Alberta government condemns employee’s tweet calling school-shooting survivor ‘fragile’

The Alberta NDP government is condemning one of its public servant’s political statements on Twitter.

Max Fawcett, a senior manager at the Alberta Climate Change Office, was called out by some Twitter users and American political websites for allegedly criticizing Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School-shooting survivor student Kyle Kashuv’s views on gun control over the holiday weekend.

A screengrab obtained by Global News shows a tweet from an account belonging to Fawcett saying, “Cuckservatives are the best. So fragile.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: A screengrab obtained by Global News shows a tweet from an account belonging to Fawcett saying, "Cuckservatives are the best. So fragile."

https://twitter.com/IanFapoport/status/980178433270538240

Kashuv was tweeting about Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham going on vacation after ridiculing gun-control advocate David Hogg on Twitter. Ingraham later apologized after advertisers threatened to pull their ads from the network.

“Cuckservative” is an internet slang term meant to insult American conservative politicians who lean left-of-centre on certain issues.

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Fawcett’s account appeared to have been deleted on Wednesday.

Jo-anne Nugent, director of communications with the Alberta Climate Change Office, confirmed Fawcett is an employee and that the human resources department is involved.

“It’s now between the deputy, the employee and the HR unit to resolve appropriately,” she said.

The government issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the tweet.

“I was shocked and very disappointed to see the comment posted by an employee on their personal Twitter account over the holiday weekend,” said Eric Denhoff, deputy minister of Alberta Climate Change Office. “The comment in question was totally unacceptable and does not represent the views of the Government of Alberta.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I was shocked and very disappointed to see the comment posted by an employee on their personal Twitter account over the holiday weekend," said Eric Denhoff, deputy minister of Alberta Climate Change Office. "The comment in question was totally unacceptable and does not represent the views of the Government of Alberta."

Denhoff added “every employee of the Alberta Public Service is bound by the Code of Conduct and Ethics which states that Albertans have the right to a public service which is conducted with impartiality and integrity.”

According to Fawcett’s public LinkedIn profile, he has worked for the government since October 2017. He has also worked for various magazines and has appeared on television panel discussions.

Global News attempted to contact Fawcett for comment on this story. He has not replied to our phone calls and emails.