A Canadian politician’s disgusting comments following assassination of Charlie Kirk

This week’s Inside Politics doesn’t tiptoe. It starts where Manitoba’s leaders refuse to stand: the line between civil debate and celebrating political violence. On the program, I’m joined by Winnipeg Sun columnists Royce Koop, Professor of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba, and Lawrence Pinsky, K.C. Together, we take apart the most alarming story in Manitoba politics right now—Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine’s Instagram share expressing “no empathy” for Charlie Kirk after his assassination—and what Premier Wab Kinew must do about it.

We broke the story at the Winnipeg Sun Friday morning. The episode walks viewers through the facts: a cabinet minister amplified a post dehumanizing a murdered 31-year-old husband and father. Fontaine later deleted the share and issued an apology. Our panel asks the only question that matters in a democracy that polices itself by standards, not slogans: Does a pattern of conduct disqualify someone from cabinet?

Koop is blunt. A minister isn’t a keyboard warrior; a minister holds a leadership role that demands restraint and empathy. Saying you have “no empathy” for a murdered political opponent isn’t online snark—it’s a failure of judgment that corrodes public life. Pinsky goes further, calling the conduct “arrogant, cruel, and incompatible with the portfolio she leads,” and points to reports that the minister reshared someone else’s words, reinforcing that amplification is endorsement. Both analysts agree: this crosses a line, and the Premier’s next move will define his credibility.

We also examine the broader climate. Days earlier in Winnipeg, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned that democratic arguments must never slide into ostracization, cancellation—and certainly not assassination. He’s right. Our conversation tracks how elite excuses and casual celebration of violence—from some academics to partisan corners—fuel a culture where political opponents are treated as enemies, not citizens. Viewers will see how this rhetoric migrates from timelines into lecture halls and newsrooms, and why leaders must shut it down, not shrug it off.

Inside Politics also holds media to account. When coverage frames Kirk primarily as “polarizing” while overlooking the taking of a human life, that’s not context—that’s moral evasion. We call it out. And when a minister’s apology arrives only after public blowback, we test it against her record of inflammatory posts and prior controversies. Words are easy. Standards are hard. Cabinet should be the latter.

Most importantly, we put the obligation where it belongs: on Premier Wab Kinew. He issued a decent statement condemning the murder. Now he must act in line with it. Keeping Fontaine in cabinet tells Manitobans that this behavior carries no consequence. Removing her says something different—that Manitoba still draws a bright line against political dehumanization.

If you care about the health of our democracy, about your kids’ right to speak without fear, and about a government that holds itself to a higher bar than the angriest corner of the internet, you need to watch this episode. Hear the receipts, the analysis, and the stakes—laid out plainly.

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