Uh-oh....

[IntravenousDemilo]

Tory MP Lukiwski apologizes for anti-gay remarks made on tape found by Sask NDP

REGINA - A Saskatchewan Conservative MP as well as the province's premier were quick to apologize Thursday after the release of a 16-year-old videotape that contained sexist, racist and homophobic comments.

"I just want to publicly say that I am truly, truly sorry. I'm ashamed for the comments," member of Parliament Tom Lukiwski said in Ottawa."If I could take those comments back, I would."

{SNIP}

"Let me put it to you this way - there's As and Bs," Lukiwski says on the tape. "The As are guys like me. The Bs are homosexual faggots with dirt in their fingernails that transmit diseases."

{SNIP}

Pat Atkinson, the Saskatchewan NDP's deputy house leader, said the tape appears to have been made during the 1991 provincial election campaign. Lukiwski was a Tory organizer at the time and Wall was a ministerial aide. Her party found the tape after moving into Opposition offices last fall following a loss to Wall's Saskatchewan Party.

More at: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080403/national/sask_scandal_tape

[JBoy]

1. I saw the video. What a douchebag.

The bit that I saw just looked like a couple of goofball political hacks blowing off steam, but I think he actually believed what he was saying. I'm sure he had no idea the tape would ever be made public.

I'm actually torn on what I'd like to see happen to him. I think having his name dragged through the mud and some profuse public apologies might be enough.

[Canuckistanian]

2. OMFG, I just heard the comment on CBC

I thought I was listening to a trailer trash quote from a redneck down in the 'Old South'.

[CHIMO]

3. FTR

SASK TAPE SCANDAL Duration: 00:07:06
On first glance, it appears to be any video you might see on Youtube of young people behaving badly. But on closer examination, a 16-year-old tape of Saskatchewan political operatives -- and future politicians might actually signal the end for some political careers.

The Saskatchewan NDP released the video today, which shows some now-politicians, including Conservative M-P Tom Lukiwski, making sexist, racist and homophobic comments.

Murray Mandryk is a political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post.


http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/latestshow.html

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/asithappens/20080403-aih-2.wmv
Starts at 00:49 into the part.

[terrya]

4. As I said in your post in the GLBT forum....

This jerk needs to be gone. He needs to lose his seat over these truly offensive remarks. Apology or no.

And I found this comment from the story dead on:

"It's not enough. In his apology I don't believe he said the word gay once. You know he didn't apologize directly to our community, he apologized to his family, on behalf of his family. He regrets making the comments because he was caught, so it definitely is not enough."

No, he did NOT use the word gay in his apology. Not once. I didn't hear an apology to the gay community at all. It was damage control. As was said, he got caught. And that was the motivation for the apology.

[IntravenousDemilo]

6. Actually, sweetie, he did later in the House...

Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of privilege and I thank you for recognizing me.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer through you and to you to every member in the House my deepest apologies for some profoundly unacceptable and offensive remarks that I have made in the past which have recently come to the public forum, particularly in the last 24 hours.

Despite the fact that I made these comments just about 17 years ago does not lessen the shame that I feel for making those comments in the first place, nor does it diminish the hurtful aspect of those comments that were contained in my remarks of 1991.

Therefore, I feel absolutely compelled that I must stand here today and publicly apologize to a number of people.

First and foremost, I want to apologize to all of my friends and colleagues who are gay or lesbian. I have no idea what they must think of me now. I have no idea what they were thinking when they first heard or read about my comments. To say that I am ashamed is not putting it in context and certainly not putting it in strong enough terms.

Their friendship and support for me during my entire career and my personal life has been extremely important to me, and today I ask their forgiveness.

Just being in the public sphere means little to me compared to the opinion that I value of their opinion toward me, and to them I say I am truly sorry.

To the entire gay and lesbian community, I also want to extend my deepest and most abject apologies. The comments I made should not be tolerated in any society. They should not be tolerated today. They should not have been tolerated in 1991. They should not have been tolerated in years previous to that.

The words I used were more than just hurtful. They are words that should not be allowed to be spoken today, either publicly or privately.

I know there is an awful lot of anger directly toward me from members of the gay and lesbian community and that anger is certainly understandable and, I would say, it is justified. All I can say is that I hope that over the passage of time, my apologies will be accepted.

{SNIP}

There is absolutely nothing that I could say in or outside of this assembly that would do adequate apologies to those people whom I have hurt. I deeply regret and I have deep remorse for my words of 17 years ago. I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, and all of my colleagues in this House, that I will spend the rest of my career and my life trying to make up for those shameless comments.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080404.wapology/BNStory/Front

[terrya]

7. Well....ok, honey.

Yes, it looks like he did. Thanks for the clarification.

Perhaps as an American, I shouldn't get involved in this. But I get sort of defensive when people say despicable things like that.

[daleo]

5. I don't know about the apology

I think it would have been more believable had he said that he doesn't harbor homophobic attitudes now, but he did in 1991 and has changed since then. Instead, he said he didn't really feel that way in 1991 or now. If he made anti-gay statements in 1991 that he "really didn't believe", what's to say he wouldn't make those same statements now, and claim he really doesn't mean it?

It is hard to believe he didn't have homophobic sentiments in 1991, given the remarks. I listened to the tape - it seemed to me that the anti-gay remarks weren't even motivated by a stupid response to a stupid question by the filmer - rather, they were more or less out of the blue.

Brad Wall's actions were stupid, too. If an Alberta politician was caught making fun of Ukrainians, there would be hell to pay at the next election or nomination. I wonder how that will play out in Saskatchewan.

The whole tape was juvenile.