Education is part of apologies

Re: Sorry, but let’s have no more apologizing, (Opinion, Sept. 12)

In her op-ed regarding the Prime Minister apologizing for Canada’s 1939 refusal to allow in the Jewish people aboard the St. Louis fleeing Nazi Germany as refugees, columnist Naomi Lakritz highlights the general point of needing to pair remembrance with education and talk with real action. In my view, the Prime Minister did just that when he apologized to LGBTQ Canadians. He paired the apology with real action — expunging convictions for offences involving consensual sexual activity with same-sex partners (C-66) and passing a bill protecting trans and gender-diverse persons from discrimination (C-16).

The apology to be given by the Prime Minister to Jewish people is important because Canada’s refusal to allow the St. Louis passengers to enter as refugees was categorically wrong. The real action is the education piece. The apology reminds Canadians of the dangers of xenophobia.

Kent Hehr, MP Calgary Centre