After announcing her decision Monday to step down as the Liberal Party of Canada’s federal candidate in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, Maria Manna sounded rather upbeat.
“I’m really okay with it,” the Bear Mountain resident said, having posted a resignation statement on her Facebook page – the very vehicle on which she posted what have become her controversial views on 911 and the Twin Towers.
Manna commented in 2013 on the social media website about the 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks. She called the official story that the planes hitting the twin towers caused them to collapse a “lie,” and that she believed a different truth. The posts resurfaced and were picked up by several media organizations over the weekend, causing some controversy.
Manna would not confirm whether those comments were directly related to her resignation, but when asked whether she felt pressure to step down, she said she did not. She would not comment further on the matter, saying that her resignation statement adequately summed up her response.
In her Facebook post early Monday afternoon, Manna said that after stepping back and reflecting on recent events she had decided to resign. She expressed her support for the Liberal party and did not wish her opinions and comments to detract from their goals.
She went on to apologize to anyone she may have offended and said she would devote herself to her music and humanitarian work.
The Liberal Party of Canada emailed a terse statement to the Gazette confirming Manna’s resignation. When asked to expand on the matter, a party spokesperson refused to elaborate past the comments made in the release.
That email also announced that Luke Krayenhoff would be replacing Manna as the Liberal candidate in the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding. Krayenhoff was previously nominated to represent the Liberals in the Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke riding but lost his bid to current candidate David Merner.
katie@goldstreamgazette.com
