Liberal MP Ken Hardie’s attempt to blame Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for a recent Winnipeg shooting has sparked backlash from many Canadians.
The shooting occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, leaving four people dead and one person severely injured in a residence on the 100 block of Langside Street.
Winnipeg Police Services cannot confirm whether or not the shooting was targeted and as of yet have not identified any suspects in the case, however, the victims in the shooting were known to local police.
“Often mass shootings are in the context of an active shooter, this was not an active shooter, in my view. But it was a homicide with multiple victims, ” said Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smith.
“Beyond troubling to see another mass shooting in Canada, now in Winnipeg. And we’ve lost so many police officers. Might it be the anti-social ‘burn everything down’ far-right attitude we’re seeing creeping in from the US? And the ‘creep’ on the Canadian side? Pierre Poilievre?” posted Hardie on X, who represents the Fleetwood-Port Kells riding in Surrey, B.C.
There is still no suspect in the case and with so little known about the motivation for the shooting at this time, many people reacted to Hardie’s comments as being in poor taste and politically motivated.
“Ah yes, nothing like politicizing the freshly dead with little to no details available, in an effort to score political engagement points. We have no idea yet what led to these deaths,” wrote user Adam Pound.
“Maybe wait until some details come out before you start throwing blame around?” wrote another user.
Other users wasted no time responding to Hardie’s comments, with one user writing, “As a former homicide investigator I have to tell you your comments are beyond irresponsible. You should be ashamed of yourself!”
“That’s because we have had a far left federal government for the last 8 years,” wrote another.
Others pointed to the great deal of resources that are spent by the Liberal government on tracking legal gun owners, rather than going after criminals with illegal guns.
“Or might it be the misplaced and expensive waste of resources attacking legal gun owners, hunters and sport shooters rather than concentrating on gangs, criminals and illegal firearms? Your fault in other words Ken, your government, your failures.”
“Since you are completely out of it I will tell you. This occurred in a POVERTY STRICKEN area in Winnipeg. About the furthest from “Far Right” as you can get. Poverty, drugs and hopelessness. All of which are a direct result of 8 years of @JustinTrudeau the worst PM ever,” wrote Defend Canada 2.0.
