Downtown safety has often been an area of concern for people visiting the city. On Friday, mayoral candidate Gord Steeves unveiled his plan to shed that image.
But after a tweet from a mysterious Twitter account an hour after his announcement, Steeve' own image may be coming under fire.
"People's impression of our downtown is not what we want it to be,” said Steeves at a news conference. “It's not heavy-handed. I think these are steps that must be taken."
Starting with more police, Steeves says he would like to see 30 police officers patrolling downtown at any given time. He would hire more cadets and have more officers on duty targeting specific groups.
"No person who is drunk or high will be allowed to linger downtown,” he said. “No person struggling with mental illness will be left to their devices in our downtown."
But that message may have been overshadowed an hour after Steeves made his announcement, a Twitter account under the name "Darlene J", which hadn't been used for more than two years, tweeted a picture of a Facebook post by Steeves’ wife, Lorrie, from February 2010.
In the post, she says she "is really tired of getting harrassed by the drunken native guys in the skywalks. We need to get these people educated so they can go make their own damn money instead of hanging out and harrassing the honest people who are grinding away working hard for their money."
CTV reached out to the Steeves’ campaign for a comment and received a statement from Lorrie Steeves.
"In 2010 while I was working downtown I was regularly harassed for money and often put in a position where I feared for my safety. One day in particular 4 years ago was very bad and out of frustration I vented on my personal Facebook page. I feel terrible about these comments. I am terribly sorry and apologize. I do not clear my Facebook posts or status updates with my husband."
- With a report by Rahim Ladhani
