Saying the hardest word — and meaning it

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2023 (1004 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of meeting a woman named Marcia McClung, the granddaughter of the famed Nellie McClung, at a luncheon celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the early feminist’s birth.

It was a fascinating moment to meet the descendant of such a famous woman in our province’s history books, and to talk about her grandmother’s accomplishments as an early writer, politician, and social justice advocate.

There was plenty to discuss as her grandmother was the woman who ultimately helped some women get the right to vote in Manitoba in 1916, and then took the fight to Ottawa to have some women become acknowledged as ‘persons’ and thereby entitled to serve in the Senate.

Apart from Nellie McClung’s accomplishments, there’s a darker side, as also noted by her granddaughter.

Like many other prominent historical Canadians, Nellie McClung leaves a complex legacy that requires acknowledgment, exploration and analysis, particularly pertaining to her role as a maternal feminist and a proponent of eugenics.

Furthermore, I also believe her famous quote — Never retract, never explain, never apologize, get the thing done and let them howl! — needs a rethink in today’s environment. Perhaps once an appropriate mantra for herself and other crusaders pushing boundaries, it seems less applicable for today’s political environment.

Especially if you’re in government.

There are two essential reasons why someone in a position of leadership within government needs to serve with a humility far greater than the sentiment expressed in McClung’s famed quote.

First, leaders are often accountable for things outside of their direct realm, and when mistakes are made, they need to take responsibility nonetheless, offer an apology, and correct the course. Case in point: last week when health-care wait-list statistics were scrubbed from a Manitoba Health website, regardless of who made that decision, once it was brought to Premier Wab Kinew’s attention he offered this: “This was a mistake and for it, I sincerely apologize without reservation.”

When I read his quote in the Winnipeg Free Press I almost spit out my coffee, so rare is an apology that is offered as swiftly and unequivocally.

Believe me, there’s likely more here than meets the eye and by no means am I offering up words in defence for the premier, who certainly doesn’t need me defending him anyways. But what I am saying is that I found his reaction refreshing, especially in the cynical world of politics where saying sorry is often viewed as a liability or a sign of weakness.

Sadly, we can all think of examples of poor leadership that demonstrate a clear discomfort with the art of the apology. Yet it also takes no imagination to see that if perhaps there’d been less clinging to the McClung mantra of never retracting, explaining, or apologizing, there would’ve been a whole lot less howling.

And why should an apology be a difficult thing to offer? It’s preposterous to think an entire government bureaucracy engineered and directed by levers controlled by political leaders wouldn’t get it wrong from time to time. Apologizing doesn’t look weak, but rather shows strength.

Another instance just this last week of an unequivocal apology came from MLA Obby Khan and provides an example of the second reason political leaders must be able to retract and swiftly apologize.

By the nature of the job, politicians speak, act, and make decisions quickly and sometimes in a vacuum of information, which often then gets captured for public consumption and tossed into the news cycle.

I’ve made several mistakes in my multiple careers as an administrative assistant, journalist, and political staffer, but only the mistakes I made as a politician landed me on the cover of the newspaper.

Likewise, when MLA Khan acted as an advocate for his constituent without having the full scope of information, he unwittingly offended and hurt people in the Jewish community and those who stand against antisemitism. Accordingly, he issued a letter of apology and said he was sorry. He didn’t qualify it with that often-used and roundly hated expression, “if I caused any harm” or some other way of saying sorry-not-sorry.

Instead, he offered an unequivocal apology and a show of leadership that is much needed during these trying times. Again, this is not a defence of his actions, but merely a shout out to the art of a sincere apology.

One final word about the apology: for it to really mean something, it needs to be followed up with action. Forget the Nellie McClung phrase, retracting and explaining is often necessary.

Fixing the dashboard to give the public access to wait-list statistics and learning more about unintended harms or biases can go a long way, and I believe when these leaders take those actions, everyone will be better off with far less howling.

Rochelle Squires is a recovering politician after serving 7 1/2 years in the Manitoba legislature. She is a political and social commentator whose column appears Tuesdays.

rochelle@rochellesquires.ca