NDP MPP says sorry for crude Ford sign

[spaminator]

NDP MPP says sorry for crude Ford sign
Antonella Artuso
Published:
December 10, 2019
Updated:
December 10, 2019 5:18 PM EST
A smiling Ontario NDP MPP posed for the camera with a crude sign that read “F–k Doug Ford.”
NDP MPP Joel Harden, the member for Ottawa Centre, apologized to Ford after the image appeared on Reddit.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Harden did the right thing by apologizing.
“I know that Mr. Harden regrets that that occurred,” Horwath said Tuesday.
“He did what was the responsible thing to do which was to immediately apologize to the Premier. The Premier, my understanding is, unreservedly accepted that apology.”
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Ivana Yelich, a spokesperson for Ford, confirmed the Premier did accept the apology.
“We believe in raising the decorum of our political discourse,” Yelich said.
“It’s clear based on their past and current behaviour that the NDP caucus do not share this goal.”
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The Ontario PCs have previously criticized Ontario NDP MPPs for their attendance at a rally where an effigy of the Premier was decapitated with what looked to be a homemade guillotine.
Horwath said she advised her caucus members not to put themselves — or by extension their fellow NDPers — in these types of situations.
“I did raise it again with my caucus to be very careful about attending events and being pulled into situations where you don’t have a sense of what’s going in terms of whether you’re standing with a sign that’s inappropriate or an effigy — I mean let’s recall that — that’s inappropriate, that it’s our responsibility to be very careful about those situations,” she said.
Asked if Harden should step down from caucus, Horwath said she thinks they’ve dealt appropriately with the matter.
Horwath apologized to the Premier earlier this year after posing for a photo in front of a sign held by fellow NDP MPP Jamie West that included the hashtag #F..KFORD, later telling reporters she hadn’t noticed the vulgarity.
aartuso@postmedia.com

http://torontosun.com/news/provincial/ndp-mpp-says-sorry-for-crude-ford-sign

 

[spaminator]

LILLEY: Time to raise the bar in politics
Brian Lilley
Published:
December 11, 2019
Updated:
December 11, 2019 9:04 PM EST
Ottawa Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden apologized to Ontario Premier Doug Ford after posing with a sign reading "F--- Doug Ford."
I’ll give Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden this much, he did the right thing when called upon.
Harden, if you haven’t heard, apologized to Premier Doug Ford for smiling and posing for a photo while holding a sign that read, “F— Doug Ford.”
The bad part for Harden is that now he has to deal with his own party leader who was not only embarrassed by the photo but left red-faced after he apparently misled her.
Harden apologized to Ford on Monday after Question Period at Queen’s Park.
Staff in the Premier’s office said Ford had been shown the photo shortly before Harden approached him to apologize.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford during a press conference with Premier Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announce a collaboration between the provinces on small, modular nuclear reactors on Sunday December 1, 2019. Veronica Henri / Toronto Sun
Ford accepted the apology even as his office called out the NDP for failing to raise the level of discourse in Ontario politics.
Let’s be clear, Harden’s actions were stupid. Outrageously stupid to be exact.
The last thing we need is to have elected officials, regardless of party, engaging in the type of exchange we expect to see on Twitter. This isn’t an NDP or left wing issue — this kind of thing unfortunately can and does happen in all parties.
That said, the NDP has a track record that isn’t enviable on this front. Beyond Harden there was the incident with MPP Jamie West being photographed holding a sign with the same F Ford message while standing with Horwath herself. There was also the time that MPP Gurratan Singh marched with a sign that read “F— the Police.”
Prior to being elected as an NDP MPP, Gurratan Singh was photographed carrying an anti-police sign during a 2006 demonstration in Toronto. (Sun files)
Harden himself has been denounced for convicting an Ottawa Police officer for the murder of a man before a trial even happened. He was also once called out for expressing support for a member of a listed terrorist organization.
Maybe it’s that Harden, like many NDP MPPs comes from an activist background instead of a political one. But that’s an explanation, not an excuse, and we need our elected officials to realize they have greater responsibilities and will be held to a higher standard.
Harden obviously let his judgment slip. Maybe he agrees with the guy who brought the sign, but that doesn’t matter. We can’t have elected politicians treating each other like this while also claiming we need better decorum.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath initially defended Harden saying it appeared he hadn’t seen the sign, something he later admitted to. On Tuesday, Horwath went from defending Harden to warning her team not to get involved in situations like this.
On Wednesday she was telling the media she would be summoning Harden for a meeting.
“I am extremely disappointed and upset with the incident in the first place and his behavior following that incident up until this moment in time,” Horwath said.
Asked if Harden had lied to her, Horwath would only say she was disappointed. As for the general tone of politics in Ontario, Horwath said Harden’s actions didn’t help raise the bar.
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“I think everyone has a responsibility to be thoughtful and careful about how they present publicly and how they behave,” Horwath said. “I think it diminishes our ability to have a thoughtful debate and discussion about the issues when these kinds of distractions occur.”
On that point Horwath is right and it is incumbent on all MPPs to step up and make sure that they behave in a responsible manner. We all need to realize that we can oppose one another in politics without being enemies.
Harden did the right thing by apologizing but he never should have put himself in that position and neither should any other MPP.
blilley@postmedia.com
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/lilley-time-to-raise-the-bar-in-politics