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“It is an insult to the people and those communities, and he owes an apology,” he said.

“I don’t feel I’m equipped to fathom the mind of Mr. Hunter and other UCP MLAs — why he would use this as a comparison to a political event is beyond me.”

He noted Hunter in 2016 co-authored a blog post with eight other then-Wildrose MLAs comparing the genocidal Holodomor — in which the Soviet regime’s starvation policies in the 1930s led to the deaths of at least seven million Ukrainians — to the ravages of the NDP’s carbon tax.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is strike two for Mr. Hunter,” said Mason.

In 2016, Hunter said in the legislature guaranteed government supports for needy single mothers was akin to “Communism.”

In a statement on Thursday, Hunter said he had no intention of offending anyone or minimizing the 2004 tragedy.

“I in no way meant to trivialize the human suffering of the 2004 tsunami,” he said. “If my statement came across that way, I sincerely apologize.”

Even so, Mason said the latest comments are a failure for UCP Leader Jason Kenney, who has vowed to put a lid on so-called bozo eruptions among his MLAs.

“He’s clearly failed to do that and he needs to step up and apologize, and take steps to ensure these kinds of disgusting and insulting comments cease,” he said.

Officials with Kenney’s office didn’t respond to a request for a comment.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

on Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn