Manitoba health minister who says she was falsely accused of going maskless in PCH tired of Twitter 'trolls'
CBC
Manitoba's health minister is blaming people on Twitter for twisting her words after they assumed she visited a personal care home without wearing a mask — which she says didn't happen.
Audrey Gordon posted tweets on Friday in which she said she was inspired to give snacks to seniors because she used to do it at Vista Park Lodge, a personal care home in Winnipeg, as a volunteer.
"This morning, I was thrilled to serve constituents a snack and coffee in the comforts of their home," one of her tweets said.
People saw the tweets, in which a maskless Gordon was seen rolling a snack cart and handing a coffee to a senior, as proof the health minister was breaking rules that require all PCH visitors to wear a mask.
But Gordon says the photos don't show her at a personal care home — but an apartment complex. The tweets did not specify a location.
"A skill that I learned years ago as a volunteer, I used this again [yesterday] in my role as an MLA. That is all," she said.
"I've never said in the post that I was at Vista Park Lodge, I never said I was at a personal care home."
Gordon calls the social media outcry another example of people on Twitter pushing a negative story.
"It's the typical narrative that I've seen in the past, particularly on Twitter, where they take posts from myself and other Progressive Conservative MLAs and they spin it into the narrative they want it to be, without any regard for the truth," said the MLA for Southdale.
Her goal with the tweets was to alert people to the many seniors who are socially isolated, she said.
Mark Sefton, a retired educator, was one of the people on Twitter who figured the health minister was going against the rules of a PCH.
He said Gordon's explanation "lowers the concerns" in his eyes, but he argues the health minister should have still worn a mask while meeting potentially vulnerable seniors.
"If she's talking about people being socially isolated or lonely in ways that put their health at risk, I wonder if maybe having somebody coming in, going door-to-door without a mask, might also put their health at risk," Sefton said.
He pointed out the photos showed hand-rails in the hallway, which suggests the building likely has many senior residents.