The Tories are distancing themselves from a board member over social media comments he made after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot an American woman in Minneapolis.
Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan denounced an online post from Patrick Allard over the weekend, calling the statements “offensive and inappropriate.”
“To make light of Renee Good, the mother of three, to try and justify in any way the killing of Renee Good, is unacceptable,” Khan said at a news conference on Monday.
“There is no room for hate in this party, there is no room for these type of comments. Enough is enough.”
In a post of his own, Khan on Monday said on social media that the statements made by Allard don’t reflect the values of the PC party, and said Allard will not be a PC candidate in the upcoming election.
Khan said after an emergency meeting, the party decided unanimously to suspend Allard’s party membership and his position on the board.
The move comes after Allard made comments on social media on the weekend.
“Do we have ICE in Manitoba? If so are they hiring? Asking for a friend,” reads one post from Allard.
Allard made his comments amid days-long protests that erupted in Minneapolis following the death of Renee Nicole Good.
Video circulated Wednesday of an ICE agent firing three shots at Renee Nicole Good, 37, while she was behind the wheel of her SUV.
New video of Minneapolis shooting taken by ICE agent
Footage taken by that immigration officer emerged Friday.
During an unrelated news conference on Monday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he reached out to Minn. Gov. Tim Walz to show solidarity.
“This is not something to be flippant about,” Kinew said. “I think the Manitoba PCs will have some explaining to do on that front.”
Khan said the PCs “do not stand for hate, do not stand for division.”
“There is no room for it,” he said.
Allard did not respond directly to CBC News when asked for comment, and posted on his social media afterward that he “didn’t think it was a newsworthy post” and suggested it was “tongue in cheek.”
In recent years Allard has run and lost in races at the school board trustee level and provincial politics. He ran as an independent in the last election in the St. Johns riding.
Allard was among several people fined thousands of dollars for opposing pandemic public health measures meant to stem the spread of COVID-19. He was fined over a dozen times, for a total of about $35,000.
Last fall, a judge tossed a defamation lawsuit Allard filed against the NDP.
