1/ @Dale Smith, please apologize and acknowledge this was wrong, publicly and to @Garnett Genuis. Let me make a personal appeal as to why this is so important. cbc.ca/news/politics/…

2/ Your colleagues and MPs deal with death threats and threats of violence. I do. Ask @Rachel Gilmore and others. I know you think this is a joke, but it’s not. Using the words “shoot them” when referring to an elected official normalizes violence. That is no joking matter.

3/ You digging your heels in on this suggests the press gallery is tone deaf on this issue, and diminishes its credibility at a time when we need credible, unbiased journalism.

4/ It also demonstrates immaturity unbecoming a member of the press gallery. I’ve apologized when my behaviour, inadvertent or not, has affected a friend or colleague. We all mess up, and we need to normalize collegial discourse. There’s no merit in pride in this case.

5/ That “it was a joke” is weak sauce. It was inappropriate. Just…..no. We need to make our collective workplace safer. Anything that normalizes violence, even tangentially, is not good.

6/ Please, just do the right thing, and walk this back.