Sajjan’s sin more about pride than grammar
Re Sajjan ‘architect’ fuss a scandal about nothing, Walkom, May 3 I agree that Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s claim to be “the architect” of Operation Medusa was in part a grammatical problem. If he had said he was “an architect,” there would have been no problem.
However, we have a right to be suspicious if a grammatical error tends to favour the person stating it, especially if it is repeated. High-school graduates and cabinet ministers are expected to have a reasonable command of grammar.
On the other hand, we can be thankful that our political leaders appear to have a stronger command of grammar than U.S. President Donald Trump. His weakness relates in particular to verbs. He has a strong preference for the present indicative, even when a different tense or mood would be more appropriate.
For example, his error in using the present tense when referring to abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who has been dead for more than 100 years, gave the impression that he is less familiar with American history than a president should be. Bruce Couchman, Ottawa Thank you to Thomas Walkom for once again providing a realistic and sober viewpoint on the kind of non-story that some parties spend time on when they are apparently bereft of anything of substance to offer. Bruce Nagy, Toronto Harjit Sajjan’s sin is not grammatical, it is pride, of the wrong sort. His remarks containing ‘the architect’ were prepared. The definite article ‘the’ conveys meaning. The result of choosing this word was the inflation of his contribution, a dishonest statement, a lie.
Soldiers at war are in life-and-death situations and they depend on each other. Prideful dishonesty endangers lives.
Sajjan needs to stop saying he should have said something different. He needs to admit his prideful dishonesty and resign. Only then can he return to public office and continue to use his great talent, courage and experience in service to others. Jacques Soucie, Newmarket My father served in Europe during the Second World War. He came home safely and went on with his life — no war stories, no battle tales, no boasting of medals won.
He, like countless others, was a quiet hero who served his country when called upon.
Not so the vainglorious Harjit Sajjan. His exaggerations and outright falsehoods bring discredit to the proud legacy of our military services. As Minister of Defence, he has no alternative but to resign immediately. He is a disgrace to the portfolio he holds. Robert Kent, Mississauga I do not know which is worst: Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan making a false claim. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan thinking no one would take notice of such an outrageous claim.
Or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claiming he still has full confidence in his lying defence minister. Michel Trahan, Maria, Que. I was totally shocked, disgusted and saddened after watching question period on May 1. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has been caught lying about his accomplishments in the military and has done it more than once.
What irritates me is that the minister has let down all serving members of our Canadian Forces and that the prime minister backs him up. Mr. Trudeau calls these lies “mistakes.” Lying is not a mistake, it is a wilful act.
Do the right thing Mr. Sajjan: step down. Jacques Lemieux, CPO1 (Ret’d), Windsor, N.S. In order to get Mr. Sajjan out of this jam, I suggest he tweet Donald Trump for help: He has survived and thrived on lies and exaggeration.
Also, if society demands our politicians be squeaky clean, wouldn’t our Parliament and Senate be half empty? Max Desouza, Toronto I don’t think Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan mistakenly aggrandized his role in Afghanistan. He aggrandized twice. That was deliberate. His mistake was thinking he could get away with it. I think he proved himself to be dishonourable. Betty Walton, Toronto When NBC news anchor Brian Williams was found to have lied about his involvement in an airstrike, he was promptly fired. Now that our Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has admitted to lying more than once about his involvement in a combat operation, our prime minister has not asked for his resignation.
Obviously our U.S. neighbours demand more credibility from their news anchors than our prime minister demands from our defence minister. Bob Joakim, Oakville “I’m not here to make any excuses for my mistake,” said Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.
Lying is not something you do accidentally, ergo a mistake, it is deliberate and conscious. To tell stories about yourself or another and colour it with mistruths or exaggerations takes conscious and deliberate thought. Too many of us only feel bad when we are found out.
Once you are caught out in a lie, your veracity will always be in doubt. Sajjan should feel embarrassed and ashamed and step down. Beatrice Cleary, North York So Harjit Sajjan is sorry. Yes, I believe he would be, but only sorry that his disgraceful conduct has been revealed. Claiming as his personal achievement a military success that was accomplished by someone else is not a Canadian value, although our prime minister seems to confirm it is a Trudeau value.
As an enthusiastic reader of military history, I have never encountered a similar incident during the entire life of our country. Fred B. Woodward, Kelowna, B.C.
“What irritates me is that the minister has let down all serving members of our Canadian Forces and that the prime minister backs him up. Mr. Trudeau calls these lies ‘mistakes.’ Lying is not a mistake, it is a wilful act.” JACQUES LEMIEUX CP01 (RET’D), WINDSOR, N.S.
If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were to fire Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan for lying, he should also fire himself. That seems unlikely.
What is Sajjan’s offence? He lied about his military accomplishments as an army officer in Afghanistan. He exaggerated in a self-promoting way about long-ago events. That’s not admirable, but hardly unusual.
Compare this to the benchmark set by Trudeau who said, publicly and repeatedly, that 2015 would be the last federal election under first-past-the-post rules. Trudeau’s pledge on behalf of the Liberal Party was, as it turned out, a blatant lie.
The Liberals are leaving the once-condemned first-past-thepost scheme, and their own undeserved domination of the House of Commons, intact.
Having authored such a big and consequential public lie, Trudeau made it difficult to rebuke or punish Harjit Sajjan for a much smaller and much less consequential one. John Deverell, Pickering Re Not the first time embattled Sajjan made false claim, April 30 It is very sad to learn that Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan made such a dishonest claim, and not for the first time. He holds an important and sensitive military position. With such false claims, would our allies trust his word?
He is doing as much damage to the Liberals as Mike Duffy did to the Conservatives. Now we have to see if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deals with Sajjan better than former prime minister Stephen Harper dealt with Duffy. Thuan Truong, Toronto Before talking heads become absolutely apoplectic over dubious comments made by our esteemed defence minister, should they not condemn equally dubious comments made by others in our federal and provincial leadership? Judging by headlines week in and week out, I am certain that hypocrisy and disingenuous behaviour is not a recent phenomenon amongst these folks. Brian Weller, Markham While defending the disgraceful conduct of his minister of defence, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “He (Sajjan) acknowledged his responsibility and apologized for it; that’s what Canadians expect when one makes a mistake.”
Obviously, Trudeau misspoke. He must have intended to say, ‘that’s what my Liberals expect.’ I’m certain the majority of Canadians expect much more.
Meanwhile the Senate ethics committee that investigated the behaviour of Don Meredith has recommended he be expelled from the Red Chamber. It is encouraging to see that some of those unaccountable Ottawa birds have stepped out of their fouled ivory tower to reacquaint themselves with reality.
If Trudeau had control of the Senate, he would probably say, “If Don Meredith apologizes, he can retain his Senate seat, that’s what my Liberals would expect.” Lloyd Atkins, Vernon, B.C.