5 hours Ago By Brandon Sun
It takes guts to admit you’ve made a mistake and apologize. Even more so, when it’s a very public apology that’s bound to open old wounds and in the process, leave you open to renewed criticism. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
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or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! It takes guts to admit you’ve made a mistake and apologize. Even more so, when it’s a very public apology that’s bound to open old wounds and in the process, leave you open to renewed criticism.
Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Opinion It takes guts to admit you’ve made a mistake and apologize. Even more so, when it’s a very public apology that’s bound to open old wounds and in the process, leave you open to renewed criticism. So to give credit where credit’s due, kudos to interim Opposition Leader Wayne Ewasko, for standing on the first day of the spring session of the legislature and apologizing for the approach the former Tory government took on searching the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of murdered Indigenous women.
“We lost our way in regards to empathy and also lost our way in regards to closure being brought forward to the families of the victims,” Ewasko told the legislature. “I offer today our unconditional apology to the families of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and of Buffalo Woman.” Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba leadership candidate Fort Whyte PC MLA Obby Khan.
(File) It’s not surprising that family members of the murdered women wouldn’t accept the apology. It’s pretty much the definition of too little, too late: imagine having missing, murdered members of your family being used as a political prop in an election — where the political argument being made is leaving them buried in a landfill — and then hearing an apology more than a year after the fact. Cambria Harris, Morgan Harris’ daughter, put it succinctly: “Those are just words.
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Until I see further actions, I’ll wait for them to prove me otherwise.” She is exactly right — they are only words. But the PCs claim they want to do better, and that’s at least a few steps forward from the position they took in the last provincial election.
Now, for the peculiar step backwards. It’s surprising is that at least one of the candidates for leader of the Manitoba PC Party isn’t willing to sign on to the apology — at least, not now. Outside the legislature on Wednesday, PC leadership candidate Obby Khan wouldn’t respond to questions about his thoughts on the apology, saying he would comment on the matter after a new PC leader is chosen at the end of April.
“We can all, as human beings and Manitobans, be more empathic, be more kind, be more compassionate. ..
. If I do have the honour of one day being the leader of the PC Party of Manitoba, I believe you will see that reflected in the way that I do govern,” he said. Khan’s response is a puzzlement.
What’s to be lost by letting Ewasko apologize and accept the blame, with Khan saying “the party’s decided” and leaving it at that? In a way, Ewasko’s full apology means a new leader for the PCs won’t have a critical misdeed of the last campaign on their hands — even if that new leader happens to be a former cabinet minister who was fully involved in that campaign. And what’s to be gained by Khan refusing to comment and saying he’ll respond later? Are there still perhaps factions of the PC party that believe that not searching the Prairie Green landfill was the right thing to do? Is there some political ground to be held onto — delegates to be gathered in the current leadership campaign — by not admitting the Tory hardline stance on searching Prairie Green was insensitive and misguided? With an issue like this one — with all of its weight and horror and divisiveness — it would be hard to find anyone who would tell you it was in your best interest to have the debate reopened, and then keep it open for another two months. After all, Khan must have seen what that did to the last leader of the Manitoba PC Party.
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