W. K. Lis
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Toronto councillor tweets at VP-elect Kamala Harris to 'stop talking'
Mark Grimes (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) criticized for comments
From link.
Mark Grimes (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) criticized for comments
From link.
Ward 3 Coun. Mark Grimes is drawing criticism on social media after a tweet late Saturday night, telling U.S. Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris to “Stop talking!!” and telling another person on Twitter to “go to bed and don’t forget to brush your Sheep.”
The first tweet appeared on the councillor’s Twitter feed at 11:36 p.m. Dec. 12, in reply to a tweet from VP-elect Harris about the Biden-Harris administration’s intent to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate.
Harris' tweet read: “In 39 days the Biden-Harris administration will rejoin the Paris Agreement and once again be global leaders in the fight against the climate crisis.”
Using his @Mark_Grimes twitter feed, Grimes replied with an emoji of a stop sign followed by “Stop talking!!’ That tweet has appeared to have since been deleted, but other responses by Grimes have not.
After Twitter user @gleefulreader posted a critical response to that tweet, which wondered whether the reply to Harris was indicative of what Grimes thought of female politicians, he wrote, “He Bo Peep ....isn’t it past your bedtime ??? Go to bed and don’t forget to brush your sheep !!”
In response to a Tweet by @sydenhamkennedy: “@Mark_Grimes I’m confused by your response here. Are you against #climatechange VP-elect @KamalaHarris or @JoeBiden Administration?”, Grimes retorted: “Your right .....your confused !!”
Spelling and grammatical errors from the original tweets have been retained.
Grimes did not respond to requests for an interview made via telephone, text and email Dec. 14. But the tweets have drawn criticism both online and among constituents,
Twitter user @damomdalorian wriote: “How is this guy even a councillor? Canada needs to set a minimum standard when selecting councillors and MPs. Makes sense why a clown with just a high school diploma is running a province. I apologize to Kamala that she had to hear from this uneducated clown.”
User @BalanceBodySoul wrote “My 11 year old knows how to interact with people in a more mature manner than you do. I wish you’d recognize your position and stop posting and behaving the way you do on social media. Also, screen shots live forever.”
The exchanges also disturbed residents, including Long Branch residents Aaron and Lisa Davis, both of whom are friends with Grimes on his private Facebook page.
In an interview, Aaron Davis said the tone and content of the tweets Saturday night is consistent with some of the things he and his wife have seen on the Facebook page.
Davis shared screen shots of several posts, including one in which Grimes jokes about getting a COVID-19 vaccine from a Mexican clinic, and how it’s “turned him a bit Russian.”
“This is our councillor who has people who are looking for a vaccine in his city, and who are working on the front lines to help people, and he’s joking about it,” said Davis.
In another post that Davis shared via screenshot, Grimes posted a screenshot of a meme of vandalized police cars allegedly in Los Angeles, with the comment: “This sickens me to core !! Who’s bringing up these “people”?? This (emoji of the planet earth) is off side !! #Sickening (frowny face emoji).”
"He refers to protesters as ‘people’ in quotation marks, as if they’re not really people? He’s supposed to be a voice for the community and listen – not make fun of and not bastardize people for protesting,” said Davis.
Grimes has been a member of Toronto Council since 2003, and currently chairs the Etobicoke York Community Council and the Exhibition Place Boards of Governors, where he also serves as Mayor John Tory’s designate.
In February of this year, Grimes was cleared of charges laid in 2018 by the Ontario Provincial Police against himself and outgoing councillor Justin Di Ciano for allegedly falsifying campaign expenses in 2014.