ROTHENBURGER – Politicians should be allowed to tell bad jokes once in awhile

WE’VE LOST our sense of humour.

I recently made a joke about Prince George in an editorial and received a heated rebuke from a reader. I fully expected to get the same for some jokes about Alberta this week.

I was rather surprised when nothing happened, which I take to mean readers agreed with me that they shouldn’t get off the airplane when they travel through Calgary.

Pity poor Justin Trudeau. He made what he confesses to be a “dumb joke” at one of his town halls, telling a questioner she should refer to “peoplekind,” not “mankind.”

“We like to say ‘peoplekind,’ not necessarily ‘mankind’ because it’s more inclusive,” he said.

This resulted in a global poop storm of condemnation.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops, former school board chair, former editor of The Kamloops Daily News, and a current director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He was awarded the Jack Webster Foundation’s lifetime achievement award in 2011. His editorials are published Monday through Thursdays, and Saturdays on CFJC Today, CFJC Midday and CFJC Evening News. Contact him at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.