What is the purpose of an official apology?
Acknowledging past wrongs sheds light on injustices in our history
The Globe and Mail reported last week that the Liberal government is set to apologize for the historic persecution of gay Canadians. Their sources suggest that an announcement may be forthcoming as early as the fall.
For decades, discrimination based on sexual orientation was built into Canada’s legal structure. Beginning in the 1950s, sexual minorities in Canada were prohibited by law from working in the public service and serving in the military. Many were fired from their jobs as a result.
Prior to 1969 when thenprime minister Pierre Trudeau’s amendments to the Criminal Code came into effect and homosexuality was decriminalized, people who engaged in same-sex acts could be legally convicted of gross indecency and imprisoned. Homosexuals were classified as “inadmissible” under Canada’s Immigration Act until 1978. The list goes on.
If it moves forward, this will be the latest in a string of government apologies.
In 1988, Brian Mulroney apologized to Japanese Canadians for their internment and confiscation of property during the Second World War. In 2006, Stephen Harper apologized to Chinese Canadians for the head tax imposed on them in the 19th century. In 2008, he apologized to indigenous peoples for Canada’s role in the residential school system.
In May, Justin Trudeau issued an apology for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident, in which hundreds of Sikh, Muslim and Hindu passengers aboard the ship were turned away from Canada and sent back to India where many faced death or jail at the hands of British soldiers.
Canadians have a caricatured reputation for saying sorry. Does Canada’s surfeit of apologies for past wrongdoings accomplish a sort of historical revisionism, one that glosses over the uncomfortable realities of Canada’s past?
Or does it have some deeper significance? Might these official apologies have an impact on how we understand each other as Canadians, and help us move forward together?
We are fortunate to live in a country guided by democratic principles. But for many Canadians and wouldbe Canadians, the state and its apparatus hasn’t always been just, benevolent or kind. Some argue that this is still the case today.
Government law and policy at any given time is a reflection of prevailing social norms. At certain points in history, prevailing social norms have included outright racism, sexism and homophobia, among others.
When these attitudes are baked into our policies and legal systems, they become normalized. After all, if something is legal, it can’t be wrong. Right? Think again. A benefit of official apologies for past injustices is that they shine a light on the hidden stories some of us might not know about, or might not want to see. They require that we acknowledge Canada’s history of structural discrimination.
In so doing, they invite us to reflect on our present-day structures and how they may be understood as just or unjust by future generations.
The good news is that values and social norms are not static; they are in constant evolution. LGBTQ+ rights have come a long way in a relatively short period of time. In 1967, Everett Klippert, a gay man from the Northwest Territories, was imprisoned as a “dangerous sex offender.” It was a legal decision upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.
A mere 38 years later in 2005, same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada. This year, the symbolic rainbow flag was raised over the House of Commons to mark the start of Pride month and Justin Trudeau became the first sitting prime minister to participate in Toronto’s Pride Parade.
Canada is a work in progress. We can’t rewrite the past, nor should we try to. What we can do is learn from our history — the good and the bad — and apply those lessons in building a fairer, more just system for everyone.