Martin drops online blast

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This article was published 21/09/2015 (3683 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The week-long war of words between Winnipeg Centre NDP incumbent Pat Martin and Liberal challenger Robert-Falcon Ouellette took on an even nastier tone Sunday.

In a story Saturday in the online Huffington Post, Martin accused Ouellette’s wife of being “afraid she’ll have her hubcaps stolen if she ventures too far into the riding.”

Ouellette responded by issuing a statement saying Martin went too far by insulting his wife, and he demanded an apology.

“I believe he has crossed a line when he goes after my wife’s character. For that, he should apologize,” Ouellette said in a statement.

“Many people have tolerated and excused this kind of behaviour from Mr. Martin for years. Candidates elsewhere have been removed for less.”

In the Huffington Post story, Martin also said Ouellette is “full of shit” and called him “a political slut” for choosing the federal Liberals because “he thought that party gave him better chances of winning.”

“He is full of shit, frankly. I mean, who do you think you are? You show up, and three years later you are going to be the mayor of Winnipeg. And that doesn’t work out, so, that’s OK, I’ll be the member of Parliament?” said Martin, who has held the riding since 1997.

In his response, Ouellette — who moved to Winnipeg from Quebec in 2011 — said Martin’s remarks “speak for themselves.”

‘Many people have tolerated and excused this kind of behaviour from Mr. Martin for years. Candidates elsewhere have been removed for less’

— Winnipeg Centre Liberal candidate Robert-Falcon Ouellette

“I know that politics can be challenging, and being called names is nothing new for me. I can put up with personal attacks from Mr. Martin, but my wife should not have to,” Ouellette said.

In a separate statement to the Free Press, Ouellette said Martin’s remarks about his wife differed from what happened during the 2014 mayoral campaign involving Gord Steeves’ wife, Lorrie, because she made remarks on social media.

“When I gave a speech last August about Winnipeg being a divided city, I was asked in a media scrum how I felt about Lorrie Steeves. I said that I felt sorry for her, and later in the campaign I said that I thought Gord Steeves was misunderstood. I still feel that way,” Ouellette said in an email. “The reality is that there are people who live in the suburbs who are afraid to come downtown. My wife is not one of those people. She has volunteered in a soup kitchen every week for the last three years.”

Lorrie Steeves apologized during her husband’s failed mayoral campaign for using the phrase “drunken native guys” being downtown on a Facebook post.

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Last week, Martin and Ouellette criticized each other for not living in Winnipeg Centre. Martin lives in Osborne Village and Ouellette lives in south St. Vital.

‘I would like to offer an unreserved apology to my fellow candidates and to anyone else who may have taken offence to the tone and content of these remarks’

— NDP MP Pat Martin

On Sunday night, Martin issued a statement apologizing to his “fellow candidates,” likely referring to Ouellette and Green party candidate Don Woodstock, whom he called a “son of a bitch” at an election forum last week.

“Over the last few days, I have used some intemperate language that I regret. I would like to offer an unreserved apology to my fellow candidates and to anyone else who may have taken offence to the tone and content of these remarks,” Martin said in the statement. “I hope we can move past this and return to having a healthy discussion of the issues affecting Winnipeg Centre voters.”

Martin also posted the apology on his Facebook account.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca