Canadian politicians who 'misspoke' and backtracked

In a speech to church parishioners in her Vancouver South riding two weeks ago, ConservativeMP Wai Young glided from a dubious comparison to a factual error,suggestingPrime Minister Stephen Harper's party is comparable toJesus Christand that Canada's spy agency knew in advance about the Air India Flight 182bombing in 1985.

Young's speech to the Harvest City Churchaddressed, among other things, the government'snew anti-terror legislation, Bill C-51.

Young has since backtracked from her allegationthat CSISessentiallylet the Air Indiabombinghappen, which was first reported on Tuesday by Press Progress, a website affiliated with the Broadbent Institute.

• Wai Young backtracks from claim CSIS failed to warn of Air India bombing
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"I misspoke with regards to the investigation of the Air India bombing.I regret this error," she said in an emailed statement late Tuesday night.

Young isn't the first politician andcertainly won't be the last to "misspeak," a handy term that is often found in an ensuing apology.

Here are sevenother instances of politicians notexactly sticking to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Cross burnings

Hedy Fry, then Liberal minister of state for multiculturalism, was forced to apologize in March 2001 after saying in the House of Commons that racist crossburningshad taken place on lawns across Prince George, B.C. Fry's prepared answer in response to a question commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Racismincluded apartheid in South Africa and the situations in Kosovo and Northern Ireland.

"We do not have to go too far" to know people are still being discriminated against, she said.

"We could just go to Prince George, British Columbia, where crosses are being burned on lawns as we speak."

Fry also said that the mayor of the city had sent her a letter asking for assistance in her role as secretary of state.

The mayor's office said it absolutely wasn't true, and the acting mayor at the time said he had no idea where thatinformation came from.

Nobody CBC News spoke within the cityat the time had heard of cross burnings, includingthe police andlocal politicians.

Voter fraud

Conservative MP Brad Butt stood up in the House of Commons in February 2014 on two occasions to assert that he saw, first-hand, incidences of voter fraud during debate on the government's proposed Fair Elections Act.

"I have actually witnessed other people picking up the voter cards, going to the campaign office of whatever candidate they support and handing out these voter cards to other individuals, who then walk into voting stations with friends who vouch for them with no ID," he said.

Butt repeated this assertion an hour later, and then told a similar story the followingweek during a House committee examining the bill.

The MPthenretracted his statement ("Imisspokeduring debate,"he said)and addedthat he "did not personally see it."

His statementprompted acomplaint to the commissioner of Elections Canada and a question of privilege from theNDP asking the Speakerto make a preliminary finding that Butt deliberately misled the House.

Rob Ford's backyard

In December 2013, Toronto mayorRob Ford (who haddeclared the Toronto Star newspaper an enemy)accused Star reporter Daniel Daleof going into his backyard and taking pictures of his children.

During a TVinterview withformer media baron Conrad Black, Ford was asked a question on media intrusion into his private life. Heresponded bysingling out a supposed incident with Dale.

"Daniel Dale is in my backyard taking pictures. I have little kids. He's taking pictures of little kids," Ford said."I don't want to say that word, but you start thinking what this guy is all about."

Although Ford avoided saying'pedophilia'in the interview, many took that to be his insinuation.

Dale said the suggestionwas "categorically false" and saidhe didn't trespass on Ford's property or take photos of his family. Apolice investigation corroborated his story.

Ford, who initially stood by his comments, apologized after the Star reporter filed a lawsuitfor defamation.

Robocall outrage

NDP MP Pat Martin was served with a $5-million defamationlawsuit in March 2012 afteraccusinga call centre companyof being part of a conspiracy to commit electoral fraud in Guelph, Ont. (a crime for which former Tory staffer Michael Sona would be found guilty).

RackNineCEOMatt Meier'slawsuit claimed that Martin's comments caused his company to be"shunned, avoidedand exposed to hatred, contempt and ridicule."

Martin issued a public apology for his comments and settled out of court with RackNine.

The sharp-tongued MP also had to clarify and apologize for comments he made about two other similar call centre firms.

Alberta bashing

In a 2012 interview with Tl-Qubec television programLes Francs-tireurs(The Straight Shooters), thenLiberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeausaid Canada wasn't doing well because "it's Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda."

He apologized after the resulting furor, but argued that his comments were misinterpreted. Trudeau said the comments were actually directed at thegovernment and not Albertans in general.

"It was wrong to use a shorthand to say Alberta, when I was really talking about Mr. Harper's government, and I'm sorry I did that."

Hastening death

Outspoken Conservative MP Rob Anders theorized in an October 2012 interview that NDP Leader Tom Mulcairhastened the death offormer leader Jack Layton.

Layton died of cancer in August 2011, shortly after leading the New Democrats to Official Opposition status in the general election.

"I actually think one of the great stories that was missed by journalists was that Mr. Mulcair, with his arm twisted behind the scenes, helped to hasten Jack Layton's death," he said to iPolitics. Anders elaborated by asserting Mulcair had made it obvious that if Laytonwasn't well enough to campaign, he should have stepped aside.

"Mr. Layton put his life at risk to go into the national election, and fight it, and did obviously an amazing job considering his state of health, and that he did that partly because of the arm-twisting behind the scenes by Mulcair and then subsequently died," said Anders.

He later apologized for his "insensitive and inconsiderate" comments.

'Soft porn' in the House

NDP MP and then status of women critic Irene Mathyssencaught Conservative MP James Moore off-guardin December 2007when she accused him of looking at "soft porn" photos of a "scantily clad" woman on his laptop in the House of Commons.

The woman, it turned out, was Moore'sgirlfriend.

Mathyssen withdrew the accusation levelledpublicly in the House of Commons on a point of order after receiving a phone call from Moore explaining who he was looking at.

"I recognize in hindsight that I should have approached the member and sought the explanation before I rose in this House. For that I am truly sorry," she said.