Do two wrongs make a right, Bob?
Bob Runciman, Progressive Conservative MPP for Leeds-Grenville, a former solicitor general and former minister for public security has always been a law-and order advocate, but his latest foray into the field leaves me wondering
Runciman took umbrage at a letter that Chief Human Rights Commissoner of Ontario Barbara Hall wrote to a Westport newspaper declaring the recent attacks on fishermen of Asian origin in that vicinity as acts of racism. and in particular the beatng of a 73-year-old man
The Review Mirror in Westport Ontario is in Runciman’s riding. He in turn wrote an open letter to Barbara Hall demanding she apologize for the slur of racism against the people of Westport. By the way, the text of Hall’s letter in no way charged all citizens of Westport with racism.
Runciman highlights the fact that there’s a lot of illegal fishing going on in Ontario waters which is true and leaves it there. But surely this is a matter for police and conservation authorities to deal with, not unauthorized persons. If the attacks aren’t racist aren’t they examples of vigilantism, people taking the law into their own hands? As a law-and-order man, Runciman should make sure he condemns such violence, too.
Otherwise, with his knee jerk reaction he’s tacitly implying that two wrongs make a right!