Opposition Leader Jamie Fox compared Biggar’s tweets to those of U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing her of making “late night vile threats” on Twitter.
“This weekend, your transportation minister took to Twitter to lash out over controversy about the Cornwall bypass project,” Fox said.
“Do you consider trolling on Twitter acceptable conduct of your minister?” he asked, directing his question to acting premier Alan McIsaac. Premier Wade MacLauchlan was out of the province Tuesday for meetings.
On Friday, Biggar began responding to Tweets posted by an account called the “P.E.I. PC Caucus.” The tweets were reiterations of concerns raised in question period last week about the amount of money government paid for a parcel of land for phase two of the Cornwall bypass.
The province paid $823,000 for the empty parcel, an amount that MacKay claims is 650 per cent above the assessed value of the property.
In her tweets, Biggar accused MacKay of “twisting facts” regarding this land purchase, calling his Progressive Conservative party one of “alternative facts.”
Later in the same thread, she tweeted, “I don’t get mad, I get even lol.”
On Tuesday, Biggar defended the exchange, saying she felt it was necessary to correct the public record on statements made in the legislature about the Cornwall land purchase she says were “inaccurate.”
“As minister of transportation, I was accused of mishandling the purse money in regard to land purchases.”
She dismissed the idea her tweet was threatening, pointing to the “lol” included at the end of the message, which stands for “laugh out loud.”
Fox asked if Biggar would face any consequences for her social media posts, but McIsaac says these messages can be misinterpreted.
“When you’re tweeting sometimes, the smiles don’t come across, you don’t get an idea of what was perhaps really meant.”
Biggar also used her twitter account over the weekend to call the woman whose seven-second exchange with BC Premier Christie Clark went viral an “angry voter plant” and a “set up.”
During a campaign stop at a BC market, Linda Higgins told Clark she would never vote for her. Clark responded by saying, “That’s why we live in a democracy,” and promptly walked away. The exchange was captured on camera and has since gone viral, with many now adopting the hashtag #iamLinda.
“Set up. Just happen to have a camera there?” Biggar tweeted on Saturday.
Higgins has denied being part of any set up.
