The release of the Air India inquiry report Thursday will help solidify a public narrative around the deadliest terrorist attack perpetrated in Canada, wrote June 16:
As it was with Britain鈥檚 Bloody Sunday report and apology on Tuesday, or the residential schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada event launched Wednesday, or the inquiry report into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski to be released Friday, this is a moment when the public will be forced to come to terms with its past.
, a philosophy professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, says these concluding chapters share an important undercurrent: a recognition that the past must be dealt with. There鈥檚 no statute of limitations on moral responsibility, and the traditional mechanisms of justice aren鈥檛 able to deal with these ruptures satisfactorily.
鈥淭he wrongs of the past, whether it鈥檚 Air India or Bloody Sunday or the residential schools, can鈥檛 always be measured out materially or legally鈥. Part of dealing with the past means negotiating our moral and political relationships with each other, so we find ourselves taking up a language like apologize, forgive, reconcile, come together,鈥 MacLachlan said.
There has been an accelerating trend around the world in the last three decades in which dozens, if not hundreds, of official apologies have been issued by various heads of government or churches, MacLachlan said. 鈥淎n apology is still about maintaining control of a story,鈥 she said. It offers a sense of closure or finality, at least in theory. The response to apologies among victims is usually mixed, she said, but it鈥檚 often much more positive with the public.
Republished courtesy of YFile鈥 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.