NDP candidate criticized for profane comments and toy gun photo

An NDP candidate in Alberta faced scrutiny yesterday for a Facebook post laden with profanity and a toy gun in an Instagram photo, though she has since apologized. 

Katherine Swampy posted explicit language when responding to an ongoing argument on Facebook back in 2011. She's the New Democratic Party candidate for Battle River-Crowfoot, a riding in central Alberta. 

On Friday, users captured the post in an image and shared it across Twitter. The following post in particular contains explicit language and was tweeted by a former Liberal strategist. 

Meanwhile, the Instagram photo shows Swampy's husband, Armand Swampy, alongside other men, one of whom has what appears to be a handgun, but the NDP have stated it is a toy. The photo is also more than five years old and has been taken down.  

Swampy defended her husband on her Facebook page Friday.

"He is a loving and caring father of five and a supportive husband who helped me achieve a university degree and strive to further assist our community by bringing our voice to Ottawa," she wrote. 

She also explained that the profane Facebook post came from "a past heated exchange," adding "I apologize for this language and to anyone who may have been offended."

She noted in the post that the Instagram photo contained her husband's younger brother, who committed suicide in 2013. In the comments another Facebook user asked Swampy why she'd mentioned him.

"Posting a picture of a deceased person to stereotype and profile is disrespectful, not only to me and my husband but to all of the friends and family of the deceased," she responded. 

The comments were largely positive, saying that these gaffes had done little to change their opinion of her. 

"It's easy to point a finger and say 'but I would never,' but much harder to look at their own motivations. I hope you stay in the race and not let lateral violence get you down," wrote Rochelle Knibb. 

Swampy has not been asked to resign by the NDP, unlike other candidates whose questionable online posts have resurfaced. 

Ala Buzreba resigned her Liberal Party candidacy in Calgary in mid-August after she was found to have tweeted offensive comments as a teenager. A few days later, a Conservative candidate in Quebec resigned for comments he had written beneath news stories. 

More recently, Conservative candidates Jerry Bance and Tim Dutaud resigned for embarrassing videos over the Labour Day weekend. As an appliance technician, Bance was caught peeing in a cup during an episode of CBC's Marketplace. Soon after, Dutaud was revealed as a prank caller who posted his calls to YouTube, in which he mocked people with mental disabilities.