B.C. Premier Christy Clark should apologize to British Columbians.
Last week, after backpedaling on her accusation that the BC NDP had illegally hacked the BC Liberal Party website, Clark finally called NDP leader John Horgan to apologize.
“I have no problems saying ‘sorry’ because I made a mistake and I shouldn’t have jumped to those conclusions,” Clark told the media, offering only an excuse to the rest of the province.
Getting to “sorry” wasn’t immediate.
Clark was quick to blame the NDP, later saying she did so out of anger. She also did it without a shred of proof.
The “hacker” turned out to be Delta South Independent MLA Vicki Huntington, who had found and alerted the media to the list, posted publicly on the BC Liberal’s website, believing it to be a breach of B.C. privacy laws.
The Liberals, in response, blamed the posting on “opponents.” Soon after, Clark clarified those opponents were the NDP. Soon after that, Clark acknowledged she may have rushed to judgment.
Naturally, Horgan demanded an apology from the premier. Clark’s initial response: “John Horgan should probably be focused on some of the more important issues that are facing us. If his feelings are hurt, I have to say I’m a little bit surprised.”
All of this rolled out a week after Horgan’s speaking notes for an upcoming presentation had been leaked to the BC Liberals. And naturally, the Liberals used the information for a pre-emptive strike on Horgan.
Not to say BC Liberals haven’t suffered their share of humiliating leaks.
It is said all is fair in war and politics, but somewhere a line needs to be drawn. Or else we risk going down the path of the U.S., where “alternative facts” are presented with equal weight as actual, irrefutable facts.
We’re already being warned not to expect a clean and fair campaign this provincial election. Hopefully, as a result of this latest goof up, we’ll at least see more ‘asking questions’ first and ‘shooting’ later.
