A Formal Apology

AS A RESPONSIBLE BLOGGER, I AM SUSPENDING THIS SITE FOR 72 HOURS TO POST A LONG OVERDUE APOLOGY...

I have come to understand that in my posting on June 6, 2008, entitled “Ladner Momentum Draws Earlier Robertson Booster” might have been interpreted by others to mean that Mr. Alex G. Tsakumis, a highly respected columnist with 24 hours Newspaper and Political Analyst appearing on CKNW:

bought sex from prostitutes at a common bawdy house, while he was employed as a senior real estate executive in a previous career, or
that Mr. Tsakumis had accepted free liquor, as a bribe, while attending as a journalist at a function put on by Councilor Peter Ladner early on during the recent municipal election campaign of 2008, and that he might have allowed that fact to impair his journalistic integrity.
I did not intend, at any time, for any of those comments to be taken in those ways or so interpreted, and acknowledge now that each of those understandings (which, I repeat, I did not intend) is completely false, totally unsupportable and also unfair to Mr. Tsakumis, his wife and his three children.

I have also come to understand that my posting on September 24, 2008, entitled “What Strange Bedfellows Mr. Tsakumis and Ms. Reimer Make” implied that Mr. Tsakumis was anti Semitic. This was as a result of my unfortunate and false characterization of Mr. Tsakumis as a right-wing columnist, similar to the now deceased local columnist Doug Collins, who was, prior to his death, found guilty of anti-Semitism by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.

I did not intend, at any time, for my story to be interpreted that way and acknowledge that any such implication that Mr. Tsakumis is anti-Semitic is completely false, totally unsupportable and also unfair to Mr. Tsakumis, his wife and his three children.

In fact, Mr. Tsakumis’s counsel advises me that Mr. Tsakumis is a very well-known supporter of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, an organization which builds Christian support for Israel; the Simon Wisenthal Center in Los Angeles, California and is a strong supporter of many domestic and international Jewish causes. Additionally, Mr. Tsakumis has a long-standing and proud relationship with the Canada-Israel Committee in British Columbia.

I wholeheartedly apologize to Mr. Tsakumis and his family for any and all hurt they may have suffered as a result of those entirely false comments made by me. Also, I apologize to any of Mr. Tsakumis’s colleagues at 24 hours Newspaper and any of their readership who might have been offended.