It hurts people to think so -- and I truly regret if it hurts anyone for me to say so here -- but the Prime Minister’s apology for residential schools was, at best, insincere. That is the kindest word I can find.

More likely he was lying. Or, he didn’t understand the words he wrote. Or, worse yet, he meant them in a very specific way. But certainly, he was insincere.

The apology was a result of the out of court settlement secured by survivors of the residential school atrocity. It was agreed that an apology was a necessary part of the commemoration events for the settlement. This had been arranged with the Martin government before the 2006 election that brought Stephen Harper to power.