A day after Global News reported on a video posted by Halifax Coun. Matt Whitman doing a Chinese fire drill, the councillor has issued an apology.
READ MORE: Halifax Coun. Matt Whitman calls ‘Chinese fire drill’ video a ‘distraction’
On his Facebook he posted: “I apologize for my lapse in judgment and my unintentional use of what I now understand to be an insensitive term. I never meant to offend or hurt anyone. I have learned from this experience.”
Whitman confirmed to Global News in a text message Tuesday that the post was regarding the video, then included his apology in the text.
The video was posted on the District 13 councillor’s YouTube page on March 19, and shows himself and a passenger sitting in a car yelling, “Chinese fire drill,” before exiting the car and running around it with the passenger. They then get back in the car having switched seats. The video was removed March 26.
Over the weekend, critics online labelled the video as “racist.”
When contacted on Monday, Whitman declined an interview but in a text message told Global News he removed the video “after seeing the distraction it became.”
Whitman is also the Progressive Conservative candidate for Hammonds Plains-Lucasville in the provincial election – which has not yet been called.
PC Party spokesperson Angie Zinck told Global News Tuesday that Whitman had “kept us in the loop” as the video gained “a little bit of traction” and as people contacted him about the video. She said he advised them about the video, the decision to remove the video, and decision to post an apology.
“We support the decisions he’s been making regarding after the posting of the video and removing it,” Zinck said.
RCMP said Monday that the video had been brought to their attention, and they were investigating to see “whether any offences have occurred.”
They told Global News they were also investigating whether the video had been made while the car was on the road.
— With files from Marieke Walsh, Global News
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