Bossy bosses?

I am struck by the frequency with which I’m hearing politicians pronounce on what is “acceptable” and “unacceptable” for other people to do.

MLA Tagak Curley states that same-sex marriage is “not acceptable.” Those are his personal religious beliefs, and he’s welcome to them, but his certainty that he knows what a supreme being thinks doesn’t give him the right to tell people who hold different beliefs that their lifestyles are “not acceptable.”

Those are harsh words, the kind of language that reminds one of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan… (The good news for Mr. Curley and other evangelicals is that the Liberal government wants to make same-sex marriage possible – not compulsory.)

Then Makivik President Piita Aatami says it is “totally unacceptable” for the RCMP to conduct an internal investigation of the circumstances surrounding the killing of dogs in Nunavik and Nunavut.

Oh, really? I’m well aware that police services rarely get at the full truth when they investigate themselves, but is it unreasonable for the RCMP to want to interview all living former Special Constables to find out if they have some first-hand information that today’s brass should be aware of? I don’t think so.

It is one thing for Mr. Aatami to argue that a full and independent public inquiry is needed – it clearly is – but it is quite another thing for him to tell the RCMP that it is “totally unacceptable” for them to interview their former employees.

I was at an IQ workshop once where an elder commented that “bosses shouldn’t be so bossy.” She was right.

(Name withheld by request)
Iqaluit