A long-time Newfoundland politician has found himself in hot water over comments on social media after a basketball game on the weekend in which he was injured.

Fisheries and Agriculture Minister Gerry Byrne was playing in a charity basketball game between Regina and Herdman Collegiate alumnae when he got clipped in the head and needed stitches. Byrne tweeted out, “If you’re gonna get hit, get stitched by the best! Dat Herdman crowd are savages! All patched up to go again.”

Byrne came under fire in the fall session of the House of Assembly for comments accusing another member of racism toward indigenous groups for being present at a meeting at which questionable comments were made, though not by that member, the NDP’s Jim Dinn. It lead to his withdrawing the comments after two days of debate in the house opposition members called a waste of time.

This recent tweet, made in jest, drew the ire of some who cited his earlier outrage. At first, Byrne responded with a link to the definition as seen by the dictionary. He also noted that he is a person of indigenous ancestry.

However, by the time Sunday rolled around, Byrne was tweeting apologies for using the word “savages” and promising to do better in future.

I am a person of indigenous ancestry myself but I didn’t see the offence immediately & relied simply on the more classical definition for this word as I use it & attempted to apply it with humour to keep the spirited event about a community rivalry light. I can do better.

— Gerry Byrne (@Gerry_Byrne) February 23, 2020

Byrne says he attempted to apply it with humour to keep the spirited event between Regina and Herdman about a community rivalry light.