(Ottawa) A Conservative MP apologized in the House of Commons on Thursday after an Indigenous colleague, on the other side of the political spectrum, denounced him for linking an offender’s criminal record to his ethnic group.
Brad Redekopp said he misspoke during a debate on measures to combat systemic racism in the RCMP earlier this week when he criticized parole officers for releasing Myles Sanderson on bail before Cree Nation member James Smith carried out 2022 stabbing massacre in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatoon MP wrongly suggested Tuesday that the parole board had predicted that Sanderson “was likely to reoffend because of his racial background.”
He confirmed on Thursday that the Conservative Party had sought to rectify the record – not by removing the allegation completely, but by changing it to say “regardless” of his racial origin, instead of “because of” his racial origin.
In a statement to The Canadian Press, Brad Redekopp said he misspoke and “proactively requested that the record be corrected” to reflect his intent and “to avoid any misunderstanding or offense.”
Winnipeg NDP MP Leah Gazan said she noticed the change in the House of Commons’ official record-keeping the next day and said she expected an apology to follow.
PHOTO SPENCER COLBY, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
NDP MP Leah Gazan
Thursday, Mme Gazan stood up in the House of Commons and demanded that Mr Redekopp take responsibility.
In response, he stood up and apologized. “Again, I apologize for my language errors. I never intended to offend anyone. It was never my intention to denigrate anyone based on their race,” he told the House.
Butme Gazan does not accept this explanation, saying Brad Redekopp only apologized after she demanded he publicly answer for his comments.
She says the record should reflect her original comments and that the Conservative party must confront what she calls a pattern of anti-Indigenous rhetoric.
She asked the Speaker to issue a ruling that the House of Commons should restore the original language of the record, arguing that the Conservatives are trying to “whitewash” what happened.
“I would ask the MP to think about it, and I would ask that the official record actually reflect what happened – what we all heard and what the MP admitted to saying – rather than being rewritten to avoid any responsibility,” said Mme Gazan.
The matter is under study.
“What he said in there was hurtful, harmful, offensive and racist,” MP Gazan argued in an interview Thursday.
Mr Redekopp insisted in his written statement that his comment had nothing to do with his ethnic group, “only the facts of the matter in question”.
An “anti-indigenous” trend
An investigation into the earlier release of Sanderson, accused of killing 11 people and injuring 17 others, found the Parole Board of Canada could not have predicted the worst mass murder in Saskatchewan history.
The National Joint Investigation Committee also found that there were “no pre-incident indicators or precipitating events known to staff, or which staff could have acted upon to prevent this incident.”
For Leah Gazan, it’s another example of what she calls anti-Indigenous rhetoric from conservative politicians.
She cited several examples.
Earlier this year, Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh apologized after accusing First Nations of burning down water treatment plants because they were frustrated with the Liberals.
In 2018, an NDP motion calling on the Pope to apologize for residential schools gained overwhelming support in the House of Commons – with the exception of 10 Conservative MPs.
And in 2008, before becoming leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre apologized after saying Indigenous people needed to learn the value of hard work more than compensation for abuse suffered at residential schools.
Last year, Mr. Poilievre also faced criticism for speaking to a Winnipeg-based group that ran radio ads in 2018 saying federal residential schools had robbed Indigenous children of their childhood. myth.
“There is a trend of anti-Indigenous racism in the House,” argued Ms.me Gazan, and some members of political parties want to protect the rights and freedoms of some, but not others. »
Pierre Poilievre’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.