He’s been on the job less than a week. But the Liberal opposition has now had to defend an email written to the premier’s office in February 2009 by its new director of communications, Craig Westcott.
At the time, Westcott was the editor of the Business Post newspaper.
In the email, sent to the premier’s director of communications, Elizabeth Matthews, Westcott asks about the premier’s mental health.
“Please excuse the nature of this question. I regret to have to ask it, but it may be germane given the premier’s behaviour,” Westcott wrote.
“It has been suggested to me that Mr. Williams is bipolar. Another person has suggested to me that he acts as if he is suffering in the later stages of syphilis.”
Westcott then asks if Williams has ever been treated for a mental illness or “any illness that might influence his behaviour and the handling of his office.”
Municipal Affairs Minister Kevin O’Brien made the email public Wednesday morning.
The Telegram contacted both Westcott and the Liberals for comment.
Acting Liberal leader Kelvin Parsons defended the email, saying it was meant to be a joke.
“It was a lark,” said Parsons.
He went on to say that Westcott and Matthews know each other quite well and have exchanged dozens of emails.
Parsons called the release of the email now merely an attempt by the Tories to discredit the Liberals’ new hire.
“It looks kind of foolish when the premier feels threatened ... because we’ve hired someone who’s disagreed with them in the past,” he said.
Parsons also said O’Brien has always done the premier’s dirty work by “savaging” former Tory caucus members Tom Rideout and Fabian Manning after they had disagreements with Williams.
“He’s been known for years as the hatchet man for the premier,” said Parsons.
“When the premier doesn’t want to do it himself, of course, he sends out the pit bulls.”
Westcott declined to comment on the matter to The Telegram.
But he did speak to Telegram blogger Geoff Meeker on Wednesday after the email was made public.
Westcott told Meeker the suggestion the premier had syphilis or was bipolar came from someone else, after Williams lost his composure at a media event.
“So just for a lark, when I got back to the office, I emailed Elizabeth and said, ‘Someone just asked me if the premier is bipolar or in the latter stages of syphilis. Can you confirm that the premier has never been treated for mental illness?’ or something like that, just for fun, to get her going, because you know how serious she is. … It was just for badness, a bit of fun,” Westcott is quoted as saying on the blog.
“It looks kind of foolish when the premier feels threatened ... because we’ve hired someone who’s disagreed with them in the past.” - Kelvin Parsons
Matthews also sent The Telegram an email on Wednesday saying Westcott’s comments were not taken as a joke.
“One only has to read the email to know that it was most certainly not written as a joke. Signed as the editor of the Business Post, it would never have been taken as a joke in our office, as Mr. Westcott was certainly not prone to sending us jokes,” stated Matthew’s email.
“Aside from emails, I have spoken to Mr. Westcott only a couple of times in my life. As well, Premier Williams does not consider mental health issues to be a joke.”
The Telegram also spoke to O’Brien Wednesday.
The minister said the email was discussed at the cabinet table in March 2009, and he’s been “stewing” about it ever since.
O’Brien said he was upset at the time, being a pharmacist who’s treated people with mental illness in the past.
“I was appalled by it,” he said. “Mental illness ... is probably one of the most misunderstood illnesses that we have.”
He said people in society don’t want to talk about it and often don’t have sympathy for the mentally ill because of that misunderstanding.
O’Brien said he had almost forgotten about the email until Westcott started doing interviews after he was hired by the Liberals.
He said the subject of the email came up in conversation during a radio interview Wednesday, and reporters asked him to release it afterwards.
O’Brien said he didn’t discuss releasing the letter with the premier’s office, nor did he get its blessing.
But he said he’s not expecting any kind of backlash.
As for Parsons’ and Westcott’s suggestion that the email was written in jest, the minister doesn’t buy it.
Instead, O’Brien said the email shows “the deep hatred” Westcott has for Williams.
dbartlett@thetelegram.com
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How desparate were the Liberals for a Communications Director??