Teresa Iacobelli: What is the Use of Official Apologies to Historical Misdeeds?
[Teresa Iacobelli is a PhD student at the University of Western Ontario.]
In March 2010 the Qikiqtani Truth Commission (QTC) will draw to a close with the release of a final report and recommendations for the future. While the QTC has been ongoing since 2007 most Canadians remain unaware of its existence, and of the historical and social issues that it addresses. The QTC was created with a mandate to research and report on the facts surrounding the alleged dog slaughters, relocations and other government policies that affected Inuit communities in the Eastern Arctic between the period of 1950 and 1980. As part of completing this mandate archival research has been conducted, witnesses have been interviewed and oral histories have been collected in several northern communities. In addition to uncovering the facts, the QTC website (http://www.qtcommission.com/) also indicates that the purpose of this commission is to ultimately promote healing and reconciliation between Inuit communities and the Government of Canada.
The work of the QTC brings to light the question of whether or not such commissions actually achieve their intended goals, and whether government apologies serve any real purpose or have any measurable effect. These questions are particularly relevant in Canada where recent years have seen numerous campaigns that have led to the collision of Canadian history with contemporary Canadian politics. These campaigns have included (but are not limited to) the demand for compensation for the head tax lobbied against Chinese immigrants in the early twentieth century; reparations for the interment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War; a call to pardon soldiers that were executed for desertion and cowardice during the Great War; and the demand for an apology and compensation for survivors of the Indian residential schools system. While these campaigns have some clear differences, taken together they do raise some interesting questions....
While both the good and the bad of history must be acknowledged and commemorated, both the glorious and inglorious moments, I question whether government apologies have become so common as to become meaningless. When an apology is issued only to achieve a political pay-off or when it is contrived by a roomful of lawyers so as to avoid the least amount of liability, is the sincerity of the apology stripped away, leaving only a hollow expression of guilt, contrition and compensation?
Read entire article at activehistory.ca
In March 2010 the Qikiqtani Truth Commission (QTC) will draw to a close with the release of a final report and recommendations for the future. While the QTC has been ongoing since 2007 most Canadians remain unaware of its existence, and of the historical and social issues that it addresses. The QTC was created with a mandate to research and report on the facts surrounding the alleged dog slaughters, relocations and other government policies that affected Inuit communities in the Eastern Arctic between the period of 1950 and 1980. As part of completing this mandate archival research has been conducted, witnesses have been interviewed and oral histories have been collected in several northern communities. In addition to uncovering the facts, the QTC website (http://www.qtcommission.com/) also indicates that the purpose of this commission is to ultimately promote healing and reconciliation between Inuit communities and the Government of Canada.
The work of the QTC brings to light the question of whether or not such commissions actually achieve their intended goals, and whether government apologies serve any real purpose or have any measurable effect. These questions are particularly relevant in Canada where recent years have seen numerous campaigns that have led to the collision of Canadian history with contemporary Canadian politics. These campaigns have included (but are not limited to) the demand for compensation for the head tax lobbied against Chinese immigrants in the early twentieth century; reparations for the interment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War; a call to pardon soldiers that were executed for desertion and cowardice during the Great War; and the demand for an apology and compensation for survivors of the Indian residential schools system. While these campaigns have some clear differences, taken together they do raise some interesting questions....
While both the good and the bad of history must be acknowledged and commemorated, both the glorious and inglorious moments, I question whether government apologies have become so common as to become meaningless. When an apology is issued only to achieve a political pay-off or when it is contrived by a roomful of lawyers so as to avoid the least amount of liability, is the sincerity of the apology stripped away, leaving only a hollow expression of guilt, contrition and compensation?