The leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) is denouncing accusations that a man seeking the party's candidate nomination in Oxford County was dropped because he is gay.
In a series of four tweets posted to Twitter Thursday morning, Maxime Bernier stated the PPC has several candidates, electoral district association executives, and staff who are gay.
"We welcome them not because we have a gay quota to fill, but because they share our principles and policies. Their sexuality, just like their gender or ethnicity, is irrelevant," Bernier tweeted.
The former Conservative leadership hopeful's comments are in response to allegations by Jordon Kent, 24, who accused the party's local riding officials on social media last week of turfing him from the nomination race because he is gay.
Jordan Kent. Photo from Jordan Kent for Oxford/Facebook.
Kent shared screenshots of a private electronic chat in which riding president Steve Baker referred to him as a "petulant narcissistic LGBTQ activist" and admitted bias against him. Baker denied Kent's allegations in a statement posted to the Oxford PPC riding association's Facebook page, instead stating Kent's nomination contestant status was revoked for violating a conduct pledge and non-disclosure agreement.
The spat between Kent and the riding association attracted media attention at the start of the week, which led to a handful of news stories.
Bernier is now calling that coverage "fake news."
"I’ve been denouncing left-wing activists masquerading as 'journalists' who write hit pieces about PPC," tweeted Bernier. "My staff and I were being asked for comments about this silly and unfounded story this week. Again, memo to journalists: write your trashy hit pieces if you want, but stop harassing us. We’re not going to help you and give any credibility to your fake news about us."
1/ I’ve been denouncing left-wing activists masquerading as “journalists” who write hit pieces about PPC.
Here we have a SJW masquerading as a “conservative” MP using one of those hit pieces to virtue signal, as a Liberal would.
How’s your friend Morgane, @MichelleRempel? https://t.co/3H3YBxr2Hr
— Maxime Bernier (@MaximeBernier) May 9, 2019
