Shooting the messenger

If it was just social media trolls, you could chalk it up to a few cranks with twitchy Twitter fingers hyped up on anonymity.

But for a provincial cabinet minister to suggest it, well, was irresponsible and inflammatory.

Yet that's the very kind of comment Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu made last Friday in a Facebook post, talking about his province's response to its COVID-19 crisis.

As the Edmonton Journal reported, Madu — who's a member of the United Conservative Party — was responding to criticism of his government, from someone who said it was “treating (COVID-19) like it's going to kill everyone it comes in contact with.”

Madu said just because most people survive coronavirus is no reason for the government not to try and prevent deaths.

ATTACK MODE

Which is a prudent approach. But that's when Madu went into partisan attack mode, writing:

“It is also not a reason to wait until we overwhelm our health-care system, then create public panic, and see Albertans in field and make-shift hospitals gasping for breath because we have (run) out of ventilators, manpower, etc.

“My point is that I don't think it will be responsible to simply wait until we have a disaster on our hands. That's what the NDP, the media and the federal Liberals were looking for and want. We simply couldn't allow that to happen.”

As you can imagine, the suggestion that anyone would want to see the COVID-19 situation in any part of the world, let alone our own country, descend into chaos and cause more suffering and death outraged the NDP, the federal Liberals, and the media.

Madu offered up a general apology on Twitter Tuesday, saying “My comments were wrong, as all Canadians want this global pandemic to end as soon as possible,” adding he joins Alberta Premier Jason Kenney in wishing to avoid “divisive political rhetoric.”

COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE

Politicians are more than capable of speaking for themselves. But from a media point of view, Madu's comments were completely unacceptable, and the type of divisive political rhetoric he is now trying to step back from.

COVID-19 has been difficult for all Canadians, including members of the media, who have been essential throughout this pandemic, trying to keep the members of their communities informed and safe.

To suggest we would take any satisfaction in watching a health crisis unfold — as our global counterparts are seeing now in India — is reprehensible, and is the very kind of toxic, harmful talk we would expect from the lowest depths of the Trump era.

The media is not the enemy. Nor is the opposition. Or the federal government.

COVID-19 is a health crisis that has seen Canadians from coast to coast to coast come together to help each other.

We expect no less from politicians. In fact, we expect more.