursday on her Instagram page before removing it.
The post criticized Kirk as a “racist, xenophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic” individual who “stood for nothing but hate.”
In response to a request from CBC Manitoba, Fontaine’s press secretary on Friday released a statement from the minister.
“I apologize for sharing a post yesterday on the murder of Charlie Kirk. Violence has no place in our democracy. Political debate is achieved with words and discussion,” it read. “In a world too often divided, we should strive to show empathy to everyone even those we don’t agree with.”
Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck Wednesday while speaking to thousands of students at Utah Valley University and was soon pronounced dead.
He had more than 10 million followers on Instagram, and used his popularity to debate people on all kinds of issues, from immigration to abortion. Reports say Kirk was answering questions about gun violence when he was shot.
The day of the shooting, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called the killing “deeply disturbing,” and offered condolences to Kirk’s wife and children.
Fontaine’s repost on Instagram came the next day.
It’s the second time in as many months that Fontaine has apologized for her actions. In July, she was caught on camera and swearing into a hot mic about sharing a stage with a sign-language interpreter.
Fontaine said the interpreter shouldn’t have been on the stage because they distracted her and blocked her view of the audience.
“Yeah, I’m like, ‘F–k, why did I have her on the stage?’ Jesus! I’m like, ‘you need to leave,'” the minister is heard saying into a hot mic in the APTN video.
Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said the original repost by Fontaine speaks louder than her apology.
“When you share something, you’re implicitly saying that you support what’s being said,” Adams said.
“The fact of the minister is sharing something, which is really a piece that criticized the man who was assassinated, is sort of crossing the line for a cabinet minister. Regardless of who the person is, we in Canada shouldn’t be supporting or or explaining why somebody should be assassinated.”
Fontaine needs to learn to take more of a pause and “do some discerning” before responding to situations, Adams said.
“We’re seeing this as a bit of a pattern.”
Her actions have overshadowed an important announcement on Friday by her own NDP government and premier about providing $20 million to support the construction of a permanent home for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) at the University of Manitoba, Adams said.
“This does take the government and the NDP off its agenda for today. It dilutes what the premier is doing,” he said.
Adams called Kinew’s post about Kirk’s death as “very dignified … and a response which I think we need in our society,” whereas Fontaine’s decision to repost a message that explicitly states “no empathy” was a big misstep.
“Manitoba has to have a good relationship with the United States. We have to be very cautious and strategic in what we say and what we do on social media,” he said.
“We understand Nahanni Fontaine stands up for the protection of the vulnerable, for the rights of Indigenous peoples, for those who are marginalized. We have no doubts about that, she’s been very consistent in her messaging on that.
“[But] someone’s been murdered and then to talk nasty about that person, that’s different than taking positions on social issues. That’s the lack of judgment.”
