Well, this could get awkward.
That is, if it happens.
Last Saturday, former talk-show host Charles Adler was announced as Manitoba’s newest representative in Canada’s Senate.
Mike Sudoma/Free Press files
Charles Adler, former broadcaster and newly appointed senator, has requested a meeting with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs following criticism of his past public comments about Indigenous peoples.
On Monday, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs issued a news release calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to rescind Adler’s appointment over disparaging comments he has made about Indigenous peoples.
On Tuesday, Adler announced he has requested a special meeting with the AMC — and specifically Grand Chief Cathy Merrick — to discuss things he has said.
Manitoba’s advocacy group for 63 First Nations is concerned specifically about statements Adler made during a 1999 broadcast in which he referred to Indigenous leaders as “boneheads” who are “intellectually moribund.”
On that episode he asked his audience: “Do you think people of this community believe the people running the reserves, the chiefs, are honest, have integrity?” He then added: “(They) haven’t got a clue and don’t wish to.”
Adler continued: “I believe in free enterprise, which does not exist on reserves. I believe in law and order, which does not exist. I believe in responsible government; that does not exist there.”
Virtually none of this — as anyone who has read the Indian Act or performed an internet search on most First Nations leaders or life on reserves would know — is true.
It’s as if the man hasn’t got a clue.
One wonders what will be the first thing Adler might say to chiefs. An apology simply ain’t gonna cut it.
Maybe he should start with, “On further reflection, I am, in fact, the bonehead who is intellectually moribund.”
Adler made many more derisive comments about Indigenous chiefs, Indigenous peoples, women and other racial groups.
During that April 1999 show, which aired the day after a tumultuous demonstration at the legislature involving Indigenous protesters trying to get inside the building to hear the reading of the throne speech, Adler made remarks about conditions on First Nations and the people living in those communities.
“Aboriginal leaders claim to be angry about unemployment and there is an appropriate way that most of members of mainstream society and many members of aboriginal society have found to deal with anger about unemployment,” he said on the broadcast. “There’s a three-word solution: get a job.”
Later, he made the point again: “If people want to get off and out of those ghettos and live in democratic society, there are jobs available.”
Adler also suggested hard-working Indigenous people, some of whom had two or three jobs in order to make ends meet, “have very little time for people who want a free ride through life, often get a ride that’s free, and then complain that the ride isn’t rich enough.”
And he pointed to a lack of leadership, both in and outside of First Nations communities.
“The fundamental issue is people exercising no responsibility,” he said. “No responsibility yesterday on the grounds of the legislature and no responsibility on their own reserves. That’s the issue. It’s called moral discipline. It’s called civilization. And if you want to behave in an uncivilized manner, you don’t get any r-e-s-p-e-c-t.”
Again, there is so much factually incorrect with what Adler described, I don’t know where to begin. As a First Nations person with a job who is not getting a free ride, I hope he’s got something to say to us, too.
All of the quoted statements from the April 7, 1999 broadcast were the subject of an AMC complaint to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council at the time, which was rejected by officials as simply “opinion.”
Well, Adler doesn’t have the council to defend his words now. Like all political figures do, he’s got to face his track record — even if it’s 25 years old.
If his statements this week are any example, he’s planning to just double down.
“I’ve been a conservative commentator for a long time,” Adler told CBC’s Power and Politics. “My language might have been a little more electrifying but I’ve made a decent living — Canadians have been wonderful to me — doing talk radio where I say what a lot of people are feeling and maybe I say it… a little more loudly or, shall we say it, boldly.”
Being loud, bold and “electrifying” made him very successful, and he’s not sorry.
As Adler explained to Real Talk podcast host Ryan Jespersen Monday: “I’m a capitalist. I make no apologies for the fact that in the media business — yes, it’s a business — my No. 1 responsibility was generating ratings and revenue. And the reason I got the good offers and lot of other very nice things that happened in my life was because I was able to generate ratings because I wasn’t boring and I generated a lot of money for the radio and TV stations that I worked with… I am not going to apologize for being successful.”
Or, as he posted on social media: “Getting criticized is nothing new. Happened every minute of every day for more than 30 yrs of Talk Radio. Looks like it’ll be much the same for next 5 yrs as Senator.”
I have a feeling, evidenced by his request for a meeting with chiefs, that Adler can’t simply ignore this one.
Nor can his appointee, Trudeau, or Simon, the first Indigenous governor general in Canadian history.
Nor can the province he represents, which has the highest percentage of Indigenous peoples. One out of every five of the people whose interests he was appointed to represent are Indigenous.
So if this meeting happens, Charles, maybe start with the “bonehead” line — it’s more accurate than anything else you’ve had to say about Indigenous peoples.
niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
Niigaan Sinclair
Columnist
Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe and is a columnist at the Winnipeg Free Press.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.