By The Canadian Press
Conservative MP Steven Fletcher holds a press conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa Thursday, March 27, 2014. A Manitoba politician is apologizing for saying a crash that left Fletcher a quadriplegic was a gift. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand)
WINNIPEG – A Manitoba politician is apologizing for saying a highway crash that left one of her colleagues a quadriplegic was a gift.
Judy Klassen, a Liberal legislature member, made the remark to former MP Steven Fletcher, who sits as an Independent in the Manitoba legislature.
Fletcher nearly died when his vehicle hit a moose in 1996 and cannot move his limbs.
Fletcher was debating a bill on moose hunting this week when he said he wouldn’t mind seeing moose wiped out.
Klassen later asked him to withdraw the remark and said a moose gave him the gift of being a spokesman for people in his condition.
Klassen says she later emailed Fletcher to apologize and hopes to make a more public apology in the legislature next week.
