My initial reaction was "oh yeah, another raving bigot in the Stephen Harper Party caucus - what else is news?". It's not like there aren't enough of them already sitting in Harper's cabinet.
However, when I started to line up his comments of seventeen years ago with his apology, I got angry.
"If I could take those comments back, I would," the Conservative MP for Regina Lumsden-Lake Centre said. "I would give anything to take those comments back. They do not reflect the type of person that I am. I can only say that on behalf of myself, my family and my children, I am sorry. I am ashamed."
He sounds sorry enough, but for what? He's sorry he made those comments - why? Is he sorry because they have just made him a political liability? Or has he actually changed his views about GLBT people? He claims that his views have changed:
“I have no prejudice against gay people whatsoever. Those comments do not reflect the type of person I am.”
However, actions speak louder than words. What we don't know is what led Lukiwski to a supposed change in his views. I don't doubt that people's views can change as a result of time and experiences. However, this is a fairly dramatic shift in his supposed positions, and we don't have any insight into how Lukiwski arrived at such a dramatic shift in attitudes. The implication could well be that this is no more than prevarications of a man trying to save his political career.
He may have "grown past those beliefs" in the intervening years, but simply making that declaration is a pretty flimsy defense in the face of the ugliness that the video shows us. Actions will speak louder than words, and Lukiwski will need to make amends beyond a mere apology to convince me that his change of heart is genuine. The call to outlaw homosexuality made is a serious concern - criminalizing people is not something that should be done lightly.
In the meantime, the video itself tells us a great deal about the factions within the Stephen Harper Party - and just how ugly it really is. The history of the Reform/Alliance/Conservative party is one that is troubling to human rights and civil rights advocates across Canada, and we should not lose sight of the past history of those who seek power today.
5 comments:
I'm surprised that PMSH hasn't made him Deputy Prime Minister. It seems that their views are entirely in sync.
After all, Lukiwski wasn't some goofy teenager when he made those hateful remarks; he was over 40!
And, even after the remarks were made, none of those reigh wing bigots, in retrospect, thought that there was anything wrong with their homophobic hate. They saved the tapes to celebrate their hate propaganda.
Now, he is asking for forgiveness! Poor bastard, got caught in his own rhetoric. (kind of like Chandler)
He is so sorry (that he got caught). Well, his apology rings hollow to me. I'd say: RESIGNATION or REPARATIONS!
Unless he can convince me that he will take positive steps to mitigate the harm caused by his and his party's prejudices, he should be fired. I'd like to see him promise to strengthen Human Rights legislation for all Canadians and set up a TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION to deal with Canada's history of abuse of gays, including imprisonning gays, forced psychiatric abuses, hatred, violence and murder. Maybe a good place to start would be by openning the RCMP's files on 9,000 men suspected of being homosexual, and their infamous "FRUIT MACHINE" reign of terror.
And the sky will be full of flying pigs when Harper & Co allow anything like that.
MP Lukiwski should sit as the first member for the Christian Heritage Party. After all, former MP Larry Spencer is the party's president. Same constituency, same propaganda!
Lukiwski sitting as a member for the CHP would grant that party status and validity I don't especially think it has earned yet.
I see PMSH has visited Auschwitz.
I wonder if he's going to put Lukiwski in charge of his gay marriage problem!
Harper Corp's ongoing difficulties with homosexuals hit the headlines again with Lukiwski's views hitting the headlines.
Was Harper looking for solutions when he visited Auschwitz?
Or is that plan still SECRET??
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