Following a city council vote to explore reallocation of Calgary Police Service funding, a pair of Calgary councillors have taken to Twitter to air their grievances.
On Tuesday, the the notice of motion brought forward by Ward 8 Coun. Evan Woolley was passed in a 9-5 vote. Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu was one of those who voted against the motion.
In a twitter thread about the motion, Twitter user @heylaineys pointed out Chu’s stance on addiction and a safe injection site in the Beltline community. Woolley responded, and called Chu, “one of the most ignorant morons on council” in a late-night tweet.
Chu acknowledged the insult on the social media platform, saying he was forwarding the comment to the Ethics Commissioner, but if his counterpart apologized he would “consider this matter closed.”
“I think that Calgarians expect better of us,” Chu told Danielle Smith on Global News Radio 770 CHQR. “I’ve seen a lot of people posting, ‘Come on, act like adults.’ So I’m acting, trying to act like an adult and follow the process.”
Woolley recognized he used harsh language, but said it was time to call out Chu and doubled down on his attack.
“Councillor Chu has, over the years, said some pretty horrific things and I found those things deeply insulting,” Woolley told Rob Breakenridge on 770 CHQR.
Woolley pointed to Chu’s previous comments playing down the severity of addictions in calling it “a choice.”
“My brother died of addiction two years ago,” the Ward 8 councillor said. “Most anybody that I know in this city knows somebody who has struggled with that thing, and they know it’s not ‘a choice.’”
According to the province’s Opioid Response Surveillance Report, opioid poisoning deaths doubled in the province from Q1 to Q2 2020, and apparent unintentional fentanyl poisoning deaths reached 115 — the most since the beginning of 2016.
On Twitter, Woolley also noted Chu’s previous comments calling same-sex marriage a “social revolution” and questioning the veracity of climate change despite scientific consensus.
“He has continued to use ignorant and, in my opinion, moronic statements as a part of his common practice,” Woolley said Thursday.
“I’m not apologizing for it.
“I’m happy to have that conversation with any integrity commissioner or the ethics advisor,” the Ward 8 councillor said. “And I think we need to call out these kinds of comments, these kinds of positions, for what they are.”
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