Toronto Media Co-op

Local Independent News

More independent news:
Do you want free independent news delivered weekly? sign up now
Can you support independent journalists with $5? donate today!

Ex-Environment Minister Twitter account deleted after shameful debate on Line 9 (play-by-play in photos)

by Sakura Saunders

It started innocently enough.. my response to Mr. Stockwell's tweet that an environmental assessment would be 40 years late for Line 9.
..then I laid into him. Surprised that he didn't realize at this point that I would be able to school him on Line 9
Then, he made it very clear that he hadn't studied this issue very much.
So, after schooling him a bit, I advise that he reads some articles and get back to me (this initiated a 5 hour break in our twitter war, while I presume he was reading up on Line 9)
Then he returns to the battle field with more bad ammo (and bad grammar!)
He is getting more and more belligerent... perhaps drunk? and I LOVE how he offers to type "slower" for me, as if that will increase my twitter comprehension.
All of the sudden, the debate is no longer about whether or not Line 9 needs an Environmental Assessment, but he has shifted the debate to focus on the rail versus pipeline question. You can tell he is regaining some confidence here.
I don't want to engage in this debate, but decide to beat him on this level as well.
Clearly frustrated with my facts and studies... he just lies about Line 9 never having ruptured (as if!). I link to the Engineering report that Enbridge submitted to the NEB, where they admit to a rupture along the route.
Repeating a "fact" pulled from Enbridge's PR, I point out that Enbridge doesn't have the capacity to measure the flow of the pipe to that degree of accuracy, disqualifying his pseudo-fact.
In what is possibly the funniest moment in our debate, Mr. Stockwell finally retorts an hour later (at ~4:30am!) that I should "quit while [I'm] behind"
Then, in the second-funniest moment in the debate, he "favourites" someone telling him that he is in fact the person that is behind (maybe he thought they were talking about me)
Finally, I try to turn this embarrassing debate into a learning moment for Mr. Stockwell. But, instead of admitting defeat, he insists that he is in fact the right one. That's when I break it to him that he has only ever held power because of his ability to tow a line without thinking for himself or having any principles to speak of.

It started as a simple response to a stupid comment. But, over the next 72 hours, a twitter war had developed and the victor had been clearly determined. By Monday morning, Former Ontario Environment and Energy Minister Chris Stockwell's Twitter account was deleted, erasing the record of his shameful performance in a debate about Line 9, the controversial pipeline project that seeks to run toxic dilbit through Southern Ontario in a 39 year old pipe.

Luckily, I anticipated that at some point, someone would let him know what an ass he was making of himself and delete his responses, so I took screenshots! 

The takeaway message from all of this is to never ever use Ezra Levant as a primary source of information when engaging in a public debate.

Enjoy! (check out the play-by-play debate in the photos)

Socialize:
Want more grassroots coverage?
Join the Media Co-op today.

Creative Commons license icon Creative Commons license icon

About the poster

Trusted by 2 other users.
Has posted 25 times.
View Sakura Saunders's profile »

Recent Posts:

picture of Sakura Saunders

Sakura Saunders (Sakura Saunders)
Toronto, ON
Member since February 2010

About:


135 words

The site for the Toronto local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.