Volunteer review process enters campaign discussion – Winnipeg Free Press

Political consultants who made racist comments about indigenous peoples and opposed COVID-19 mandates are involved in Glenn Murray’s Winnipeg mayoral bid, calling into question the campaign’s scrutiny.

Murray says Bradon Mazurkiewicz is volunteering for him, and he’s aware of Mazurkiewicz’s past Facebook comments.

“I’ve heard, yes. I don’t know much about his background, but I’ve heard of it,” Murray said in a telephone interview on Thursday, adding that he doesn’t know “that much” about Mazurkiewicz.

In 2012, Mazurkiewicz was forced to resign as leader of the youth wing of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party.

In response to a comment, he wrote that Tuxedo and South District lands were “built for the hardworking men and women of the military, not for freeloading Indians.” free press reported at the time.

He also wrote of the site:

Comment “I’m really sorry”

Mazurkiewicz said on Thursday: free press He was “young and immature” at the time and no longer holds the same views.

“Today I look back and am disgusted by the things I said, and sadly believed, in my early twenties. I am also grateful for the opportunity to change,” he wrote in an email.

“Once again I apologize and am truly sorry for my previous comments and the hurt they caused. They were wrong, racist, harmful and are no longer what I believe.”

Mazurkiewicz said he has been mentored by indigenous leaders. When contacted by phone, he declined to comment further.

Convoy tweets, ‘Chinese virus’

Posts on his Twitter account over the past 12 months have criticized face masks and mandatory vaccination certifications, calling COVID-19 the “China virus” and the Omicron variant the “cold.” .

Some of the tweets contained unsubstantiated conspiracy theories linking the coronavirus to Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory.

Mazurkiewicz writes that he received multiple doses of the vaccine.

While supporting the so-called “Freedom Convoy,” he expressed typical anti-Justin Trudeau sentiments associated with the protests.

In response to a Jan. 3 tweet expressing concern over the number of potential COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths that day, a reply from Mazurkiewich’s account said: The sooner everyone gets it, the sooner we can get our lives back. ”

Manitoba reported 5,411 new cases and six deaths that afternoon amid a winter wave of Omicron fuel.

Murray, who served as mayor of Winnipeg from 1998 to 2004, said he was unaware of the COVID-related posts.

A spokeswoman said Murray does not share Mazurkiewicz’s views.

frown on campaign support

Murray said Mazurkiewicz does “general volunteer work” in his campaign. I think it was because I was working on a campaign for

Last year, Mazurkiewich was involved in former Tory MP Shelly Glover’s unsuccessful bid to become the state’s PC leader. He endorsed the successful election of Pierre Polivre to the leadership of the Federal Conservative Party.

His involvement in the left-leaning Murray campaign has been frowned upon.

Mazurkiewicz tweeted on Thursday that he had been “talked to” by a conservative friend for three months while he was “working” on Murray’s campaign.

A photo on his social media page shows him posing with Murray in Nuit Blanche on Sept. 24, standing on a podium inside a candidate’s campaign office downtown.

His Instagram page describes himself as a political and marketing consultant.

Murray said there is no formal process for vetting volunteers for his campaign.

“It’s almost … a pitch-in and people come in and operate phones and things like that,” he said.

Similar approach in other campaigns

Other mayoral candidates have taken similar approaches.

In August, Don Woodstock defended the decision to allow Patrick Allard to volunteer for the election, free press He supported Allard’s right to protest and accepted him as long as “he keeps his rhetoric out of my campaign.”

Allard, a vocal opponent of COVID-19 public health orders, was recently fined $34,000 for violating restrictions.

On Thursday, Woodstock said it asked questions to people who wanted to run for mayor or donate money.

“People are trying to work their way through the cracks as much as we can,” he said.

Candidates Kevin Kline and Sean Lowney, as well as a spokesman for Scott Gillingham, all said they had no similar issues with the volunteers.

Ronnie said he is asking volunteers in “critical” positions to read and agree to a HR-style document containing a respectful work environment policy.

Mr Klein said his entourage was “very well scrutinized”. Other volunteers will have to fill out forms and answer questions about their affiliation, he said.

In response to a request for an interview regarding the judging, Gillingham’s team reached out to his campaign manager, Luc Lewandowski, for comment. He said candidates usually accept volunteer offers “at face value”, but the review tends to be at a higher level of engagement.

Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor of political science at the University of Manitoba, said there is less scrutiny at the local government level compared to federal and state campaigns.

Without a political party system, local government candidates are “on their own”.

They rush to set up an organization and ask for help, but time is limited and there are too many people to oversee the volunteers, Adams said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching