Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is calling for Liberal MP Jaime Battiste to apologize for insulting Atlantic Canadians and calling them “EI folks,” referring to government employment insurance.
While speaking with reporters in Nanaimo, B.C., Battiste, who represents the Nova Scotia riding of Sydney–Victoria said that Atlantic Canadians were “meat and potatoes, fisheries, EI kind of folks.”
The remark did not sit well with Houston, who called for Battiste to apologize on Tuesday.
Battiste made the comments during a three-day caucus retreat on Monday when asked about whether the Liberals are “in trouble” with voters in Atlantic Canada.
“I don’t get that sense that we’re in trouble in the Atlantic. I think the Atlantic has typically been a progressive spot, you know … it’s one of those places that are kind of meat and potatoes, fisheries, EI kind of folks that tell us how they think we’re doing and from all indications that I’ve had they don’t reflect what the polls show,” he said.
Houston responded by calling Battiste’s comments “disappointing,” saying that the “characterization of Nova Scotians as ‘EI folks’ is not acceptable and not representative and he should apologize for that.”
“That’s not representative of Nova Scotians and to see somebody who’s elected to represent Nova Scotians make that type of comment is pretty disappointing, and I certainly, I hope, he retracts that statement and apologizes for it,” added Houston.
Battiste responded by saying that his comments were attempting to convey key issues faced by those in the region but stopped short of an apology.
Instead, he accused conservatives online of intentionally misinterpreting his message.
“I understand that comments I made to the media yesterday have been misinterpreted, perhaps intentionally so, by some conservative voices,” said Battiste in a post to X.
“In speaking, my effort was to convey that the key issues facing Atlantic Canadians are associated with fisheries, and Employment Insurance.”
According to Statistics Canada, Atlantic Canada does have higher than average rates of unemployment compared the rest of Canada.
However, Nova Scotia has the lowest rate of any province in the region at 6.1%, which is also the national average with Newfoundland and Labrador having the highest national rate at 9.1%.
