A Conservative MP apologised in the House of Commons on Thursday after being accused by an Indigenous opposition colleague of linking an offender’s criminal history to race.
Brad Redekopp said it was a gaffe to reference the 2022 mass stabbing in Saskatchewan earlier this week during a debate about measures to address systemic racism within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The Saskatoon MP on Tuesday criticised parole officers for releasing Miles Sanderson on parole before the James Smith Cree Nation member committed the murder.
He wrongly suggested the Parole Board predicted Sanderson was “likely to reoffend because of his racial background”.
The Conservatives sought to correct the record, not by removing the claim entirely, but by rewriting it to “regardless of” his racial background rather than “because of” it.
In a statement to The Canadian Press, Redekopp said his comments were incorrect and that he “proactively sought to correct the record” to reflect his intentions and “avoid any misunderstanding or offense.”
Winnipeg MP Leah Gazan said she became aware of the change to the House of Commons’ official record the next day and expected an apology to follow.
Ghazan spoke in the House of Representatives on Thursday and demanded accountability.
He responded by standing up and apologizing.
“Once again, I apologise for my words. I certainly did not mean to offend anyone. I never intended to disparage anyone on the basis of their race,” he said on the House of Commons.
But Gazan told the lower house of parliament that he did not accept Redekop’s explanation or the way he apologised.
She claimed the Conservatives were trying to “cover up” what had happened and asked the Speaker to rule that the House of Commons should revert the record to its original wording.
“I ask that members of Congress reflect on this matter and that the public record reflects what actually happened — what we all heard and what members acknowledged as having been said — rather than being rewritten to avoid accountability,” Gazan said.
The matter is under consideration.
The lawmaker says the remarks were not related to race
“What he said there was hurtful, harmful, offensive and racist,” Gazan said in an interview early Thursday.
In a written statement, Redekopf maintained that his comments had nothing to do with race, “simply the facts of the case at hand.”
An investigation into Sanderson’s earlier release, who was accused of killing 11 people and wounding 17 others, found the Parole Board of Canada could not have foreseen the worst mass murder in Saskatchewan’s history.
The National Joint Investigation Committee also concluded that there were “no precipitating events or warning signs known to employees or that employees could have taken action to prevent this incident.”
Gazans condemn conservatives’ repeated rhetoric
For Gazan, this is another example of a pattern of anti-Indigenous rhetoric from Conservative politicians.
She gave several examples.
Earlier this year, Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh apologized after accusing First Nations people of burning down a water treatment plant in frustration with the Liberal party.
In 2018, an NDP motion calling for the Pope to apologize for residential schools received overwhelming support in the House of Commons, with all but 10 Conservative members in support.
And in 2008, before he became Conservative leader, Pierre Poirievre apologized for saying Indigenous people needed to learn the value of hard work rather than seek compensation for the abuse they suffered in residential schools.
Poirievre also came under fire last year for speaking to a Winnipeg-based group that ran a radio ad in 2018 arguing that it was a myth that residential schools rob Indigenous children of their childhood.
“We are seeing a trend of anti-Indigenous racism in the House of Representatives,” Gazan said, “where some members of certain parties want to protect the rights and freedoms of some people but not others.”
A spokesman for Poirievre did not respond to a request for comment.
