Many times I’ve wrestled with whether to write about a personal story or situation. If I decide that a revelation can benefit someone else, then it’s worth the price of revealing something about my life. What columnist Leah McLaren wrote for the Globe and Mail last week didn’t meet those parameters but I can’t for the life of me understand why she, and not her editor, was suspended by the paper.
If you weren’t aware of the media sh**storm, here’s the Coles Notes version. At a party in her younger years, McLaren claims to have picked up a friend’s infant and been about to attempt to breastfeed the baby to see “what it feels like” when the father entered the room and stopped her. McLaren wasn’t pregnant or lactating or a mother herself. The father is Michael Chong, who’s running for leadership of the Federal Conservatives. It’s a stupid, borderline abusive, embarrassing and pointless anecdote. Questions have come up about the timeline, and whether McLaren imagined the whole thing. Chong issued a statement to say it was a moment of no consequence and he wouldn’t be talking about it again.
Social media lit up like the Fourth of July and everyone seemed to have an opinion about McLaren’s actions. The column had been posted to the Globe’s website briefly and then taken down. It never made it into print. The Globe suspended her for a week.
So, why punish McLaren? All writers turn out crap at some time or another. This column was trash but it’s not McLaren’s decision to make about whether or not it’s Globe-worthy. That’s what editors are for and whichever editor allowed this turd to fall into the hands of someone who could put it out for public consumption, however briefly, is the one who should face suspension. McLaren was just doing her job, albeit poorly. Creepy, weird and off-centre also come to mind. Did I mention that she imagined the baby’s eyes were telling her, “Come on, lady”?
I doubt I’ll be able to read one of her columns without thinking about this strange story, and that’s totally on her. And I can guarantee that she’ll never again be asked to babysit. But the paper is punishing the wrong person for this gaffe.