Conservative deputy calls MP 'unhinged' for linking Poilievre and Winnipeg killings

SURREY, B.C. -

Federal Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman is calling a Metro Vancouver MP "unhinged" for a social media post that questioned if there was a connection between Pierre Poilievre and a weekend shooting in Manitoba that killed four people.

Liberal Ken Hardie, who represents the B.C. riding of Fleetwood-Port Kells, posted on Monday that the shooting that left four dead in Winnipeg was "beyond troubling" and asked if it was connected to a "burn everything down" attitude creeping in from the United States.

His post on X, formerly known as Twitter, then referred to Conservative Leader Poilievre, asking if he was the "creep" on the Canadian side.

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Lantsman responded by referring to a previous instance when Hardie said Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels would be proud of Conservative MPs, calling Hardie "unhinged then" and "unhinged now."

Conservative spokesman Sebastian Skamski said in a statement it was "appalling" Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had "failed to denounce this shameful message" from Hardie.

Hardie did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his post.

No arrests have been made in the shootings, whose victims included two First Nations sisters.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2023.