CARLETON PLACE -- Protesters gathered outside the Carleton Place office of MPP Randy Hillier, calling on the veteran politician to resign from office.
Dozens of people lined Bridge Street on Friday afternoon for the rally to urge the MPP to step down.
The protest came days after a tweet from Hillier, when Hillier said “a guilty conscience?” in response to Ahmed Hussen, the minister for families, children and social development, sharing his experiences with racism in Canada.
Hillier deleted the tweet.
Protester Angie Mills tells CTV News Ottawa “we’re just fed up. You know, he doesn’t represent all of our beliefs.”
“Most of the people that live around here that I know are really well meaning, well intentioned, kind, sharing people, and sadly he’s not one of them. And he’s not one of us. And he does not represent me or my values.”
Hussen said that he has experienced racism first hand, despite being a member of parliament and a federal cabinet minister. "I have been followed in stores... my back gets up when a police cruiser comes behind me as I drive," said Min. Hussen to Evan Solomon on CTV’s Power Play on Monday.
Hillier’s tweet has since been deleted, and a statement explaining the tweet was put out yesterday, but stopped short of apologizing.
“Any tweet that requires an explanation is indeed a bad tweet; my tweet was insensitive and out of context and upon reflection and within minutes, I deleted it.”
