After being outed as being behind a years-long campaign of harassment against New Westminster parents, teachers, other school trustees, and a wide range of other people in the community, New West school trustee Dee Beattie sent out an apology for being caught.
Here’s what she should have said:
I apologize fully and without reservation for what I did. I apologize for the harm I have done, and will be undergoing a period of self-reflection, therapy, and other assistance so that I never act in this way again. I will be offering my resignation to the New Westminster board of school trustees and withdrawing my membership from Community First effective immediately.
Instead she made excuses related to “chronic pain and mental health issues”. Guess what, people live with chronic pain and aren’t dickbags. People live with mental health issues and don’t set up fake accounts and run them for years in a campaign of harassment. Using those as excuses show that she personally doesn’t apologize for her behaviour, instead pushing them off to medical conditions as if they aren’t actually her.
I hope Dee Beattie gets the help she needs. I also hope that during this healing process she comes to the realization that her behaviour was caused by her, not by her mental illness or chronic pain. Triggered by chronic pain or mental illness, perhaps, but ultimately those are a part of who she is, and her behaviour is the chief problem, not the chronic pain or mental illness.