TORONTO

Warren Kinsella is “stepping back” from the Olivia Chow campaign.

The high-profile political strategist made headlines last week when the John Tory campaign objected to his tweet characterizing their candidate’s SmartTrack plan as “segregationist.”

Kinsella — a senior volunteer on the Chow mayoral campaign who worked on rapid response — deleted the tweet and apologized to Tory but the former Progressive Conservative leader went on to take aim at Chow’s response to the incident and accuse her of “dirty politics.”

On Wednesday, the Chow campaign confirmed Kinsella is no longer involved with the day-to-day operations.

“He remains a volunteer on Olivia’s campaign but by mutual agreement is not involved day-to-day,” Chow spokesman Jamey Heath told the Toronto Sun.

In response to a media inquiry, Kinsella, who writes columns for the Sun and appears on Sun News Network, said he still supports Chow.

“Olivia will be a great mayor,” he said. “I help her where I can, which has always been the case. Stepping back was my decision, and no one else’s.”