Charlie Angus quits Twitter over 'ugly' tweets

Charlie Angus has been trending on Twitter even though he's ditched Twitter.

The Timmins-James Bay MP parted ways with the social media site last week, saying he was tired of anonymous attacks he was seeing on his Twitter feed.

"[It was] really ugly stuff that, if someone wrote that to me or called me, I would think it would be a hate letter," Angus said. "But in Twitter it was just part of the conversation."

Seeing a politician say goodbye to Twitter has caused a stir online. Angus said it was a personal decision, but he's pleased it has generated a discussion about how social media affects our lives.

He noted the social media tool was helpful for raising awareness about issues in his riding, but was stunned by how it drew anonymous attacks.

"I was also astounded by the level of outright racist hatred that just spilled all over the twitter feed when we started talking about issues like Attawapiskat and First Nations poverty," he said.