Tory MP Clarifies Remarks After NDP MP Alleges Anti-Indigenous Comment
Brad Redekopp admitted he misspoke earlier this week when he referenced the 2022 mass stabbings in Saskatchewan during a debate on addressing systemic racism within the RCMP.
On Tuesday, the Saskatoon MP criticized parole officers for releasing Myles Sanderson on parole before he committed the killings at James Smith Cree Nation. Redekopp incorrectly suggested that the parole board had predicted Sanderson “was likely to reoffend because of his racial background.”
The Conservative Party corrected the record, not by removing the claim but by amending it to say “regardless” of his racial background, instead of “because.”
In a statement to The Canadian Press, Redekopp said he misspoke and “proactively asked that the record be corrected” to reflect his intent and “to avoid any misunderstanding or offence.”
Winnipeg MP Leah Gazan noticed the change in the House of Commons official record the next day and said she expected an apology to follow.
On Thursday, Gazan stood in the House of Commons and demanded accountability. In response, he stood and delivered an apology.
“Once again, I apologize for misspeaking. I never meant to offend anyone. I never meant to cast any aspersions on anyone because of race,” he said in the House.
“I would ask that the member reflect upon this, and I would ask that the official record actually reflect what occurred — what we all heard, and what the member has admitted to having said — rather than being rewritten to avoid accountability and responsibility,” Gazan said.
Earlier this year, Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh apologized after alleging that First Nations burned down water treatment plants out of frustration with the Liberals.
In 2018, an NDP motion calling on the Pope to apologize for residential schools received widespread support in the House of Commons, except from 10 Conservative MPs.
In 2008, prior to becoming leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre apologized for suggesting that Indigenous people need to prioritize learning the value of hard work over seeking compensation for the abuse endured in residential schools.
Last year, Poilievre faced criticism for addressing a Winnipeg-based group that ran radio ads in 2018 denying that residential schools deprived Indigenous children of their childhood.
“There’s a pattern of anti-Indigenous racism that occurs in the House,” Gazan said, “and certain members of political parties want to protect the rights and freedoms for some, but not others.”
