Not that anyone really cares what my opinion is, but here it is anyway.
Segregation isn't always something intentional. Was the TTC intentionally trying to marginalize people with disabilities by making the system so un-wheelchair friendly?
Were right-handed people intentionally marginalizing left-handed people with the whole right-handed scissors thing?
Of course not. We're not omniscient, us humans, and we repeatedly do things with the right intent but to the wrong results.
If we define segregationist as "excluding some members of the population" then every public and private system is biased. On the plus side, the more we learn - the more we commit sociology - the better we are able to cultivate a more inclusive society, infrastructure and services included.
I truly think John Tory has his heart in the right place, and did even when he suggested women needed to complain and golf more to get ahead. Any conservative who suggests people need to just sell harder to get what they want are equally encouraging, but equally missing the point.
That's for Tory. Now for Kinsella.
Kinsella is a master of political communication, which is not the same thing as real-world communication. The goal isn't to convey information so much as it is to incite emotion.
He would have known the emotions his tweet would enflame; after all, it's his business to know how words influence people.
The fact that he deleted his tweet is, in my mind, a genuine recognition that what he said was harmful. It'd be silly to suggest he's trying to delete evidence of what he wrote; he knows as well as anyone that the Internet never forgets.
Having said that, an apology is something one person offers to another in recognition of a wrong committed, full-stop. I was unfair to you, I recognize this and I beg your forgiveness.
Apologies are acts of submission - they're also acts of leadership. To ask for forgiveness is to place your absolution in the hands of the person you have wronged, an important step in building trust and fostering communication.
Kinsella apologized - but in the same breath, asked for an apology from John Tory in return. To me, that's not a sincere apology, that's tactic.
Whether John Tory should apologize for the Chretien ad has as much to do with Kinsella's tweet as the shooting of Michael Brown, which is to say nothing.
I don't know either man. I've had a couple brief interactions with Tory, but not enough to say I know the guy.
From their public communications, though, I do feel both have the right intent - as they say, though, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I imagine it matters much less to either man whether apologies are issued or not; both are thick-skinned political veterans who know how the game is played.
It does, however, matter to the public how our public figures interact with each other and how carefully they consider the impact of their words, actions and policies on everyone else.
Instead of picking at each other for gain, how would it be if our political people tried to one-up each other by offering better, more inclusive policies that everyone can get behind?
Just an idea. As mentioned, though, I don't really expect them to listen.
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