A senior lawyer at the Department of Justice, Alexander Gay, has deleted a controversial LinkedIn post in which he compared journalists critical of the Canadian government to animal urine.Blacklock's Reporter says the post, in which Gay criticized Sun Media's coverage of the government, was taken down following backlash.In his since-deleted post, Gay wrote: “My late father would call this yellow journalism which I believe had something to do with a newspaper that was only good enough to train a dog to pee outdoors.”The Department of Justice declined to comment directly on Gay's social media activity. “The Department of Justice does not comment on specific employees’ activity on social media,” said spokesperson Ian McLeod. Gay, who serves as senior counsel, is one of 5,637 employees at the department.Attorney General Arif Virani also refrained from commenting on the situation. David Taylor, the Attorney General’s director of communications, stated that Gay would not be speaking with reporters and would refer any inquiries to the department.This isn’t the first time Gay has faced scrutiny for his social media posts. Just days earlier, he deleted another LinkedIn message related to the legal case Blacklock’s Reporter v. Attorney General, in which he provocatively wrote, “Happy to meet any daring soul in a courtroom.” The message was removed after Blacklock’s filed its appeal.Gay’s behavior raises questions about public servants’ use of social media. The Public Sector Values and Ethics Code mandates civility, stating: “Public servants shall respect human dignity and the value of every person by treating every person with respect and fairness.”Additionally, federal guidelines on social media, like the Treasury Board’s Directive on the Management of Communications, stress appropriate online conduct for employees, while private sector bodies like the Ontario Bar Association have even stricter rules for lawyers’ social media use. The Canadian Bar Association’s Social Media Policy advises that employees, while free to express themselves, must do so in a manner that reflects their responsibility to represent their organization professionally.In a 2021 interview with Revista Debate Canada, Gay emphasized his qualifications, stating that he had “written several books” and was fit for judicial appointment, adding, “We are capable of being judges.”
A senior lawyer at the Department of Justice, Alexander Gay, has deleted a controversial LinkedIn post in which he compared journalists critical of the Canadian government to animal urine.Blacklock's Reporter says the post, in which Gay criticized Sun Media's coverage of the government, was taken down following backlash.In his since-deleted post, Gay wrote: “My late father would call this yellow journalism which I believe had something to do with a newspaper that was only good enough to train a dog to pee outdoors.”The Department of Justice declined to comment directly on Gay's social media activity. “The Department of Justice does not comment on specific employees’ activity on social media,” said spokesperson Ian McLeod. Gay, who serves as senior counsel, is one of 5,637 employees at the department.Attorney General Arif Virani also refrained from commenting on the situation. David Taylor, the Attorney General’s director of communications, stated that Gay would not be speaking with reporters and would refer any inquiries to the department.This isn’t the first time Gay has faced scrutiny for his social media posts. Just days earlier, he deleted another LinkedIn message related to the legal case Blacklock’s Reporter v. Attorney General, in which he provocatively wrote, “Happy to meet any daring soul in a courtroom.” The message was removed after Blacklock’s filed its appeal.Gay’s behavior raises questions about public servants’ use of social media. The Public Sector Values and Ethics Code mandates civility, stating: “Public servants shall respect human dignity and the value of every person by treating every person with respect and fairness.”Additionally, federal guidelines on social media, like the Treasury Board’s Directive on the Management of Communications, stress appropriate online conduct for employees, while private sector bodies like the Ontario Bar Association have even stricter rules for lawyers’ social media use. The Canadian Bar Association’s Social Media Policy advises that employees, while free to express themselves, must do so in a manner that reflects their responsibility to represent their organization professionally.In a 2021 interview with Revista Debate Canada, Gay emphasized his qualifications, stating that he had “written several books” and was fit for judicial appointment, adding, “We are capable of being judges.”
