Danielle Smith comment creates Twitter uproar
Posted Oct 22, 2012 12:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
“This is a good rule for any politician, if you can’t explain something within 140 characters on Twitter you probably shouldn’t try,” Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith tells 660News.
Her comments about tainted beef, made Sunday, are creating an uproar among some.
Responding to a tweet across her page, asking if there was someway to cook it so it was safe and could be given to the hungry, Danielle wrote “I agree, we all know cooking kills E. Coli, what a waste.”
NDP Leader Brian Mason immediately fired off a tweet in response that read “I’m appalled that a public official would suggest feeding tainted meat to Albertans living in poverty.”
Smith then began to receive dozens of more tweets, many criticizing her for her choice of words.
The company was given a choice by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, heat it to get rid of the E. Coli, render it or throw it away.
Given a lack of confidence in the industry, the Wildrose leader says she now stands by XL Foods’ decision to send more than 600 tonnes of beef by late Sunday to the landfill.
“It was their choice and judging by the public’s reaction to my comments, it’s clear XL Foods made the right decision,” she says.
“They felt clearly that the only way to do it was to wipe the slate clean and I think now it’s a matter of moving forward to get this plant open,” he says.
She still stands by her initial comments in helping the Brooks Food Bank after hearing a rumour they had to close their doors Friday.
Chair of the Department of Policy Studies at Mount Royal University Dr. Duane Bratt says Danielle Smith has made a mistake and acknowledged it.
“It shows some of the danger in conversing in real time in public, I’m sure if she had a lot more time to think, she would never have said that,” he says.
Bratt believes Twitter can be a useful tool but also a common problem, one that he’s even faced.
The political scientist says these types of gaffes can occur and he’s hoping she doesn’t decide to limit her future comments.
His advice for any politician on Twitter, “think before you speak and think before you type.”
