Sexual minorities deserved apology

THE SPECTATOR’S VIEW

There is nothing the Government of Canada can ever do to make up for the decades it systematically persecuted sexual minorities who worked loyally for it and this country.

No act or actions, no matter how well-intended, will at this late date heal the wounds inflicted by Ottawa’s cruel purge of the public service, military, RCMP and intelligence agencies of thousands of LGBTQ Canadians.

Yet even though the damage to so many lives cannot be entirely undone, Justin Trudeau is right to take up the cause of those who were wronged.

The historic apology he delivered in the House of Commons on Tuesday to gays, lesbians and others in the LGBTQ community was justified, necessary and meaningful.

Equally important, the financial compensation offered by the federal government — $110 million to victims and $15 million for a reconciliation and memorialization fund — is substantial and shows that meaningful redress for past injustices must transcend words. There are lessons for everyone here. What the House of Commons unanimously agreed to this week should remind Canadians of the terrible consequences that have flowed from popular, even legal discrimination.

At the same time, it should keep us vigilant in protecting individual rights and liberties in the future.

“Over our history, laws and policies enacted by the government led to the legitimization of much more than inequality — they legitimized hatred and violence and brought shame to those targeted,” Trudeau told the House of Commons. “We were wrong. We apologize.”

And who, knowing the witch-hunt to which he refers, could disagree?

Between the 1950s and early 1990s, thousands of civil servants saw their federal careers destroyed solely because of their sexuality. In those same years, members of the armed forces and national police force were discharged because of whom and how they wanted to love.

Individuals were hounded, intimidated, threatened, humiliated, ostracized and punished by their employer — the government of a supposedly liberal democracy.

The harm, both financial and psychological, was irrevocable.

This is part of Canada’s recent history, not something from the dim past. Thousands of those who suffered are alive and can take solace in seeing their government accept responsibility for what previous administrations did.

No wonder this is a week of celebration for the LGBTQ community.

Even so, Trudeau’s apology and the mistakes that led up to it should remind us all — especially politicians — of a government’s ability to cause harm.

In recent years, the federal government has expressed sorrow for the internment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War, for the former head-tax on Chinese migrants and, of course, for the residential schools that scarred generations of Indigenous Canadians. In their time, these discredited policies were all legal measures enacted by legitimate governments.

Who are governments treating unfairly today? It could be veiled Muslim women in Quebec. It could be prisoners in solitary confinement. It might be Indigenous people on reserves without clean water or decent schools.

Apologizing for the mistakes of past governments is good.

Learning from their errors is better.