Over the course of four decades and a bit, time after time politicians of all stripes have assumed the public is either dumb at worst or naive at best as we continue to be served up misinformation and disinformation on a silver platter tarnished by people who simply do not know how to say, “Sorry, I screwed up, my fault entirely, should not have done this, please forgive me.”
When I first became an Ontario deputy minister back in the day, a potential scandal was on the horizon and a particular minister asked his deputy to convene a small group of other deputies to problem-solve the minister’s emerging problem. During the course of a breakfast brainstorming, I was asked why I was so uncharacteristically quiet. “Well, I’m new to government, but just thinking, how about the minister getting on top of it by just telling the truth and apologizing for an honest mistake?” Three seconds of stunned silence before the meeting’s chair, said, “OK, how about we schedule our next meeting?”
Around the same time, we witnessed a cabinet minister taking a lie-detector test to prove that she had lied publicly about a previous incident, one of the strangest non-apologies on record.
When many public figures get caught for doing or saying something stupid or offensive to someone or a group of people, the old “if what I said offended some people in our society, I am sorry” is trotted out. This is a vintage and completely irritating nonapology. How about: “Sorry, what I said was awful and ignorant.”
The number of times I can recall a politician with more than an ounce of contrition in their DNA seems as frequent as an appearance of Halley’s comet. When I was living in Peterborough years back, former mayor Sylvia Sutherland made an error regarding a particular building decision and in less than a few hours, before the public could digest the issue, she called a media conference to clearly and unequivocally apologize for her mistake. No deflection, no blame game, simply “I’m sorry, I blew it.” Small potatoes? The rarity of it is why I remember it!
Which brings us to today, the here and now, when Canada’s reputation is taking a nose-dive around the world as those of us who live within its borders seem to witness with daily disbelief politicians who ask us to believe the unbelievable.
Mike Duffy, who in his former life, with righteous indignation, would go after those who wanted to hide their naughty secrets, is now the poster boy for avoiding the cameras and microphones that used to be his sacred tools of the trade. No apology, just a thinly veiled coverup that lasted minutes not months. The only apology that counts now would be a resignation from the Senate.
The prime minister’s recent caucus speech cum attempt at asking the nation to get on with things and move beyond a little “distraction” is simply insulting. He and his minions ask us to believe that this micromanaging PM knew absolutely nothing about the remarkable indiscretion of the $90,000 payoff to cover up the double-dipster Duffy’s spending habits. Doesn’t really matter if Harper knew or not, he has created the bully culture in which all of this has unfolded.
In Toronto, we have a serial blunderer continuing to pretend to perform the duties of mayor. Setting aside the 42 booboos the Star has recently documented regarding Rob Ford’s behaviour over the past number of years, there is enough that relates to addiction that, if true, a forgiving public would likely respond positively to a simple admission that “I have an addiction problem and I am taking three months off for rehabilitation.”
Why is saying “sorry” so difficult for some more than others? Do those with the most difficulty with genuine contrition simply lack close friends who are purveyors of timely, albeit tough, advice informed by moral purpose?
In addition to sucking the energy away from focusing on the right things for a deserving electorate, the collateral consequences of political coverup include a mountain of wasted public resources on commissions and tribunals required to pull back the curtains of mistruths and deliberate and misleading obfuscation.
We are a forgiving and intelligent people who would more often reward, not punish, honest and timely apologies when politicians who mess up respond by simply saying sorry with humility, conviction and contrition.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: Charles Pascal
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