The B.C. woman whose brief spat with Liberal Leader Christy Clark inspired the hashtag #IamLinda is not a big Twitter user, but she's pleased others are using her moment to express themselves.
Linda Higgins's interaction with Clark inside a North Vancouver grocery store went viral last week, despite only lasting all of about seven seconds.
"Hi Christy, I'm Linda," Higgins said. "I would never vote for you."
The Sunshine Coast resident started to explain why but was cut off by Clark, who quickly walked away from her.
"You don't have to. That's why we live in a democracy," the candidate said.
The incident made a splash on social media, where people started tweeting #IamLinda and listing their own reasons for wanting a change of government. Days later, the hashtag continues to dog the Liberals' campaign.
On Tuesday, Higgins told CTV News Channel she's never been much for Twitter, but she appreciates that the hashtag has "given people a voice" and a way to air their own frustrations.
"I'm just reading what people are tweeting and it's educational to me to find out all the concerns that people do have," she said.
Since the incident blew up, Higgins said she's received a lot of support from her family and the small coastal community of Gibsons, where she's lived for decades.
"A lot of people know me and they know I will speak my mind if I get an opportunity," she said.
Some Liberal staffers have suggested she was planted at Clark's campaign stop last Thursday to cause a disruption, but Higgins insists the encounter was pure serendipity.
"I didn't know she was going to be there," Higgins said.
"I was only speaking for myself and I just wanted to tell her… why I wasn't going to vote for her, and it was as simple as that."
She believes if Clark had engaged with her on her issues, or even promised to have the local Liberal candidate reach out and talk to her, it wouldn't have garnered nearly as much attention.
The Liberal leader addressed the incident to reporters the following day, and did so once again Tuesday while campaigning in Merritt, where she described the interaction as a normal part of the democratic process.
"If people want to confront their premier and say they don't like what you're doing, you can do that in our democracy. And that's what she did," Clark said.
The job of the premier is to represent all British Columbians, she added, not just the ones who agree with you.