My apologies (heh) to all of my loyal followers for the space of time since my last post.\u00a0 Some personal and professional issues kept me away.<\/p>\n
In that time I came across the CBC’s write up of Gerald Keddy’s apology<\/a>.\u00a0 It seemed very relevant timing regarding article we looked at from The Walrus<\/em>.\u00a0 Not that I want to change the theme of this blog to a rant about the shallowness of apologies, but I thought it was an interesting alternate view on the same topic.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What makes an apology meaningful?\u00a0 If Keddy really means that these unemployed are really “no-good bastards,” should he recall that or perhaps be asked to further explain his words.\u00a0 As a politician, is he doing his job and reflecting the sentiments of\u00a0 his riding of South Shore-St. Margaret’s?\u00a0 Somehow, even with and apology, I do not think that Keddy has stopped thinking these negative sentiments regarding these unemployed.<\/p>\n Would we be better off if our government representatives actually said what their constituents thought?\u00a0 Would this be a truer reflection of the public?\u00a0 Especially if it is not directed at a particular cultural, religious or racial group.\u00a0 You cannot see a disparaging remark directed at, say the homeless or teachers in the same context as Indo-Canadians or Jewish Canadians.\u00a0 That is not to say that an MP should drop a potentially insulting remark, put her hands up, shake her head, and back away stating “I’m just saying what my constituents are thinking.”<\/p>\n Or is this opening a door of regionalism and demographic exclusion, as with the areas of Quebec that passed municipal laws about wearing “masks” on days other than Halloween?\u00a0 Or, as a more accurate example from the above point, areas where unions have been disallowed.<\/p>\n I guess I am hashing out how our representatives could better represent us, or each riding of us.\u00a0 If we were able to safely admit our emotional reaction to situations, perhaps a closer investigation wold be held as to why these emotions are occurring and then use this information to fix the perceived problem.\u00a0 In the case of Nova Scotia, admitting that there is a misunderstanding of why these people are unemployed, or, better yet, why they do not want to work on farms could lead to the fixing of the problem and help get Keddy’s “no-good bastards” work.<\/p>\n With the false smiles and other plastic expressions that simply mirror party policy eradicated and emotions able to be more safely expressed, perhaps our politicians would be freed up enough to get something done for the people that elected them into office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My apologies (heh) to all of my loyal followers for the space of time since my last post.\u00a0 Some personal and professional issues kept me away. In that time I came across the CBC’s write up of Gerald Keddy’s apology.\u00a0 … Continue reading