It took roughly 24 hours for Liz Sandals to apologize for insensitive comments made yesterday.
One political commentator doesn't think it's enough and belives she should be shown the door.
"She should be fired immediately or, if you want, the premier should accept her resignation. They can do whatever they want behind the scenes, it doesn't really matter. You have to put yourself in the premier's shoes. How could anyone, any political leader, actually sit there and tolerate something like this?" questions Michael Taube, a former speech writer for Primer Minister Stephen Harper and public affairs analyst.
This is a bad look for the premier, according to Taube. "When you defend it or you refuse to admonish it or you refuse to remove the individual, that being Liz Sandals, out of your cabinet for having said it, I think Kathleen Wynne also has to wear this issue, as well."
Sandals, who is the president of Ontario's Treasury Board, was defending big raises for execs at OPG and Metrolinx when she made the comments. Someone had asked her what she thinks the raises look like to people sitting on a delayed GO Train.
"When you really stop and think about it, most of the people sitting on the GO Train probably don't have high-level nuclear qualifications or business qualifications to run a billion dollar...multi-billion dollar corporations," she answered.
He calls it one of the most ridiculous things to say. "You don't demean an entire community of people. It doesn't matter what you think in private, everyone thinks different things in private. In public you're supposed to be a government for the people, by the people, and working for them, at all points in times."
Last April, Sandals, who was then Ontario's Education Minister, was forced to apologize for comments she made about teachers' sick days. "There’s no reason to believe that they’re actually sicker than they were two years ago," she said referring to a report that the number of sick days being taken was increasing. Sandals accused teachers of taking sick days because they were no longer able to save them for a payout upon retirement.
Taube calls it very frustrating that Sandals is able to continue to make such outrageous statements without any repercussions. "This is, unfortunately, another cog in the wheel with the Liberal government; just the problems and aggravation that we have with them and the frustration that they just don't seem to listen to Ontarians, in general. You know, eventually if a government is perceived as being deaf to the needs of the people than eventually the voters have to be deaf to the government's position that 'I want to continue to be re-elected, I am working in your best interest, I am helping you,'" adds Taube.
Read Liz Sandals apology:
"I would like to apologize for my comments yesterday. I am proud to work every day on behalf of Ontarians and have great respect for the people of this province.
In my comments I intended to explain the need to recruit and retain a small number of highly specialized professionals who hold unique qualifications and experience and the connection to the salary expectations of the public. When I did so, I used language that was insensitive and does not reflect my views.
As President of the Treasury Board, I work to make sure that every dollar of public money is well spent. This includes making sure that public sector salaries are decided in a transparent way, with amounts that are seen as fair and reasonable by the public."