WINNIPEG — The Liberal candidate running for re-election in the federal riding of Winnipeg Centre wants his NDP opponent to apologize for a Facebook post shared 14 months ago, before she became a candidate.
On Wednesday -- just five days before the election -- Liberal Robert-Falcon Ouellette shared a screen shot of the post dated Aug. 21, 2018 from NDP candidate Leah Gazan’s Facebook account.
Gazan shared the post which links to an article from the website patheos.com. The post features a caption which states “every practicing Catholic is complicit in the rape and sexual abuse of children by predatory priests.”
Ouellette said he learned of the post one week ago.
He held a press conference Thursday at his campaign office where he said accusing every practising member of a religion of being complicit in a crime is not acceptable.
“I would ask my opponent, would she knock on doors and tell people in Winnipeg Centre who are practicing Catholics, that she believes them to be complicit in child rape,” Ouellette said.
Gazan addressed Ouellette’s concerns in an emailed statement, saying she’ll be more careful when sharing posts online.
"Like many people in Canada and around the world, I’m horrified and saddened by the history of sexual abuse within Catholic institutions,” Gazan’s statement reads. “I shared on Facebook an article about that abuse with no personal comment. I understand the headline of the article was inflammatory, and I commit, going forward, to provide more context when posting articles from other sources."
Ouellette said Gazan’s explanation doesn’t go far enough; he said she should apologize.
Ouellette won Winnipeg Centre in the last federal election, but the seat has traditionally been held by the NDP.
The federal election is Oct.21.
