Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 23/1/2018 (971 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The local firefighters union took to Twitter Monday to criticize what it called unfounded, personal attacks against its president Alex Forrest, posting a letter of support likening the recent controversy over his salary to media attempts aimed at shaming U.S. President Donald Trump.

The letter was written by Fred LeBlanc, International Association of Fire Fighters district vice-president for Manitoba and Ontario, and addressed to United Firefighters of Winnipeg president Alex Forrest.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Alex Forrest, head of the local United Firefighter's Winnipeg Union talks to the Free Press last Tuesday.

"As you know I have been following the recent media directed primarily at you. This line of attack clearly displays the new low of today's media outlets. If you can't spin it into a form of sensationalism, it isn't news. I find it disappointing in the extreme, and it is easy for me to say 'hang in there' but this has to be difficult to accept," LeBlanc wrote to Forrest.

"Unfortunately, this heightened profile has introduced a level of envy from others that has resulted in them being guided by their anger to do anything to try and shame you in 'Trump' style."

On Tuesday morning, a copy of the letter remained online, alongside a statement from the UFFW characterizing the recent controversy surrounding Forrest's salary as "relentless, unfounded and politically motivated personal attacks."

Two requests for an interview with LeBlanc placed through the IAFF, seeking clarification on his comments, were not responded to.

By Tuesday afternoon, following requests for comment on the letter, the reporter was blocked from further access to both the union's and Alex Forrest's Twitter feeds.

Forrest has previously indicated he will no longer respond to requests for comment on the controversy surrounding his salary, citing a lack of respect for the Free Press and his past statements on the issue.

The UFFW president has been in hot water over the past two weeks, after news broke that -- thanks to a 2014 agreement between the union and the city -- Winnipeg taxpayers were on the hook for 60 per cent of his salary.

Prior to that deal, both Forrest and the city have indicated taxpayers were paying 100 per cent of his salary, including benefits and pension payments, without reimbursement from the union.

A city spokesman previously said it's unclear when that arrangement began, but Forrest has indicated it started when he became union president in 1997.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe