Angry in the Great White North

Last week, we watches the NDP deliver two apologies.

One was was delivered by Irene Mathyssen. NDP MP Irene Mathyssen had smeared Conservative MP James Moore, accusing him of looking at porn on the floor of the House of Commons.

The other was delivered by Libby Davies.

Come to think of it, though, only one apology was offered. The one by Libby Davies didn't count, and that suggests a very serious problem for the NDP.

Here's what happened. Back in the 2006 election, NDP candidate Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson alleged that Liberal candidate David Oliver had attempted to bribe Hansen-Carlson to step out of the race, presumably with the intention of combining the split NDP-Liberal vote in the riding of Abbotsford. David Oliver denied the allegation, but Paul Martin dropped Oliver as a candidate (technically, Martin made it clear that Oliver would not be able to sit in the Liberal caucus if he won the race, not a likely event in the strongly Conservative riding).

Oliver lost, but the pursued legal action against the NDP. David Oliver and his campaign manager Gordie Kahlon settled with the NDP, and this apology was part of that settlement:

Oliver and Kahlon sued the NDP and Davies acknowledged Thursday that the party has paid damages to the pair to resolve the lawsuit.

"There were never any facts to support an allegation of bribery or attempted bribery," she told the Commons.

"The NDP formally apologizes to them, their friends, their families, political supporters and particularly the voters of Abbotsford who cast their votes while a candidate's character and conduct had been improperly put under a cloud by our campaign team's actions."

Davies admitted that the NDP erred in arranging for Hansen-Carlson to repeat his accusations widely in the media 10 days before the Jan. 23, 2006, election. And she said it made "another serious error in judgment" in failing to make public a letter from Canada's elections commissioner, three days before the election, which cleared the two Liberals.

"Mr. Oliver and Mr. Kahlon remained under a cloud of suspicion far longer than was appropriate. We erred in not making that letter public immediately and we acknowledge that."

The NDP aggressively pursued a course of action to publicize the accusation, adding to the Liberal Party troubles in the 2006 election. But when Elections Canada informed them that there was no basis for the accusation, the NDP sat on the letter.

But the NDP did not make that decision. A person made that decision. A decision was made by a person to tell lies were told loudly and widely, and then to keep the truth buried under a rock.

Some people have wondered why I haven't written about this story. I was waiting for something. It arrived today. An apology from Paul Martin to David Oliver:

Paul Martin yesterday apologized to a Liberal candidate who was fired in the midst of an election campaign after allegations that he bribed an opponent to drop out of the race.

David Oliver, who ran for the party in the 2006 federal election campaign in the British Columbia riding of Abbotsford, said he received a phone call from the former prime minister as he was on his way to the store yesterday afternoon.

"He said that he felt very badly for what had happened and that he was sincerely sorry for the events that unfolded the way they had," Mr. Oliver said in an interview from his home last night.

"The conversation was about bringing the events of the past full-circle and closing a chapter, certainly in my life, and I think for him, putting things to rest as well."

Why does this matter? Because some person in the Liberal Party, namely Paul Martin, made the decision to punish David Oliver. That was a mistake, and that person, Paul Martin, apologized for it.

At the same time, some person in the NDP made the decision to hide the truth. That was a mistake.

And that person has not publicly apologized for it. Instead, the party was sorry.

Libby Davies did not make that decision. She delivered the apology, since it is very likely the person in the NDP who decided to hide the Elections Canada letter is not an MP, but is a member of the party executive. As such, that person could not stand in the House of Commons.

But we still don't know who this person is. The "apology" diffuses the blame among the caucus and the executive and the membership to the point that no one is really all that sorry.

One person made the decision to hold the letter and let the lie stand, hoping to eke out a few more votes on the back of a scandal he knew to be false. Until that person apologizes for his decision, and until we know what the NDP has done with regards to that person's role in the party, we can't be certain that the NDP has really dealt with the issue appropriately.

For all we know, that person has been quietly rewarded by the NDP for making a good effort and for possibly swinging a seat or two in favour of the NDP, even if two years later the NDP had to admit to what it had done.

I'm guessing that the terms of the settlement prevent Oliver and Kahlon from revealing any details. I understand that. Lawsuits are expensive, and at some point you have to compromise to wrap it up. No doubt the NDP held fast to the condition that any settlement could only include a general apology that publicly named no NDP staff.

And that worries me.

Why? I can only assume that the person or persons who were at the centre of the NDP coverup are still in the party and are still in powerful positions. If they had left the party, the NDP could have been more forthcoming about the individuals involved in the Oliver affair, and in particular, the decision to hide the Elections Canada letter. Indeed, that would have moved the blame off the party as a whole, which is a good thing. Instead, the party takes the blame and the individuals do not. That these people have not been identified makes me think that these people are still making the big decisions, and that they are not about to risk those jobs.

Until the NDP can assure Canadians by delivering a proper, detailed and personal apology, we'll have to assume that the NDP still has a serious problem at the top.