NDP MP Dawn Black addresses a news conference in Ottawa, Tuesday September 25, 2007.Fred Chartrand/ The Canadian Press
The provincial New Democrats' new interim leader never publicly announced that she thought dissident MLA Jenny Kwan should resign. But she certainly seemed to "like" that idea on Facebook.
In December, after infighting prompted party leader Carole James to resign, former MP Dawn Black expressed her support on Facebook for several comments on the social networking site endorsing a call for Ms. Kwan to step down.
Her union executive son David got that online conversation started when he told Facebook friends he had phoned in to CKNW host Bill Good's talk show and made that call for Ms. Kwan's resignation.
A number of individuals wrote in to express their support for that idea, with one of them stating, "I totally agree with you… Jenny needs to go," and another adding, "There is no way Kwan can sit in the caucus room and ever be trusted."
Speaking with The Globe and Mail, Ms. Black refused to comment on why she "liked" those entries or even confirm she had personally done so.
"We're two months away from that," she explained. "We're together unanimously. And I don't want to go back in history. I want to go forward together with my caucus colleagues."
Nor would Ms. Black say whether she thought Ms. Kwan should resign or the dissidents should be punished - a question she also dodged last month after opposition caucus members unanimously recommended her to be the party's interim leader.
"That's in the hands of the party," she said. "I'm in a position as interim leader. My goal is to set the table in any way I can in a more positive way for the new leader coming in on April 17."
But Ms. Black acknowledged the incident is a reminder of "social media being accessible to everybody. And people should be cognizant that that's one of the reasons we have some criteria within the NDP around social media and the leadership candidates now" - a reference to a screening process that requires those candidates to hand over the passwords and usernames of their social media accounts so the party can review them.
Indeed, David Brodie - a social media expert with Optimum West Public Relations - agreed Ms. Black's experience is a "cautionary tale," reminding him of the controversy that ensued in 2007 when then Republican presidential nomination candidate Rudy Giuliani's daughter joined a Facebook group supporting Democrat Barack Obama.
"I don't think someone should be held accountable for something their son says online or something their daughter says online," said Mr. Brodie, a onetime adviser to former prime minister Paul Martin. "However, in this case, [Ms. Black]chose to weigh in and heap on in comments like that. And it does demonstrate some pretty poor judgment, obviously."
In the age of social media, Mr. Brodie said, politicians need to be aware that what they do online "will be interpreted in a broader sense than just commenting on something their son has said on their own personal Facebook page."
Nevertheless, Ms. Kwan stated, "Clearly, people had points of view during that period and they're entitled to those points of view. What matters now is forward going - in terms of where we're at."
Special to The Globe and Mail