Embattled Liberal hopeful steps aside over tweets
A Liberal candidate in Calgary who landed in hot water over a series of offensive Twitter postings she wrote in the past has pulled out of the federal election.
Ala Buzreba, who has been the Liberal candidate in Calgary Nose Hill, wrote on her Facebook page that she was stepping down as a candidate while again apologizing “without reservation, for posting comments that do not accurately reflect my views and who I am.”
“I have posted a lot of content on social media over the years, and like many teenagers, I did so without really taking the time to think through my words and weigh the implications,” she wrote.
“The discussion shouldn’t be focused on me and my tweets, but rather it should be about what’s best for Canadians.”
Earlier in the day, a spokesman for the federal Liberal party wouldn’t answer definitively whether Buzreba would remain as the party’s candidate but Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau had defended her and noted her apology.
“It’s important to point out that she was a teenager and we all make mistakes, but I’m glad to see she has unreservedly apologized,” Trudeau told reporters at a campaign stop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Screenshots of Buzreba’s yearsold tweets circulated on social media after they were discovered by Sheila Gunn Reid, a self- described staunch conservative.
In one screenshot of the Liberal candidate’s Twitter account from June 2011, Buzreba wrote: “Just got my hair cut, I look like a flipping lesbian!!”
In another screenshot, Buzreba is seen telling another tweeter to “Go blow your brains out you waste of sperm,” with the hashtags # racist and # bigot.
After a pro- Israel account tweeted in April 2011 that support for Palestine and Islam would “come back & kick u in the arse!” Buzreba responded
“Your mother should have used that coat hanger,” she wrote, according to screenshots now circulating on Twitter.
The 21- year- old Buzreba, who had been trying to unseat Conservative Michelle Rempel, initially responded to the backlash by tweeting she was young at the time she wrote the offending messages and has since “learned a lot of lessons about social media.”
Three hours later, after reports were published online and the backlash escalated on social media, Buzreba formally apologized.
Rempel, who was first elected in 2011 in the previous Calgary Centre- North riding which has since been redrawn, said the Liberals should explain the offensive comments.
“It’s up to ( Trudeau) to explain to the Canadian public why he’s defending those comments for her,” Rempel said.
Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said even before the tweets emerged, Buzreba wasn’t expected to unseat Rempel.
Buzreba’s offending tweets are also unlikely to deliver a death blow to Liberal chances in Alberta ridings where they’re expected to be competitive, though the “tremendously offensive” comments won’t help, Williams said.
“For those who have questions about the Liberal Party or who are wondering if they want to give the Liberal Party a chance for the first time in decades, this isn’t going to help in that direction,” she said.
“But in the ridings where there are really strong Liberal candidates or, conversely, weak Conservative candidates, this I don’t think is going to make the big of a difference.”
The case follows a controversy that embroiled NDP MLA Deborah Drever, who appeared in a series of offending images, including a heavy metal album cover in which a man appears poised to assault her with a bottle.
“More and more of the foolish things that people say and do without thinking of how problematic it is ... are going to come to light,” Williams said.