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Saganash taking sick leave to treat alcoholism
October 22, 2012 - 6:25pm
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/10/22/pol-saganash-flight-intoxicated.html
New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash says he has a dependence on alcohol and is taking time off work, after he was removed from an Air Canada Jazz flight from Montreal to Val D'or, Que., on Friday for being too drunk to fly.
The flight was delayed by half an hour as Saganash was escorted off the plane.
NDP MP Romeo Saganash, shown here at an NDP leadership debate last December, was removed from an Air Canada Jazz flight last Friday for being intoxicated. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)"Neither fatigue nor stress can justify what I did. I need help to overcome a medical problem, a dependence on alcohol, like far too many other Canadians," he said in a statement late Monday afternoon.
"I have asked my leader [Tom Mulcair] to give me leave so that I can take the necessary time to treat this illness. I am deeply grateful for his support and the support of all my colleagues in this difficult period of my life."
A statement from the NDP confirmed that Saganash will be taking sick leave.
Hélène Laverdière will take over Saganash's critic responsibility for international development issues. Charlie Angus and Christine Moore will share responsibility for Saganash’s regional files.
'Profound scars'Saganash also apologized to the other passengers on the plane and to the flight crew. He said many of his colleagues can attest to the pitfalls of working in the hectic environment of Parliament Hill.
"I am not looking at excuses, but I know that profound scars were left on me because of my time in residential school. I never shied away from that. The death of my friend and mentor, Jack Layton, also greatly affected me," he said in the statement.
Saganash thanked his constituents and said his office will continue to serve them.
"My priority is to serve my constituents to the best of my abilities and it’s with deep humility that I say thank you and see you soon."
Earlier in the day, Saganash cited stress as the reason he was drinking.
"It was Friday, it had been a long week, and we're all stressed out at that time," Saganash told CBC News on Parliament Hill on Monday. "I apologize."
"This is the first time that it has happened in 30 years in the air. I regret what happened and it won't happen again," he said.
Saganash was elected to represent the northern Quebec riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou in 2011. He was a well-known Cree leader and negotiator before entering federal politics.
He ran for the NDP leadership last year but dropped out partway through the campaign. His statement on Monday said the race wore him out and took him away more often from his family than his regular MP duties.
Wishing him well.
Agreed!
pikuseyihtamuweu miywaatisiiu.
i'll take a happy drunk over an angry sober anyday. (i'm thinking of that conservative woman who tantrumed on the pei airport staff).
sounds like romeo will figure it out, end up stronger.
bet his kids will see him more !
Lagatta, he himself has said in a public statement that he's suffering from alcoholism and is taking measures now to deal with it:
That took a lot of courage IMHO, having dealt all my life with fellow workers who were in total denial until far worse crises than getting barred from a flight. I don't think now is the time to be in denial on his behalf. We should wish him well and offer him full support on his road to rehabilitation.
My first thought was what did he do and so far I have not read anything other than he was "to drunk to fly." What does to drunk to fly mean? I wonder if the threshold for "to drunk to fly" is lower for a FN's person. Some of the charters to sunny spots would have no one left if just being drunk was the criteria. Pass the mimosas.
I wish him well in getting healthy.
A brave and honest public admission. I wish him courage and support in healing. And I wish we had more politicians like him.
Classy statement from a good guy. A lot of good people have struggled with alcohol and overcome it to lead productive lives and I'm sure he will too.
I'm sorry to hear this, and hope Saganash finds space and time for healing.
I also have to wonder, though, like kropotkin, whether the line of "too drunk to fly" is drawn a little closer to the sober line for Indigenous people than for others. His point about flights to sunspots, where they serve mixed umbrella drinks on board to get people loosened up and in the mood for their week-long drinking party at an all-inclusive, is well-taken. It doesn't sound from the story like he was acting unruly, or they'd have mentioned that too, I'm sure.
That said, if Saganash himself says he has a problem and needs time off to work on it, then best wishes to him.
I agree with the racist stereo type of "drunken Indian" and how the line may be drawn closer on First Nation bodies and not on the white priveleged bodies. But we don't know and can only go on what supposed facts are provided and what Romeo says.
I wish too that we had more NDP MPs like Romeo and I do not want him to quit or to feel he let people down. I saw him speak this summer for a local fundraiser in my area and he was wonderful.
I wish Judy Sgro had shut her yap.
Mr. Sagenesh, we DO have your back here Sir. Let us know, and take care.
Too drunk to fly is 'supposed' to be applied to anyone visibly heavily inebriated, unable to walk easily or talk coherently. Apparently such drunkeness gets worse in the air or some such thing. Someone with a buzz on is not supposed to be pulled for that.
