TWO SETS OF RULES?
Horgan gives star candidate a pass
Premier John Horgan has overreached himself providing cover for NDP candidate Nathan Cullen's unguarded comments about an Indigenous leader running for the B.C. Liberals.
Cullen was caught on an open mike at an all-candidate meeting last week, disparaging Roy Jones Jr. He's a hereditary chief of the Haida and the Liberal candidate in North Coast.
“He's not well-liked — he's Haida — in his own community,” said Cullen. “The guy's going to get bedrock 20 per cent. Like, his name is Kinkles,” sneered Cullen, disparaging Jones Jr. via his nickname.
The NDP candidate posted an apology Saturday after he realized his comments were circulating on social media and drawing criticism.
“It was wrong what I said,” wrote Cullen on his Twitter account.
“I take it back entirely and I apologize for the harm I've caused Roy.”
Still, that left the question of how Horgan would respond. The New Democrats have shown no mercy in demanding resignations from B.C. Liberal candidates who've made homophobic and transphobic comments.
But Horgan was far more forgiving of Cullen, the former federal MP who New Democrats regard as a star candidate and likely cabinet minister in the next NDP government. Horgan spoke to Cullen on the weekend, but not about a resignation or anything like it.
“I expressed my disappointment with his comments — as I said, what you say privately you should be able to say publicly,” Horgan said Sunday.
But having conceded that Cullen was caught saying privately what no New Democrat would say publicly, the premier then invited reporters to recast Cullen himself as some sort of victim.
“Nathan has great remorse,” Horgan pleaded. “Nathan is feeling devastated by this on a personal level.”
Poor Nathan. They really should warn a fellow before putting him in front of a live microphone. Public life is so unfair.
Meanwhile, the real victim of the affair was speaking out. That would be Liberal candidate Roy Jones Jr., though as he noted to reporters, he is far better known in his community by the name that Cullen mocked.
“The name was given to me as a two- or three-year-old and it is used to address me through the years,” he said. It came from a Japanese grocer who was friends with his parents.
“It means `golden boy,'” he continued. “Today most people don't know my Christian name, Roy Jones Jr.
“Even on my fire jacket — on the sleeve, it's got Kinkles. I've got a lot of pride in where my names came from,” he continued. “If somebody wants to be a bum about it, that's what they do, I guess. When you're a public figure you just don't do these things.”
Adding context was Ellis Ross, a former chief councillor of the Haisla First Nation. He is running for re-election as a Liberal in Skeena, the riding between North Coast and Stikine.
“Such hypocrisy,” Ross fumed. “For a man like Mr. Cullen to claim he has great relations with First Nations and worked with them for years, then he should have known that nicknames are a sign of affection in First Nation communities.
“To claim that he knew that people, even people in his own community didn't like him? That is out of line to say that you presume to know what a First Nation person thinks and what they don't think. “
The Cullen comments “hurt Roy Jones Jr., they hurt his family, they hurt his community, and they basically hurt any minority who has ever experienced those kinds of comments.”
The controversy also served to divide the First Nations community, with Haida and Tahltan leaders defending Cullen while 10 leaders of the Gitxsan called on Horgan to dump him as a candidate. Nevertheless, on Monday Horgan stepped up his defence of Cullen, even as he continued to disparage his “intemperate” comments.
“I know no one's going to work harder than Nathan
Cullen to make up for his stupid comments,” claimed Horgan.
“No one will work harder now on reconciliation than Nathan Cullen.”
So in the John Horgan world view, Cullen's comments, far from being a firing offence, would almost amount to a qualification for higher office.
For who better to appoint minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation in the next NDP government than someone who has personally insulted a hereditary chief when he thought no one was listening?
Still, Horgan's excuse-making for Cullen is not surprising. The New Democrats went to great lengths and considerable public expense to ease the former federal MP into provincial office.
Soon after Cullen retired from Parliament at the last national election, the New Democrats hired him as a special adviser on the standoff with the hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en.
He was paid more than $100,000 in fees and expenses before he resigned to seek the NDP nomination in Stikine, after incumbent Doug Donaldson announced his retirement.
The party also obliged by freezing out Annita McPhee, a former three-term president of the Tahltan Nation who'd also signalled an interest in running in Stikine.
The fix meant disregarding the NDP's equity policy, crafted to favour nominations for members of groups that are under-represented in the legislature.
But there's no shortage of hypocrites in the place, starting with the top excuse-maker — John Horgan himself. On that basis, if Cullen wins, he should have no difficulty finding a spot in the front ranks of the Horgan team.
Nevertheless, on Monday Horgan stepped up his defence of Cullen, even as he continued to disparage his `intemperate' comments.