WINNIPEG — A Manitoba NDP cabinet minister says he's sorry for calling a Conservative legislature member a fascist in "the heat of the moment" during a legislature debate.
Municipal Affairs Minister Drew Caldwell apologized to the legislature Thursday, a day after the Opposition's Reg Helwer raised the issue with the Speaker.
"I wish to state that I made a generalized comment in the chamber on Tuesday — which many members do from time to time in the heat of the moment — for which I apologize to the house," Caldwell said before sitting down.
Helwer said he was responding to the government's throne speech on Tuesday when Caldwell heckled him.
The remark was not recorded in Hansard, the official record of debate in the house, but Helwer reacted to the comment.
In an emotional statement in the house Wednesday, he called the word particularly hurtful. Helwer, who is of German decent, said he heard it on the playground growing up and he shouldn't have to hear it in the legislature.
Helwer said Caldwell's slur was the talk of Brandon, Man., where both men hold a seat. Being labelled a fascist has damaged his reputation since it is linked with anger and hatred, he said.
"I have many friends in the Jewish community," he told the legislature. "I now have to answer to them when someone has called me a fascist."
Helwer wasn't immediately available to respond to Caldwell's apology.
Caldwell was at a funeral Wednesday during Helwer's statement. NDP house leader Dave Chomiak apologized on Caldwell's behalf and said the word was reprehensible.
"It shouldn't be used in public discourse," he said.
Speaker Daryl Reid called it a "very serious matter" and said he would review the exchange.
