NDP defends Kinew despite candidate’s offensive tweets

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This article was published 10/03/2016 (3585 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Words from the past are again haunting star NDP candidate Wab Kinew.

This time, it’s not rap lyrics, but personal tweets that the 34-year-old Kinew posted between seven and four years ago, which run the gamut from misogynistic to homophobic to ironic.

But the tweet drawing the most criticism – posted by Kinew in 2012 – involves the plight of young children on Attawapiskat First Nations, located near James Bay, who at the time were being subjected to dilapidated school conditions and a housing crisis.

On Oct. 17, 2012, Kinew tweeted: “Riding in my limo back to my king sized sweet feeling really bad for those kids in Attawapiskat. #haha #terrible #inative”

At the time, Kinew was serving as director of indigenous inclusion at the University of Winnipeg. Although one source close to Kinew has described the Attawapiskat tweet as “satire,” the joke was lost on political foes.

Althea Guiboche, a Liberal candidate for Point Douglas — widely known in Manitoba as the Bannock Lady, who has spent years distributing food to the homeless and needy — called the tweet “unacceptable.”

“And it was around the time (Attawapiskat chief) Theresa Spence was fasting for those terrible conditions on her reserve,” Guiboche said. “She was fasting because the school’s doors were full of gaps, the children weren’t clothed, the water was no good, the sewage system was leaking.

“All kinds of terrible conditions and that’s his tweet, in his limo, riding home to his king-sized suite. He’s looked up to as a leader. For him to be saying things like this, that’s rubbing their faces in their own poverty. It’s terrible.”

NDP leader questions tweets’ authenticity, Kinew declines to comment

The tweets came to light after Winnipeg political consultant Dave Shorr — a former provincial Liberal party media director and former executive director of Manitoba Forward, a public policy think tank — decided to mine Kinew’s Twitter account after the former rapper came under fire last week for lyrics that were homophobic and degrading to women. 

The tweets included:

– “No UFC this weekend, but I did see a 300 pound chick working some nice GnP last night #RezMoms” (March 2011)

– In response to a tweet “Trying to come up with original questions about H1N1,” Kinew replied, “Is it true you can get it from kissing fat chicks?” (Oct. 09)

– “Is going to wrestling class….Because jiu-jitsu wasn’t gay enough” (June 09)

– “Nothin better than grappling with other large sweaty men for two hours. Wait, no…..I mean to say pussy! There’s nothing better than pussy” (July 09)

Shorr said it took him five minutes to scan Kinew’s Twitter history, and he wonders if the NDP did the same.

“When I first read Wab’s apology (for the rap lyrics) in his book I took it at face value,” Shorr said.  “But when I listened to the lyrics of his songs and saw his tweet, my perspective changed. Hearing his music, Wab rapped about the scatological rape of women which I found to be disgusting. He tweeted a joke from a limousine with the hashtag #HaHa about kids living in third-world conditions in Attawapiskat.”

When a reporter approached Premier Greg Selinger on Tuesday at the Legislature to ask about his candidate’s tweets, he questioned their authenticity.

“You have to wonder whether they’re his,” Selinger said. “I have to say, that’s not his way of communicating. He’s pretty clear about where he’s coming from.”

Later, on behalf of the premier, the NDP released the following statement: “We stand with Wab Kinew and are proud he is part of our NDP team. He has taken ownership over the words he has said and used in the past which have been hurtful and has accepted responsibility for them.

“We are proud that he is running to be the next MLA for Fort Rouge because Wab’s actions show that change is possible and that we can fight for the vision of Manitoba that we all hold in our hearts – one that is inclusive, loving and safe.”

When reached by phone Wednesday, Kinew refused to comment on the record about the tweets in question without approval of NDP headquarters, which was not provided.

“What is satirical about that?”: rival candidate

Within hours of Shorr retweeting the Kinew tweets on Monday, several were deleted. The Attawapiskat tweet was still active on Thursday.

Audrey Gordon, the Conservative candidate running against Kinew and Liberal leader Rana Bokhari in Fort Rouge, said Kinew’s tweets are cause for dismissal from the race.

“These are not lyrics that you fit into a melody or rhyme,” Gordon said. “These are tweets. These are coming from his heart, his values and his principles. He (Kinew) has to own his words. He needs to explain.”

Addressing the Attawapiskat tweet in particular, Gordon scoffed at the suggestion of satire.

“Oh, my goodness,” said Gordon, who works with the kidney dialysis program with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. “Why would you be that way about your own people? What is satirical about that?”

Kinew has repeatedly apologized for his rap lyrics, explaining that he has grown. Critics say the tweets over a prolonged period of time make them suspect.

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“For the case of this individual, who was touted as a star candidate, I find it sort of interesting that the NDP didn’t do a better job of vetting,” said Michelle Rempel, a Calgary-based MP who was born and raised in Winnipeg. “And that means going through a person’s twitter history, right?”

“But it’s not just these tweets. There’s a bit of a pattern here,”  added Rempel, who was one of the first politicians to respond to Kinew’s tweets on-line. “There’s a history of (rap lyrics). Then there’s a history of these tweets over a period of time – and they range the gamut from all levels of inappropriateness. This is about judgment.”

The Liberal party will hold press conference tomorrow at 11 a.m.  with northern and indigenous caucus to address the tweets.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @randyturner15

Randy Turner
Reporter

Randy Turner spent much of his journalistic career on the road. A lot of roads. Dirt roads, snow-packed roads, U.S. interstates and foreign highways. In other words, he got a lot of kilometres on the odometer, if you know what we mean.

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