A cabinet minister accused of making “racist” remarks about wearing a bulletproof vest while touring the Jane and Finch neighbourhood with police has acknowledged he should have chosen his words more carefully, but stopped short of an apology.“If I had to do it over again, obviously I have learned the way you say things should be, perhaps, more careful, because I honestly didn’t think that I was being offensive,” Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Michael Tibollo told reporters Thursday.“I’ve never been in politics before,” added Tibollo, a veteran commercial lawyer whose responsibilities include heading Ontario’s anti-racism directorate under Premier Doug Ford.The mea culpa came after he refused to apologize and retract his remarks in the Legislature’s daily question period.“The comments he made in this house are nothing but racist …. They stigmatize the Jane-Finch community,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.“The fact that this minister doesn’t understand … these comments would be offensive is even more shocking,” she added. “What he needs to do is acknowledge that in the Legislature. He needs to withdraw his remarks and apologize.”As Progressive Conservative staff tried to extract Tibollo from a scrum with reporters, the minister said alarm over his bulletproof vest comments “means that I’ve got to be a little bit more refined.”Read more: ‘I went out to Jane and Finch, put on a bulletproof vest … ,’ community safety minister revealsOpinion | Vicky Mochama: Toronto’s vulnerable communities need better services, not more policeExperts warn against return to policing that targets ‘communities and not individuals’Asked if he would apologize to Jane-Finch residents, he said, “I didn’t mean to offend them …. I’d like to work with them. I’m going to reach o ...
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