MP hasn’t apologized to Dr. Tam

OTTAWA — Ontario Conservative MP Derek Sloan held to his leadership campaign slogan of “Conservative without apology” and refused Wednesday to heed the demands of his fellow MPs to apologize for remarks questioning the loyalty of the country’s public health officer.

A motion had been put forward by other Conservative MPs from Ontario during a meeting Tuesday afternoon demanding he apologize or retract his comments. Otherwise, some of the very MPs he wants to lead were prepared to try and get him kicked out of caucus.

But just after the 6 p.m. Eastern time deadline they’d set for him to apologize, Sloan issued a statement suggesting his remarks about Dr. Theresa Tam had been “deliberately” mischaracterized by the Liberals.

“I did not — and am not — questioning Dr. Tam’s loyalty to Canada,” he said.

Sloan drew national attention late last week when, in an email to supporters, he criticized Tam’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, citing her work for and reliance upon data from the World Health Organization.

The WHO has come under scrutiny after it emerged that China, where the outbreak of the novel coronavirus began, potentially underreported the extent of illness in that country, in turn tainting the guidance the UN’s health agency was providing to other countries.

Sloan asked whether Tam was working for “China or Canada.”

She was born in Hong Kong, and that question prompted accusations that Sloan was being racist in his approach, as challenging someone’s loyalty is a historical racist trope.

Sloan was condemned across the political spectrum for his initial remarks, including by some of his fellow MPs who used social media last week to highlight their opposition.

Among them, Conservative Michael Chong. His father is from from Hong Kong.