Senators owner Eugene Melnyk says he was unimpressed by MPP Lisa MacLeod’s “flippant” apology for an f-bomb laden tirade at last weekend’s Rolling Stones concert.
Melnyk and MacLeod spoke briefly by phone on Thursday afternoon, then MacLeod tweeted Friday morning acknowledging her “blunt” language.
“Let me set the record straight,” MacLeod said in a 6:10 a.m. tweet after the story appeared on the front page of the Ottawa Citizen newspaper. “I gave @ MelnykEugene some feedback at the Rolling Stones concert and I apologized to him for being so blunt. I have serious concerns about the state of our beloved Ottawa Senators! We need to get our team back on the road to winning the cup!”
Melnyk was unimpressed.
“It had nothing to do with the Ottawa Senators,” Melnyk said Friday. “She didn’t even mention the Ottawa Senators. She’s trying to justify it, but she didn’t even acknowledge that she made a mistake.”
Melnyk was at Saturday’s Rolling Stones concert near Barrie with friends and family when he says MacLeod burst through the crowd and said: “Do you know who I am? I am your minister and you’re a f—ing piece of s–t and you’re a f—ing loser’.”
Melnyk complained to Premier Doug Ford in a letter sent Monday.
“I find it very troubling that an elected official and a minister of the Crown would exhibit this type behaviour at a public family event,” the letter said, in part. “I bring this matter to your attention because I would want to know if one of my employees were ever that disrespectful or unprofessional.”
Both Ford and MacLeod called Melnyk Thursday afternoon. Melnyk described the MacLeod call as “non conversation.”
“She calls me up and says, ‘Hey Eugene, it’s Lisa MacLeod.’ I said, ‘Hey, Lisa. What can I do for you?’ and she says, ‘I want to start all over again.’ Then she says, ‘Hi! I’m Lisa MacLeod…’
“She thought it was a joke. That’s the way she starts out. She thought it was funny.”
MacLeod was unavailable for an interview Friday and a spokesman said her morning tweet would be her only comment on the matter.
Ford’s director of communications, Laryssa Waler Hetmanczuk, also declined comment.
“We’re letting Minister MacLeod’s statement on Twitter stand,” she said in an email.
Melnyk said Ford called him for a second time Thursday evening to check in.
“He said, ‘Hi Eugene, I just wanted to make sure Lisa called you. Did she apologize?’
“I said ‘no’ and he said, ‘Aw crap. I’ll get ahold of her’.”
Meanwhile, MacLeod was roundly roasted for her behaviour on Twitter, with many citing her response to a crude and abusive tweet last week from financial guru and author Gail Vaz-Oxlade. Just the day before the Stones concert, MacLeod tweeted “I’ve experienced death threats, online harassment & intimidation at public events that required police protection for months. It took a tremendous toll on my family & my mental health. I’m simply not tolerating it anymore. Disagree with me fine. But lines are being crossed.”
Many others accused MacLeod of abusing and bullying autism families during her time as minister of social and community services.
Liberal MPP Michael Coteau called for her resignation. “It shouldn’t take an NHL owner to point out that this behaviour is wrong,” he said.
MacLeod, MPP for Nepean, was demoted to minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport in a cabinet shuffle on June 20. She attended the Stones concert in her capacity as tourism minister along with fellow Conservative MPPs Doug Downey, Jill Dunlop and Christine Hogarth.
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Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
