Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is calling for Liberal MP Jaime Battiste to apologize for insulting Atlantic Canadians and calling them “EI folks,” referring to government employment insurance.
While speaking with reporters in Nanaimo, B.C., Battiste, who represents the Nova Scotia riding of Sydney–Victoria said that Atlantic Canadians were “meat and potatoes, fisheries, EI kind of folks.”
The remark did not sit well with Houston, who called for Battiste to apologize on Tuesday.
Battiste made the comments during a three-day caucus retreat on Monday when asked about whether the Liberals are “in trouble” with voters in Atlantic Canada.
“I don’t get that sense that we’re in trouble in the Atlantic. I think the Atlantic has typically been a progressive spot, you know … it’s one of those places that are kind of meat and potatoes, fisheries, EI kind of folks that tell us how they think we’re doing and from all indications that I’ve had they don’t reflect what the polls show,” he said.
Houston responded by calling Battiste’s comments “disappointing,” saying that the “characterization of Nova Scotians as ‘EI folks’ is not acceptable and not representative and he should apologize for that.”
