President of Manitoba PCs youth wing resigns after racist comments

Brayden Mazurkiewich, who was president of the youth wing of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party has resigned after posting racist comments on Facebook. The Progressive Conservatives are the official opposition in the Manitoba government.

The president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, Ryan Matthews, in a press release said:

"Comments by Progressive Conservative Youth President Brayden Mazurkiewich have been deemed conduct detrimental to our party. As PC Manitoba party president I have asked Brayden Mazurkiewich for his resignation and received it."

Mazurkiewcih made some of the comments in response to news that a group of four First Nations again won a decision in their favor on the government sale of the Kapyong barracks site located in Winnipeg. The court ruled that the federal government had failed to consult, or even communicate adequately with the First Nations involved before selling the land. The First Nations group has been trying to secure the land as part of a treaty land entitlement. In 2007 the federal Treasury Board decided to sell the barracks' site to the Canada Lands Co, a Crown corporation, to oversee the site's development and resale. The group of First Nations went to Federal Court to have the decision overturned. In September 2009 a judge ruled in the group's favor declaring the transfer invalid because the government did not consult enough with the First Nations about their treaty claims. Now the government's appeal has failed. Mazurkiewich responded to the court decision on Facebook:

"Listen carefully to the news today. Looks like they might be announcing that they're building a freaking reserve in the middle of Winnipeg. This city is quickly becoming the laughing stock of the entire country."

When some people commented on his post Mazurkiewich went on to say of the barracks' site:

"That was built for hardworking men and women of the military, not freeloading Indians."

Mazurkiewich apologized for his outburst and handed in his resignation but he still maintained he is opposed to having an urban reserve on the property saying:

"But my feelings about the reserve going in ... I don't think that would fit well in that community at all. You know, you hear on reserves all the time, people are burning down their own homes. There are shootings and stabbings, and we don't need to bring more of that to Winnipeg."

Mazurkiewich has also made some comments on Twitter that have offended some people as well. He has called the famous Winnipeg Folk Festival the "hippie festival". Francophones he claims are "all just pushy and liberal".