Im not saying he was, just that it is a term that airlines apply to customers at the gate. Something Ive watched on that reality show about Southwest Airlines with all the hidden cameras
Addictions are hard to beat. I'm sure everyone has someone in their family who has gone through it. I wish him a speedy recovery.
I have a lot of confidence in Romeo. He did the right thing, stepping forward and taking responsibility before things got out of control. That's more than a lot of other politicians do.
I think he should step down. If the same thing was true for a member of the other side, I would surely want them to get treatment, but also to resign. He cannot properly represent his constituents while in treatment, especially not in such a huge riding that requires one to travel hours by plane to remote areas to get to the constituents. Mr. Angus already has a huge riding to take care of, as does Ms. Moore (to a lesser extent). I wish him well, regardless. Surely it would be an NDP hold.
Our system allows a seat in the House of Commons to be vacant 180 days before a by-election must be called, so surely the work of one opposition MP is not so vital that he can't take a temporary leave to seek treatment for an illness.
Considering how well many Harperite MPS represent their constituents I'm not so sure that is a good comparison.
As well, if we make sickness grounds for resignation (as opposed to not doing the job properly) what kind of sickness are we talking about? I for one am glad that Chuck Cadman didn't step down in the face of his illness.
Not me. I'm a firm believer that all workplaces should be set up to take into account that we are all humans who, at times, are fallible and may sometimes need time off.
Now that Romeo Saganash is taking a leave of absence to be treated for a condition called "alcoholism" - i wonder when Rob Anders will take a leave of absence to undergo treatment for a pathological condition called "being Rob Anders"!
Will Stephen Harper take a leave of absence to undergo treatment for a pathological condition called "being Stephen Harper"?
Will __________ (fill in the blanks) take a leave of absence to undergo treatment for a pathological condition called "being _____________"?
.....and so on and so forth.
Parliament is quite different than other workplaces. You are elected to represent constituents. By definition, you can't do that when you are getting treatment. Other workplaces would surely fill the position until the employee was fit to come back to work, and unfortunately that cannot be done in parliament. The only alternative is for Mr. Saganash to resign and return at the next election. Much like Mme. Savoie, who stepped down for her treatment, I think Mr. Saganash should do the same.
personally, i think this whole thing is nonsense. i guess that it's probably more likely that the guy got bombed and embarrassed himself, then something happened as a consequence - either mulcair or caucus whoever linked that up with a past incident, or he did or whatever and, anyway, this whole 'alcohol dependence' thing was cooked up. if he was just another guy and not an mp, or even a tory or liberal mp, he'd have gone back to his hotel and slept it off and taken another flight whenever, and it'd have been a "wow, sort of funny i got so drunk that they wouldn't let me fly" type thing that he might laugh about with colleagues and friends. but no, he's an aboriginal mp, so it's a big deal and he has to do this public penance and that.
and even if saganash is an alcoholic, he's obviously a very high-functioning one who has achieved an enormous amount in his life, making the fact of his alcohol dependence totally irrelevant, aside from the odd behavior from time to time. something has happened in this country where being a good time charlie is medicalized.
Yes, everything is so serious and boring these days. Sometimes I wish I lived in the times of Sir John A. Macdonald, when members of parliament would openly drink and have fist-fights right in the House of Commons.
That's an interesting speculation. I find often that minorities are held up to a higher standard than are those from the dominant culture. So, your speculation could have some merit. However, I think it's more likely that Saganash himself requested time off, rather than being nudged by "mulcair or caucus whoever" to do so.
i'm referring more to the shift over time from overdrinking as a matter for moral approbrium to overdrinking as a matter for medical treatment. i see an unbroken line of 'discipline', a track very similar to that enjoyed by homosexuality qua concept, though in northern canada very much racialized. i just reject completely the value judgment inherent in any such construct, it's just bunk. in this case, we have - i'll say it again - an extremely succeessful individual, who overcame enormous barriers, who is being forced into an identity box based on a series of behaviors that themselves have no inherent meaning. drunks are, by definition, people whose consumption of alcohol has inhibited their success, people whose family lives and community involvement are ruined because of the drink. unless they're aboriginal, in which case they're drunks if they have too much too drink. i don't think he should be apologizing and sitting it out until he's 'medically sound', i think he should go out there and say "well, had a few too many, sorry to anyone who i was rude too. back to work." that's what any white mp would do because that's what the party and country would expect. here, they expect that the act of overdrinking means the guy is a drunk and he has to go along with that.
hopefully pat martin or someone comes out and says straight up - "whatever, saganash has nothing to account for, now piss off."