Conservative MP Rob Clarke wants an apology from Liberal Senator Lillian Dyck

Conservative MP Rob Clarke wants an apology from Liberal Senator Lillian Dyck after she accused the Cree politician of acting like a white man. Dyck is also Cree. During the Senate debate on a First Nations transparency bill, Dyck suggested Clarke hadn’t shown the proper respect when testifying on the bill. She said he became boastful. “That, for a First Nations man, is not traditional First Nations behaviour. It was not at all. It is what we would call … white man behaviour,” said Dyck, who doesn’t consider the comment offensive. “You can be insulted by that if you like.” 

Clarke said Dyck’s comment was thoughtless and injudicious, and that she should apologize for them. “It is regrettable that Senator Lillian Dyck resorted to personal attacks against an elected Member of Parliament while she was speaking on my Bill (C-428) in the Senate on Tuesday, Dec. 9. I would hope that the Senator will do the right thing; withdraw her comments, and apologize to me and the First Nations community.” As for the bill itself, Dyck said it is flawed. “It’s not a good bill … What’s the rush? The only conclusion you can come to is they (the government) are doing it to promote the Member of Parliament,” she said in an interview with the Canadian Press.