{"id":786938,"date":"2026-07-07T22:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/786938\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T22:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:05:13","slug":"n-l-tourism-minister-sorry-for-any-disappointment-over-stumble-filled-speeches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/786938\/","title":{"rendered":"N.L. tourism minister \u2018sorry for any disappointment\u2019 over \u2018stumble\u2019-filled speeches"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

After drawing the ire of some Newfoundland and Labrador residents, Tourism Minister Andrea Barbour is apologizing for gaffes made at memorial ceremonies in northern France.<\/p>\n

Last week, while representing the province, Barbour spoke at two ceremonies at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial to mark 110 years since the battle killed hundreds of Royal Newfoundland Regiment soldiers.<\/p>\n

On July 1, Barbour took to the podium placed at the base of the caribou statue, where she delivered a six-minute speech and stumbled over several words.<\/p>\n

\u201cThousands of kilometres west of here is the most eastern edge of Canada. The name Beaumont-Hamel is spoken with a sense of sadness but an even deeper sense of pride,\u201d Barbour read out, with her eyes fixed on the pages she\u2019d brought with her to the podium.<\/p>\n

While she pronounced the first instance of Beaumont-Hamel correctly, at other times she struggled, at one point calling it the \u201cBo-ham ma-hamel\u201d Newfoundland Memorial.<\/p>\n

Another word she stumbled over included valour, instead saying\u00a0\u201cval-yur.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ABarbour took part in the unveiling of the new replica Danger Tree at Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, where she struggled to pronounce ‘shrapnel’ several times. (Katie Breen\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Speaking on the evening of June 30 at the unveiling of the new replica Danger Tree, where many Newfoundland soldiers died during the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel, Barbour spoke to dozens of people gathered.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the battlefield of churned up mud, and shells of,\u201d she said, then she paused, struggling to say the word shrapnel, instead saying \u201cshur-pel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not long after, Barbour once again stumbled over the same word, calling it \u201cshar-pel,” then gave a laugh, said \u201csorry,\u201d before then calling it \u201cshur-pel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Sorry for any disappointment\u2019<\/p>\n

Clips of Barbour\u2019s speech were shared online by a known Liberal supporter, and the post has generated comments questioning Barbour\u2019s level of preparation ahead of the events.<\/p>\n

It prompted people to voice disappointment with how Barbour represented the province at these memorial events held on an international stage.<\/p>\n

CBC News asked for an interview with Barbour but spokesperson Emily-Jane Gillingham said the minister wasn\u2019t available because she was travelling.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Barbour says she knows she fell short of some people’s standards:\"\"<\/p>\n

N.L. tourism minister says she\u2019s sorry for disappointment she caused during ceremonies in France<\/p>\n

Newfoundland and Labrador\u2019s Tourism Minister Andrea Barbour issued an apology in which she noted some people felt she didn\u2019t meet the standard when it came to her presentation and delivery of several key speeches in Beaumont-Hamel last week. The CBC\u2019s Carolyn Stokes explains.<\/p>\n

A statement on Barbour\u2019s behalf was provided, which included an apology and reiteration that Barbour understood the solemn occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe recognizes that some people felt aspects of her presentation and delivery did not meet the standard they expected for these occasions, and she is sorry for any disappointment this caused,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n

While Barbour \u201cmay have tripped\u201d in her speech, it said she was proud to represent the province and appreciated the significance of the events.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe felt the full emotion of the occasion. This should not be about her,\u201d said the statement, adding \u201cany stumble in language\u201d doesn\u2019t represent how she feels.<\/p>\n

This latest criticism comes only a few months after Barbour had already received backlash in connection to the regiment.<\/p>\n

\"ABarbour posted this image to her Facebook page Tuesday. People quickly pointed out in the comments that The Rooms does not actually look like it appears here. (Andrea Barbour\/Facebook)<\/p>\n

In April, she posted an AI modified photo of herself in front of The Rooms that removed the caribou statue<\/a>, which represents Newfoundland\u2019s role in the First World War, above its entrance. Instead there was a sign and a blue swish, resembling the Nike logo.<\/p>\n

The incident also prompted Barbour to give an apology and she deleted the post.<\/p>\n

Download our free CBC News app<\/a> to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here<\/a>. Click here to visit our landing page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,44],"class_list":["post-786938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}