Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Elizabeth May is blushing furiously at her gaffe at the parliamentary press gallery dinner Saturday, and so she should, but it鈥檚 in no way a career-ending scandal. The hard-working, principled politician鈥檚 constituents will likely forgive her, and so they should.
Still, it鈥檚 a teaching moment, not just for May, but for anyone who speaks in public, or even in small crowds. The lesson: Choose your words carefully.
May was a speaker at the annual dinner where politicians and journalists get together and deliver light-hearted, often self-deprecating speeches, with a few good-natured gibes at each other.
But May鈥檚 speech was awkward and long, despite Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt鈥檚 attempts to persuade her to sit down, and included a shoutout for Omar Khadr, who was freed on bail last week as he awaits his appeal of U.S. convictions for war crimes. She ended by playing a recording of Welcome Back, Kotter, the theme song from a 1970s sitcom, and said that Khadr has 鈥渕ore class than the whole f---ing cabinet.鈥�
Even at a venue where the speeches are known for irreverence and edginess, it fell flat.
Wafted about the ether by social media, intemperate words have a way of haunting, but May has pre-empted those ghosts with a profuse apology. She said she was trying to be humorous by stepping outside her 鈥淕oody Two-Shoes鈥� reputation, and it didn鈥檛 work. She also said she had had a couple of long days with little sleep.
Sleep-deprivation and fatigue can do funny things. And who hasn鈥檛 had a joke fall with a leaden thunk?
But May showed poor judgment in her choice of subject. The Khadr case is a serious, sensitive issue. He was convicted of participating in activities in which people were killed. Yes, he was a child soldier, has languished too long in prison and shows every sign of having seen the error of his ways. His being granted bail is the proper outcome of a legal process, regardless of the Harper government鈥檚 efforts to politicize the case.
But there鈥檚 nothing funny about it. And adding the F-bomb (which she did twice) is the cheap trick of second-rate comedians who can鈥檛 get a laugh by any other means. Equating 鈥淜hadr鈥� with 鈥淜otter鈥� furthered the gaffe by making light of a person鈥檚 name.
The joke is even more discordant when you consider the lyrics of the song she played in the Khadr context:
鈥淲elcome back, your dreams were your ticket out.
鈥淲elcome back to that same old place that you laughed about.鈥�
Humour is often about hyperbole, but hyperbole has its limits. To say Khadr has more class than the federal cabinet is a wild, illogical comparison, even for a joke. Khadr is a victim in many respects and should be regarded as such, but he should not be hailed as a hero. It鈥檚 forgiveness he needs, not adulation.
May is known and respected for staying above the political muck, but on Saturday, she wallowed in the mire. That she was extremely fatigued, we don鈥檛 doubt 鈥� her rambling speech is evidence of that. It鈥檚 also a sign that she should slow down, look after herself and acquire some time-management skills.
The MP has rightly said she won鈥檛 resign over the incident, which would be ridiculously out of proportion. This was an uncharacteristic and forgivable lapse.
But she should stay away from standup comedy, keeping in mind the alleged last words of Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean: 鈥淒ying is easy; comedy is hard.鈥�
She should also keep in mind the last words from her own memoir: 鈥淲e need to remember who we are.鈥�
