This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive.

Tory MP Gerry Ritz Apologizes For Tweet Calling Catherine McKenna 'Climate Barbie'

The sexist insult is often used by The Rebel.

A veteran Conservative MP has apologized for referring to the federal environment minister as "climate Barbie," a sexist insult apparently lifted from Rebel Media.

Gerry Ritz, the former agriculture minister who announced last month that he is leaving federal politics after two decades, made the remark on Twitter Tuesday. Ritz was responding to a tweet quoting a U.S. professor saying no major industrialized country is on pace to meet Paris climate targets.

"Has anyone told our climate Barbie!" Ritz offered.

A screengrab of the deleted tweet for which Tory MP Gerry Ritz apologized on Sept. 19, 2017.
Twitter screengrab
A screengrab of the deleted tweet for which Tory MP Gerry Ritz apologized on Sept. 19, 2017.

The tweet was deemed offside by many on social media and later deleted. Ritz later took to Twitter to say the use of "Barbie" wasn't reflective of the role Environment Minister Catherine McKenna plays.

The Rebel, a controversial, far-right website from which many federal Tories are now keeping their distance, has oftenreferred to McKenna as "Climate Barbie," with contributors likening her to a talking doll.

Before Ritz deleted the tweet, McKenna responded by asking if the MP uses that language about other women in his life.

Maryam Monsef, minister for the status of women, took to Twitter to call out Ritz's "gender-based name-calling."

Tory MP Michelle Rempel, who has spoken out about the sexism women often face in politics, also weighed in Tuesday night.

Rempel shared a 2015 YouTube video where she was compared to a talking doll.

"I just sucked it up. Maybe I shouldn't have," Rempel wrote.

This isn't the first time Ritz has landed in hot water over his words.

Last October, Ritz suggested in the House of Commons that then-international trade minister Chrystia Freeland needed "adult supervision" during the Canada-European Union trade negotiations.

Ritz, who was then the Tory trade critic, accused Freeland of having a "meltdown" when she fought back tears during media interviews after walking away from talks in Brussels at the time.

Freeland later responded by reminding him that she was an adult, as was everyone in the House.

"I am 48 years old — I think I have the wrinkles and the grey hair to prove it — and I'm proud of the things I've accomplished in my life," she said at the time.

In 2008, Ritz faced calls to resign as agriculture minister for joking that a deadly listeriosis outbreak, which resulted in more than 20 deaths and a huge recall of meat, was death by a thousand "cold cuts."

He also reportedly quipped at the time that he hoped one of the deaths was a Liberal MP Wayne Easter.

With a file from The Canadian Press

Close
This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.