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Peter MacKay apologizes for throwing documents about murdered, missing Aboriginal women
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Central Nova MP and Justice Minister Peter MacKay has apologized for the way he handled the tabling of many documents relating to missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
Last week in the House of Commons, he asked for unanimous consent to table the documents, and dropped them in front of his desk before bringing them to another Member of Parliament.
“It was inappropriate on my part, and I let my passion overtake my compassion on this important issue,” he said in a status on his official Facebook page.He explained the reasoning behind his actions, stating that “taunts” from an opposition member lead him to react out of frustration. He said he only had English copies when he committed to tabling them, not bilingual as required.
“I offered them to the member, who seemed quite agitated, and asked if he wanted them in English only. When he continued to shout and gestured he wanted them… I simply dropped them in front of my desk, telling him to come get them. I then promptly picked them up and delivered them to him.”
He also explained that contrary to what some have said, he never threw the parliamentary report “Invisible Women: A Call to Action” on the floor, and this report hadn’t been tabled at the time.
“At the next opportunity, I took responsibility, tabled all documents in both official languages and apologized to the Speaker, the House and to anyone who may have been offended by my impetuous act. This was certainly not intended as a show of disrespect to Aboriginal people or to anyone else. It was a temporary loss of composure brought on in the heat of the moment. And, one which I regret and will endeavour never to repeat.” New Glasgow News
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