Angry in the Great White North

From the Globe and Mail:

Public Services Minister Scott Brison has publicly apologized to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and to the National Citizens' Coalition for accusing them of illegal lobbying.

Mr. Brison had already withdrawn his statements in an e-mail to NCC vice-president Gerry Nicholls and in a letter that was slipped under Mr. Harper's office door. But those attempts to put the matter to rest were rejected by the recipients.

Slipped under the door? After making the accusation in front of television cameras? No surprise that apology was rejected.

I don't for a minute think Scott Brison was personally jamming the letter under Stephen Harper's door. I'm sure he has people for that sort of thing. Some intern who hopefully is watching this unfold and is learning a valuable lesson in how mature people deal with mistakes.

Learning that furtive have apologies and slipped notes withdrawing public accusations are not the way to go.

Instead, Brison had to apologize publicly, and without reservation:

So yesterday, under threat of lawsuit, Mr. Brison fired off new letters to both men and stood in the House of Commons to retract the words he uttered on national television shortly after the Conservatives unveiled their ethics package on November 4.

"The three statements, which I now understand to be untrue, are: one, the NCC has been charged six times under the Canada Elections Act of various malfeasances relating to third-party advertising, many of these under the Leader of the Opposition's watch; two, the Leader of the Opposition's past is littered with examples of questionable, if not illegal, behaviour; and three, the Leader of the Opposition was in contravention of the Lobbyist Registration Act," Mr. Brison said.

Has Brison learned a lesson in humility here?

Apparently not:

A longtime, loyal Liberal is demanding an apology from Public Works Minister Scott Brison, claiming the Nova Scotia MP told her to "kiss my ass" during a dispute in a public restaurant.

During a chance encounter at Acton's Restaurant in Wolfville, N.S., [Sandra McGrath, who has given three decades as a Grit campaign volunteer,] aired her frustration [over a job to which she had thought expected to be re-appointed] and advised Brison she would not support him in the next campaign.

"He got very upset. He looked at me and said, 'Well I've got something to tell you. I'm going to be the MP for a very, very long time, and you can kiss my ass,' " she recalled. "We were shocked and dumbfounded. This is a cabinet minister and there's supposed to be ethics in government. If he can't take some heat from the people of Canada, he shouldn't be in cabinet."

Now there is nothing unethical about what Brison did. It was rude and childish, but not unethical.

Which brings us back to my original question. Is this Brison in his natural state? Is he an arrogant politician who believes he is entitled to his seat for many years to come?

Or is this a stress reaction? Is he protesting too much about holding his seat? Is he worried about his seat in particular, and the Liberal fortunes in general, come the election? Maybe he's worried about how many cheques he's going to get this year, being the minister most associated with Adscam.

And if he's worried to the point of lashing out at Stephen Harper, Gerry Nicholls, and Sandra McGrath, what about the rest of the Liberal caucus?