Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Speaking of apologizing ...

So now the government is contemplating an apology to natives who were so badly treated under Canada’s residential schools program of oh-so-many years ago. Given the horrific experiences many of these young people (at the time) had, an apology is the least that is owed, so I have no issue with that.

But along with apologizing for residential schools, the Chinese head tax, and various and sundry other sins of past governments of all political stripes, there are some other apologies I’d like to see from Canada’s Now Slightly Used Government.

How about an apology from the prime minister for the lies he told about “sacred” income trusts and the ham-fisted way in which Jim Flaherty implemented the change? Lots of us out there will take many, many years to recover financially from that fiasco. Obviously compensation is not on the table, but a simple apology would be most welcome.

An apology from John Baird for insulting the intelligence of the average Canadian with his watered-down climate change plan would be nice. After weeks of fear-mongering and not-so-subtle threats from the oil patch, Baird did what politicians do best – obfuscate and bluster – all the while hoping that, in time, the electorate will forget how little the government actually did on the environment file.

And then there's Gordon O’Connor. He owes us all so many apologies that I’m not even sure where to start. Perhaps the prime minister should just offer a blanket apology for appointing O’Connor to cabinet in the first place and leave it at that.

Yup. There’s lot of apologizing that should be done once Steve (as he’s known by his pals George Bush and Danny Williams) actually screws up his courage enough to say “I’m sorry”. But Steve, a word of advice. It doesn’t mean much if your apology starts “Under the previous Liberal government …. “.

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