Election #2

In the last handful of elections, various political parties have devoted considerable energies to perusing the social media websites of candidates from other parties in the hopes of finding either some racist, sexist or homophobic comments made in the past or some incident that suggest that the candidate has racist, sexist or homophobic leanings. Frequently when such comments or activities are found and circulated to the press, the candidate either voluntarily or at the request of their party withdraws from the contest. Not only can such disclosures be embarrassing for the party but I suspect that it can be expensive to replace the signs and campaign literature. Frequently it seems to me that such disclosure does not serve the public good.

What an individual said or did 30 years when they were young may not reflect on what they feel or believe today. Young people are vulnerable to peer pressure. There is an almost overwhelming need to belong. It is not surprising therefore that sometimes, some people say or do things that in hindsight were profoundly wrong. Sometimes things are said or done that are culturally normative or because of the lack of exposure to different opinions or attitudes. Sometimes people are jerks. They say or do hurtful things because they just do not think or perhaps even recognize the impact of those things. But those things, no matter how terrible they may have been, may not define who the person is today. The issue should be - what have they done since? Is there any indication that they have continued with those attitudes or have they changed? Does the individual have a track record of being engaged in their community, working with everyone and anyone, or are their social media posts and private comments still littered with racist, sexist or homophobic comments? Does the person associate with people who demonstrate tolerance and acceptance or do they socialize with others who have a long history of discriminatory remarks? Have they demonstrate the capacity for personal growth or are they still mired in the intolerance of their youth?

As much as it pains me to say so, I think that Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is generally quite right when he suggests that if a candidate apologies for their comments, that they should not be asked to drop out. On the surface, it is a great policy. Except.....

The Conservatives have a candidate who has in the recent past made racist, and homophobic comments. She has worked hard to share her views on a number of platforms. She has spent time with individuals who are well known to have racist or homophobic views. It is not enough to apologize by saying " I am sorry, I did not mean to offend anyone". That type of statement comes from a place of privilege, it comes from someone who will not or cannot acknowledge that their particular world view is wrong and that just stating their views is harmful to people. The fact that she continues to make such statements suggest quite clearly that she has not changed her views, that there has been no personal growth, no acceptance of the harm she may have caused. She should not be allowed to run under the banner of any party.

The fact that Sheer supports her candidacy suggests that he too might be okay with others who are racist, sexist or homophobic. And that is scary.