I was overly harsh to Gary - I apologize

On December 5th, I was helping Mark Young and others at the Salvation Army serve Breakfast with Santa to many in the community in need of a good breakfast and Christmas Cheer. There were many firefighters there as well who were helping out and demonstrating household fire safety measures in the run up to the Christmas season. As I was serving, I looked around and realized Gary Doer was not there. I got to thinking about the many, many events where both Gary and I have been helping out in the community over the years. And the more I thought about the many times Gary had helped at various functions in the community, the more I realized I had been overly harsh with Gary when I spoke on October 8th, the last day he was in the Legislature. I apologize Gary.

There were perhaps valid reasons for my approach. Traditionally, for the last ten years, the wind up speeches at the end of a session have been highly partisan, and Gary himself has led the way in praising his own "superlative" actions and accusing the Liberals of all sorts of terrible atrocities. But, this was Gary's last day in the Legislature, and I should have praised Gary for his efforts in the community and his willingness to come out at whatever hour was needed to help others.

I should also have talked about the initiatives we worked on together - like the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, going together to Ottawa to help Manitoba farmers, and traveling together down the Red River during a flood to assess the situation and work for Manitobans in trouble.

I should also have talked about Gary's political skill in planning the legislature sessions. Unlike this fall under Greg Selinger, when we had the most disorganized session possible and needed to have two emergency sittings called to complete the ordinary business of the Legislature, Gary Doer was always carefully and astutely organized. The kind of sitting we just finished would never have happened under Gary Doer.

True, there were times when Gary Doer's biting attacks on Manitoba Liberals hurt us. I would argue, many were misleading and based on half truths, but there is no doubt they were effective. Nevertheless, I should have bit my tongue on his last day, I should have given Gary Doer praise for the positive things he has contributed. Thank you Gary for your contributions to Manitoba.