Liberal candidate quits after apology
Calgary student faced outrage after offensive Twitter posts
OTTAWA— A Calgary university student has stepped down as a Liberal candidate just hours after apologizing for social media faux pas in which she told a Twitter user in 2011 to “go blow your brains out” and lashed out against a supporter of Israel in another posting.
Ala Buzreba, who is running in the Calgary-Nose Hill riding in the federal election, had landed in hot water Tuesday when past social media postings came back to haunt her.
In April 2011, Buzreba appears to have told one Twitter user, “Go blow your brains out, you waste of sperm. #racist #a--hole #bigot,” according to screen shots posted online.
And when a pro-Israel Twitter user posted that same month that support for Palestine and Islam would “come back & kick u in the arse!” Buzreba replied with a crude and offensive rebuttal, suggesting the poster should have been aborted.
As word of those old postings spread through social media, the 21year-old took to Twitter again Tuesday to offer an excuse.
“Young people, myself included, have learned a lot of lessons about social media. Those 2009-12 tweets reflect a much younger person,” she wrote. “I’m excited to be a candidate for the @liberal_party this election, and to run on @JustinTrudeau’s plan for #realchange this fall.”
Her explanation did little to quell the mounting outrage stirred by her original comments and she quickly weighed in with two more postings, apologizing “for the comments I made a long time ago, as a teenager.”
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, during a campaign stop in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., said he was pleased with her apology. “When someone makes a mistake it’s important that they own up to it.”
However, in a message posted late Tuesday on her Facebook page, Buzreba announced she was stepping down: “I am confident this decision is the right decision for myself and for the people of Calgary Nose Hill.”
She said she has posted a lot of content on social media over the years, and like many teenagers, did so “without really taking the time to think through my words and weigh the implications.”
The Calgary-Nose Hill riding, long a Conservative stronghold, has been held by Diane Ablonczy since it was created in the mid-’90s. However, Ablonczy is not running again, leaving it up for grabs. Buzreba had been running against Conservative junior cabinet minister Michelle Rempel.
On her website, Buzreba describes herself as a “passionate community organizer” and a “keen and energetic participant” in student politics at the University of Calgary.