Finance writer and TV personality Gail Vaz-Oxlade had some choice words on Twitter Friday for Ontario cabinet minister Lisa MacLeod. Well, one word in particular, really.
It all started when MacLeod shared a post about her daughter’s Grade 8 graduation. (Warning: strong language ahead.)
On Thursday, Vaz-Oxlade retweeted it and said, “Does she know her mother is a heartless cunt?”
That reply was subsequently removed, though whether it was done by Twitter after MacLeod’s supporters reported it for harassment, or Vaz-Oxlade did it herself is unknown.
However, Vaz-Oxlade has continued to refer to MacLeod with the same language since the initial tweet, including a pinned post of a photo of a shirt that says “Conservatives: Putting the ‘N’ in cuts”.
Vaz-Oxlade is a former host of the television show “Til Debt Do Us Part.” She’s also a prolific finance writer. Her son has autism.
While MacLeod was social services minister, she was in charge of the province’s autism program. Cuts to funding, along with layoffs at autism treatment centres, have spurred backlash and likely played a role in MacLeod’s move from the social services portfolio to tourism in Ford’s recent cabinet shuffle.
MacLeod also came under fire for reportedly threatening a health-care organization with “four long years” if it didn’t publicly support the changes to the autism program.
MacLeod responded to Vaz-Oxlade’s initial comments in a series of replies on Twitter.
Though MacLeod had plenty of supporters, including members of her own party, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and plenty of internet fans, not everyone was on her side. Others backed up Vaz-Oxlade’s position and argued that MacLeod’s actions during her time in the social services portfolio have done far more harm than the writer’s attack on her.
The debate between the two groups was still going strong on Saturday, with Vaz-Oxlade’s supporters arguing that people were overreacting to a use of vulgarity and trying to turn MacLeod into a victim when the real victims were children with autism.
MacLeod has been inundated with protests from parents over her part in the cuts — one protester dubbing her a “stupid liar.”
Earlier in June, a 41-year-old mother of a four-year-old with autism pleaded guilty to criminal harassment and uttering threats after sending more than 100 emails to the minister, the Ottawa Citizen reported.
Despite her move to the tourism ministry, MacLeod can’t seem to escape the shadow of her handling of the autism program.
On Friday, a leaked internal government report suggested the government spread misinformation about the former autism program to justify the changes.
“This has been the toughest and most damaging file in our first year of office,” the Globe and Mail quoted. “Regretfully, to add fuel to the fire, our tone has been less than ideal. We are talking about children and families in need.”
MacLeod also came under fire the same day for comments she made about her switch to tourism, which many autism activists viewed as insensitive.
“I used to be the minister of tears, but as you can see from here I’m now the minister of cheers and it’s a real nice refresher,” MacLeod said, according to the Toronto Star. Her spokesperson told the newspaper that she had been referring to being personally driven to tears while hearing about victims of sex trafficking and about Ontarians in poverty.
Vaz-Oxlade has been vocal about her feelings toward Doug Ford’s government before he was elected.
“I am deeply offended by the ‘Don’t let them out of the house’ idea. My child not only shines academically (he’ll graduate from college this year on the Honour Roll) but he is a thoughtful, caring and honest man. I could not be more proud of him,” she wrote in a blog post.
“If my options are Doug Ford and his right-wing cronies or one of the women who heads the other two parties, I’m gonna do everything I can to make sure it’s #NotFord.”
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