HALIFAX — A Halifax city councillor who has been criticized for making racially insensitive comments is coming under fresh scrutiny for retweeting a letter from a Canadian group some say is a white supremacist organization.
On Thursday, Coun. Matt Whitman retweeted a letter addressed to Halifax Mayor Mike Savage and the council from ID Canada, a self-described "ethno-nationalist" group created as "a response to Canada's decaying identity, increased third-world immigration and the prevalence of anti-European sentiments."
The document was critical of the municipality's decision to take down a statue of Halifax's controversial founder, Edward Cornwallis, and place it in storage while council determines its long-term fate.
The one-page letter said the statue's removal represented "an egregious affront to our past" and a "brutal disregard toward the accomplishments of Canada's European founders."
Another councillor, Deputy Mayor Waye Mason, said he was stunned when he saw the retweet after someone pointed it out to him Thursday afternoon.
"I looked at it and went, 'Holy crap — this is racist stuff,'" he said Friday. "This isn't a political thing... no man, you retweeted white supremacy, full stop."
He immediately took to Twitter to scold Whitman for retweeting the letter from the group, which on its website promotes the idea that, "Canada is a nation of European values, traditions, customs and culture. Canada was never meant to be a melting pot of third-world migration."
"You are retweeting a neo-nazi hate group. I am speechless. What the hell is wrong with you?" tweeted Mason.
For his part, Whitman acknowledged that he didn't have time to look into the group before retweeting it, saying, "I don't background check every tweet I see." He said he has deleted the retweet and blocked the group since, also charging that Mason's Twitter comments were politically motivated.
My advice to Matt:
— Waye Mason (@WayeMason) February 1, 2018
Apologize for not taking the time to actually know what you were retweeting.
Reflect that you keep making the same mistakes and not learning.
Resist trying to transfer blame because you are uncomfortable with making this kind of mistake again.
@matlantivex You are retweeting a neo-nazi hate group. I am speechless. What the hell is wrong with you?
— Waye Mason (@WayeMason) February 1, 2018
As soon as Waye and CBC brought to my attention I blocked the group. Next.
— MTLNTVX (@matlantivex) February 1, 2018
He did, however, update his Twitter profile to say, "Tweets, Likes and Retweets are NOT necessarily endorsements so relax, move on...Next."
The exchange caught the attention of many on Twitter, with some calling for the embattled councillor to step down.
"You should really resign from being councillor of our community," one woman tweeted. "You should not be in this position."
Another said: "In one day, you've managed to degrade the actions of the mayor, mocked the lyric change to the national anthem, and retweeted a white supremacy Twitter account. All of this before the end of rush hour."
Whitman did not respond to a request for comment.
Mason said the matter could be addressed by council if formal complaints are filed.
ID Canada responded on Twitter as well, saying, "Sad that Mr. Whitman is being scolded for supporting our letter condemning the removal of #cornwallis. You do not need to support us as an organization to support the preservation of Canadian identity. No, we're not 'white supremacists.'"
The incident marks the latest controversy involving the councillor for Hammonds Plains-St. Margarets.
Last October, Whitman issued an apology for using the word "Negro" in an interview, prompting public outcry and at least one official complaint to the municipality.
At the time, the lone African-Nova Scotian member of council, Coun. Lindell Smith, asked Whitman to refrain from using the word, saying it was not appropriate, while the mayor said it was a "poor choice of words."
Whitman also apologized for a video he posted online that used racially insensitive language. In the video, Whitman yelled "Chinese fire drill!" as he and a friend scrambled from a car.
