SYDNEY, N.S. — A Cape Breton candidate who made headlines after a series of racist, homophobic and sexist social media posts were revealed last week says he’s proud to have the support of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.
In his first public appearance since the scandal broke last week, Jaime Battiste took part in a debate on the environment at Cape Breton University, along with two other people running for the Sydney-Victoria riding: Jodi McDavid of the NDP and the Green Party nominee Lois Foster.
Battiste began by apologizing again for the tweets, which he said were sent during a “time of heartbreak and depression — and that’s not a good time to use humour.”
While issues around climate change dominated the debate, it was the changing political climate that drew media to the event, which was attended by about 85 people. Speaking later to the press, Battiste said he didn’t want to go into detail about any personal issues he was facing at the time of the offensive tweets, which have since been deleted.
He said he’s happy Trudeau decided to stand by him.
“I’m proud to have the prime minister’s support again. I spoke to the team and they continue to have my back and when you have the prime minister saying things about you and saying that he has your back, absolutely that makes you feel good,” Battiste said, referring to comments made by Trudeau during a campaign stop in Plainfield, Ont., on Sunday. When asked about Battiste, Trudeau replied that while the posts were “unacceptable,” he accepted Battiste’s apology.
“We recognize that Jaime Battiste took responsibility for his actions and has apologized,” Trudeau said.
The Toronto Sun first reported on the tweets, which mostly date back to 2012 and 2013. In one tweet, Battiste, who could become Nova Scotia’s first Indigenous MP, asks “Why do I assume every skinny aboriginal girl is on crystal meth or pills?”
In another, he suggests household chores are a woman’s work, writing, “Cleaning, folding, cooking. Feeling like an epic fail that I haven’t found a woman who can stand me long enough to do this for me.”
Battiste deflected most questions from the media on Monday by repeating his apology.
“All I can do is apologize, take full responsibility for my actions and the things I said. It came from a different spot in my life — I wasn’t in a good space — but I want to move on. I want to talk about the local election and the issues that are important. Before I was into politics, I was in boxing so basically, I’m going to fight until I hear the bell, and that’s what I’m going do — keep moving forward and keep talking about the issues that people want to talk about — the environment, the economy, our health,” he said.
“Sometimes all you can do in life is apologize and hope that people accept it. I think that’s the journey of reconciliation is that it’s not necessarily a destination but the journey, and this is all part of it, and all I can say is I’m going to keep fighting until the bell and keep fighting going forward on the election and making sure that I’m doing everything I can to knock on doors and talk to people.”
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