VANCOUVER—Two BC Liberal Party MLAs have formally apologized for statements about the South Asian community made in the legislature last week.

Both Jas Johal, MLA for Richmond Queensborough, and Ian Paton, MLA for Delta South, retracted their statements this week, following a third apology earlier this month from MLA Rich Coleman for comparing a farm bill to the Holocaust.

Johal’s formal apology, made Monday in B.C.’s legislature, followed direct apologies to members of the Pakistani-Canadian community. It came upon the written request of the Pakistani Canadian Cultural Association, which said the comments were upsetting and further divided the South Asian community.

“On May 16 during Question Period, I made comments that offended some members of the Pakistani community,” Johal said during the parliamentary session. “I recently met with six different organizations within that community, and we had a thoughtful, respectful conversation. I wish to withdraw my remarks and apologize.”

Johal had made the comments while criticizing Minister of Citizens’ Services Jinny Sims for using her status to write visa reference letters for a number of people from Pakistan. Three were reportedly on a U.S. watch list, but the New Democrats said earlier this week that an investigation has since shown that to be false.

Johal had said: “This minister keeps talking about representing her constituents, (but) these are Pakistani nationals on a watch list. She continues to forget that; she ignores that. I remind her she is an MLA for Surrey-Panorama, not Islamabad North.”

Read more:

After ‘Islamabad North’ remark, Pakistani-Canadian groups keen for official apology from Liberals’ Jas Johal

Ex-deputy premier Rich Coleman’s ‘right to life’ speech was ‘deeply disturbing,’ experts say

‘Sickening to the bone’ to hear B.C. farm law compared to Holocaust, Jewish farmer says

The letter issued to BC Liberal Party Leader Andrew Wilkinson by the cultural association noted that Johal’s colleagues clapped “to strengthen and show support for his inappropriate statement.”

Johal also withdrew comments in March, after deploying a Punjabi term to describe his NDP colleagues in the legislature. Star Vancouver reached out to Johal for further comment following this week’s apology, but he was not immediately available.

Meanwhile, on Monday afternoon, Paton had suggested the South Asian community could keep their kids out of gangs by getting them to work as young as 12 years old.

His comments were directed to Labour Minister Harry Bains. Paton was arguing for an amendment to child labour legislation that would relax regulations to allow children as young as 12 to work without permission from the Employment Standards Office. The BC Liberal caucus voted in favour of the amendment.

At the time, Green Party MLA Adam Olsen described Paton’s remarks as “absolutely offensive.” Paton responded by suggesting his comments were a misunderstanding but did not apologize on Monday.

On Tuesday, Paton withdrew his remarks in the legislature.

In an emailed statement to Star Vancouver on Thursday, Paton said it was his intention to assert that youth of any ethnicity, or in any municipality, need to keep busy with the opportunity to work.

“During the heat of the legislative debate, I made remarks that caused distress to some parties and I took responsibility by withdrawing these remarks unconditionally,” the statement read.

“My choice of words in the moment was unfortunate, and I wholeheartedly apologize to anyone who I offended with my remarks.”

BC NDP MLA Jagrup Brar said in a release that it’s “disturbing to see” Wilkinson’s BC Liberals disrespecting people of different backgrounds.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Martyn Brown was a chief of staff to former premier Gordon Campbell and has previously served as the BC Liberals’ public campaign director. He has also authored four election platforms.

“These bozo eruptions typically happen at the end of sessions when people are tired, frustrated and irritated,” Brown explained, noting while it’s no excuse, people are more careless at the end of the session.

“These kinds of issues are often tempests in a teapot. They’re not something that stick and resonate unless they become repetitive.”

However, what’s astounding about the comments is that they were made by seasoned politicians who should know better, he added. And Johal, as a former reporter, should have expected the media and opposition to “dine out” on his comments.

“It was in Question Period. It was a very staged, theatrical comment designed to get quoted,” Brown said. “He clearly thought it was a clever comment, that his colleagues clapped for.”

Still, Brown noted that the BC Liberals are certainly not alone in making such mistakes. And in the long run, inflammatory remarks don’t tend to impact whether people get re-elected as most constituents tend to forgive them.

Voters are looking at whether or not there was an admission of guilt and forthcoming apology, he explained.

Brown does not see long-term impacts on the opposition party or Wilkinson’s leadership, as he quickly apologized following Coleman’s comments. However, it did make him wonder who the leader would place in cabinet, especially if they are prone to making offensive remarks.

He pointed to the polls, noting Wilkinson is roughly nine points behind Premier John Horgan, and this would not be the time to lose voter trust.

“The worst of all for Andy Wilkinson is that it detracts from his message that the party is competent, professional, capable opposition,” he said.

“If anything, this should give voters some confidence that he’s at least got the political smarts and acumen to know when to apologize … and say when his own MLAs have made errors.”

With files from Tessa Vikander

Read more about: