Featured image courtesy: The Philippine Star
True north, strong and apologetic
Scroll down for a timeline of the apologies the Canadian government has made.
By: Gabrielle Reyes
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered his second formal apology in less than a week, Tuesday in the House of Commons.
“To those who were left broken by a prejudiced system; and to those who took their own lives—we failed you,” said Trudeau, apologizing for the federal government’s systematic mistreatment of public servants, police officers and members of the military.
“For stripping you of your dignity; for robbing you of your potential; for treating you like you were dangerous, indecent, and flawed; we are sorry.”
The apology comes after Trudeau’s apology last Friday to the surviving students of residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I think it’s a long time coming. It’s been going on for decades and decades,” said Spencer Turcotte, a third-year journalism student, on Trudeau’s apology.
As reported by the Globe and Mail, the apology is accompanied by a $145 million sum to compensate the sexual minorities who were affected, as well as funding to help pay for a memorial in Ottawa and education projects across Canada.
Not his father’s son
In 1984, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Justin Trudeau’s father, stated that governments should not have to apologize for historical injustices as they are of the past.
“I do not see how I can apologize for some historic event to which we or these people in this House were not a party,” said Pierre Trudeau after famously turning aside Conservative calls to apologize for the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.
“We can regret that it happened. But why mount to great heights of rhetoric in order to say that an apology is much better than an expression of regret? […] I do not think it is the purpose of the Government to right the past. It cannot rewrite history. It is our purpose to be just in our time.”
Unlike his father, Trudeau has made three formal apologies since his election in 2015.
The historic apology for Canada’s role in the “systemic oppression, criminalization, and violence” against the LGBTQ+ communities follows the formal apology to the survivors of residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, Friday, and the 1914 Komagata Maru incident in May 2016.
“If you’re leading a country, you take ownership for anything that’s happened in the past,” said Turcotte.
“I think it’s good that he apologized. I know it wasn’t him, but I still think it’s important because he technically is representing Canada and the government of Canada,” said Carson Martone, a first-year media production student.
Historically unjust
Brian Mulroney’s Conservative government was left to apologize for the internment of Japanese Canadians when Pierre Trudeau refused to in 1984.
However, despite Pierre Trudeau’s refusal to apologize for Canada’s past, other Canadian leaders have apologized for Canada’s past grievances.
In 2008, the Harper government apologized for the Indian Act and its mandate that forced Indigenous children to attend residential schools, where they were stripped of their culture, forced to assimilate into Canadian culture, and consequently abused.
The Government of British Columbia formally apologized in 2014 for the previous mistreatment and discriminatory legislation enacted to systematically oppress Chinese Canadians.
“We shouldn’t hide our history. If something bad happened, we need to acknowledge that; that’s how we move forward or history repeats itself,” said Mackenzie Dunham a third-year psychology student. “If we don’t acknowledge the past, how are we going to make sure it doesn’t happen again?”
“These aren’t distant practices of Governments long forgotten,” said Trudeau.
“This happened systematically, in Canada, with a timeline more recent than any of us would like to admit.”
(By: Lexia Khan and Vittoria Rabito)
Canadians are known for saying “thank you” and “sorry” more than we’re known for poutine or hockey. These good manners are not exclusive of our government. Click through this timeline to see multiple times the Canadian government has apologized to different groups of citizens for historical wrongdoings.
All of Trudeau’s apologizes are fake news.