A tweet on Sunday from former Barrie-area MP Alex Nuttall sparked a social-media firestorm as many were confused about the meaning behind the post that included talk of taking down railway blockades and a visit to the gun range.
In the tweet, posted Sunday at 10:50 a.m., Nuttall stated: "Okay today might be the best church service ever. People keep walking up to me saying the blockade should go down so that people can heat their homes and then they announced a day at the range for anyone who wants to go. @CalvaryBarrie I love it."
The former Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP said Sunday night the tweet was in no way meant to incite violence and was simply an excited tweet about his morning activities.
“The tweet speaks for itself and was simply about the many interactions I had at church this morning,” Nuttall told BarrieToday. “A lot of people approached me talking about how they want the blockades to come down. That went on for a while, but also that morning our church announced a day outing at a range that sounded like a fun event. I was just excited about the morning.”
When asked what type of range he was referring to, Nuttall clarified it was a gun range.
Calvary Community Church, located just outside the city in in Oro-Medonte Township, posted a tweet at 6:04 p.m. Sunday, distancing themselves from Nuttall's post: "As a church we have not and do not promote or endorse acts of violence. We uphold biblical values of love for all people, including Indigenous people."
In a follow-up tweet posted at 11:17 p.m. Sunday, Nuttall tried to clarify what he meant: "Sorry for the confusion I created with my message below. There are two unrelated thoughts that shouldn't have been communicated together. Apologies Alex."
The original tweet led to hundreds of comments, mainly from people denouncing the fact that Nuttall mentioned the blockades coming down and a gun range in the same post. While some accused him of inciting violence, others were upset that the tweet wasn’t well thought out.
"Absolutely terrifying and vile. Even if he means 'driving range' he should know how it could be misinterpreted. Unbelievable," said one commenter.
"Can you offer ANY plausible explanation for why you would string those thoughts together, other than advocating vigilantism? Disgusting for a Canadian politician, past or present," added another.
The blockades referenced in the tweet refer to railways across the country being blocked in support of the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia and their opposition to a 670-kilometre natural gas pipeline which has been approved to run through their traditional territory.
Nuttall was Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP for one term, from 2015 until 2019, and did not seek re-election. The former Barrie city councillor (2006 to 2014) is now working as the campaign manager for Peter MacKay, who is vying for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
MacKay also faced criticism last week about comments he made about the blockades. On Feb. 18, MacKay posted a video where he said the economy was being “hijacked by a small gang of professional protesters and thugs.”
During a campaign stop to Barrie on Thursday, MacKay didn't to back down from his comments.
"What I regret is that we're seeing our critical infrastruture being paralyzed by a group of people who are not truly representing the Indigneous community that they claim to represent," MacKay said during the local visit. "We know that 20 of those bands in British Columbia have signed on and are poised to benefit from the completion of that gas pipeline."
