A Metro Vancouver Liberal MP apologized on Tuesday for a social-media post that questioned whether there was a link between Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and a fatal shooting in Manitoba.

Ken Hardie posted Monday that the weekend shooting, which left four people dead in Winnipeg, was 鈥渂eyond troubling鈥� and asked if it was connected to a 鈥渂urn everything down鈥� attitude creeping in from the United States.

His post on X, formerly known as Twitter, then referred to 鈥渢he 鈥榗reep鈥� on the Canadian side鈥� and mentioned the official Opposition leader by name.

Hardie told The Canadian Press on Tuesday morning that he stood by his post and was not apologizing, though he conceded he could have used a better example to make the same point.

But he changed his tune hours later, following a meeting with Government House leader Karina Gould.

鈥淚t is absolutely inappropriate and that鈥檚 not something that anyone should be suggesting from any political party,鈥� Gould had told reporters that morning, adding she planned to speak with Hardie about it.

After their conversation, Hardie said he came to realize his post was inappropriate, adding there was no connection between Poilievre and the Winnipeg killings.

鈥淭here was no link. None whatsoever. And so in that respect, posting it that way was entirely inappropriate on my part,鈥� he told The Canadian Press.

鈥淚 did not know that鈥檚 the way it would be taken, but you know, that鈥檚 the reality that some people have. So, yeah, I do apologize for that.鈥�

Hardie issued an apology on X Tuesday afternoon, but didn鈥檛 delete the original post.

Winnipeg police have said the investigation of the shooting that killed four people in the city鈥檚 downtown is in its infancy. No arrests have been made, suspects are still being determined and there is not yet any indication of a motive, police said.

Hardie said his post was meant to 鈥減lant a seed鈥� with a series of questions to confront the attitude of the Conservative party, which he believes is creating an environment where people feel hopeless.

鈥淭he first reaction might be very hostile, and everything else, but it鈥檚 still in there,鈥� Hardie said prior to apologizing.

鈥淎nd people might start to, you know, in a quieter moment, think about a few things. That鈥檚 all it was really intended to do.鈥�

Poilievre鈥檚 spokesman, Sebastian Skamski, said in a statement that Liberal MPs are desperate to make 鈥渄isgusting and outlandish claims鈥� to distract from the government鈥檚 鈥渙wn disastrous record.鈥�

He called the Liberal approach 鈥済utter politics,鈥� charging that 鈥渄eranged comments like these aren鈥檛 one-off exceptions but rather (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau鈥檚 entire game plan.鈥�

This is the second time in two months Hardie has apologized for his behaviour on social media.

Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman called Hardie 鈥渦nhinged鈥� in her own social-media post on Monday, pointing to another post last month in which he said Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels would be proud of Conservative MPs.

Hardie deleted the post and issued an apology in the House of Commons.

鈥淚 did go elbows up on Twitter, and I apologize for that,鈥� he said on Oct. 5. 鈥淚 did attempt to raise the issue the other day of the frequent misrepresentation coming from the Conservative side, but elbows up was a little too much in this case, and I apologize.鈥�

Speaker Greg Fergus asked for a clearer apology, and Hardie responded: 鈥淎bsolutely, Mr. Speaker. I apologize to the House.鈥�

Hardie said on Tuesday that he thinks if he had used the name of former U.S. president Donald Trump in his earlier tweet, it wouldn鈥檛 have resulted in what he called 鈥渄eserved backlash.鈥�

The Liberal MP added that he doesn鈥檛 plan to change his approach to social media because of either incident.

鈥淚 will keep tweeting, absolutely. I think the essence of both of those tweets is to call attention to the practices and the strategies that the Conservatives are using that are damaging to democracy,鈥� he said following his apology.

鈥淚t is unfortunate that I opened the door to having that message invalidated. But it isn鈥檛 an invalid message. It鈥檚 a message we need to pay attention to.鈥�

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