曼尼托巴省的一名议员在将一场致命的高速公路车祸中的25岁司机与卡车运输业的“廉价外国”劳动力相提并论后表示遗憾，他说，在这种情况下，如果这些人不是加拿大公民，就应该被驱逐出境。

　　在周六的一篇Facebook帖子中，代表边疆地区的进步保守党议员乔什·冈特（Josh Guenter）似乎对前一天晚上在阿尔托纳以西发生车祸的半挂车司机的种族、公民身份和工作经历做出了假设。

　　皇家骑警只公开透露司机是一名25岁的男子，居住在安大略省的宾顿。

　　目前尚不清楚冈特是否知道有关该司机的其他信息，警方尚未对该司机提出指控。Guenter拒绝了CBC新闻的采访请求，而是提到了他更新的Facebook帖子。

　　警方表示，这辆半挂货车司机在201高速公路上向东行驶时，没有在306高速公路的十字路口停车，撞上了向南行驶的SUV。

　　上周五晚上，35岁的萨拉·安格（Sara Unger）和她8岁的女儿亚历克莎·安格（Alexa Unger）乘坐那辆SUV从杂货店回家的路上被撞。他们都死了。

　　皇家骑警表示，对司机的指控是“预料之中的”。

　　

　　上周六，在警方报告这起悲剧一小时后，冈特在他的Facebook帖子中表达了对这家人的心碎。

　　冈特随后把注意力转向了半挂车司机，说他对他“无情地无视人命”感到“愤怒”。他把“安大略省布兰普顿”（Brampton, Ontario）加了引号，指出了这个人的居住地。这座城市是卡车运输公司的聚集地，也是美国种族最多样化的城市之一。

　　我“希望他面对法律的全面打击，如果他不是加拿大公民，他就被驱逐出境，”冈特写道。

　　“我们需要打击卡车运输业的廉价外国劳动力，尤其是卡车驾驶学校的廉价外国劳动力，”冈特补充说。他在2019年以25岁的年龄当选为议员之前曾是一名卡车司机。

　　冈特接着称这场悲剧是萨斯喀彻温省洪堡野马巴士致命撞车事故的“重演”，在那次事故中，半司机接到了被驱逐出境的命令。

　　这位议员还提到了去年秋天他亲眼目睹的一起事件，当时一名“外国卡车司机”没有为一辆校车停车。

　　“绝对令人愤慨，”冈特在谈到所谓的相似之处时说。“把他们送回去！”

　　虽然一些Facebook受访者对冈特的言论表示支持，其中一人说他“说的是实话”，另一人说他“表达了我们很多人的感受”，但也有人指责他滋生种族主义，煽动“恐惧和不信任”。

　　住在阿尔托纳郊外的洛里·杜克（Lori Dueck）是一位批评者。

　　“我最初的反应是，在悲剧发生后，他的反应似乎缺乏爱和同情，”她说。她表示，作为一名民选官员，冈特有责任倡导更好的安全基础设施和法律，而不是指责。

　　她说：“让我印象深刻的是，‘把他们送回去’，这句话太恶心了。”她指的是这位议员最初的帖子。

　　“考虑到我们的选区由如此多的移民组成，他的意图实际上似乎是进一步推进种族主义议程，令人惊讶的是，这是一个反移民议程。”

　　

　　周一下午，冈特在Facebook上说，他听到了“深思熟虑的反馈”，他反思了自己的帖子是如何被接受的。

　　"My intention was never to target individuals, but to focus our attention on the serious issue of road safety in our community and accountability to prevent tragedies like these," he said.

　　"There is no doubt that we need to address driver training and dangerous behaviour on our roads, but for now, we will keep the family and the driver in our prayers during this difficult time."

　　He added our hearts go out to the driver, who will "carry the weight of this devastating incident for the rest of their life."

　　Dueck said she believes Guenter was intentionally targeting the driver in his initial post, given the MLA singled out the driver's city and called for his deportation if he isn't a Canadian citizen.

　　Janna Wiebe, a resident of Gretna, Man., who also disapproved of Guenter's original message, said the MLA's commentary appeared to come out of nowhere.

　　"I just thought it was such an inappropriate and disappointing response to a really tragic accident that happened," Wiebe said in an interview, before Guenter's follow-up post on Monday.

　　She said she'd prefer if he focused on making safety improvements to the intersection. She personally wants traffic lights installed.

　　"I call that the 'let go and let God' corner because I have my heart in my throat every time I drive" either north-south or east-west on that intersection.

　　"I have seen cars blast through without stopping at the stop sign. I've seen semis blast through without stopping."

　　Don Wiebe, reeve of the RM of Rhineland, said he anticipates safety improvements will come up at their next council meeting on Wednesday.

　　It's one of the issues community members brought up to him, along with people who were also puzzled by Guenter's initial Facebook post. He said he trusts Guenter has learned to rephrase his messaging so as not to be seen as targeting immigrants.

　　

　　Manitoba MLA expresses regret after suggesting driver in fatal crash should be deported

　　9 hours agoDuration 1:48Borderland PC MLA Josh Guenter says he never meant to target the driver in a fatal crash near Altona, Man., after drawing parallels between the 25-year-old man and what Guenter had called "cheap foreign labour" in the trucking industry.