He says he’s sorry.

Fine, but we’re sorry, too, because an apology just doesn’t cut it.

What would get Health Minister George Smitherman off the hot seat for saying he planned to don an adult diaper to understand what seniors in nursing homes experience wearing the garment?

A clear sign that he knows the issue is not the absorbency factor of the garment, but rather concerns that seniors have to wait too long before being helped to the washroom to change, or to avoid soiling themselves in the first place.

The health minister says his heart was in the right place when he said he’d personally test the diaper.

Maybe so, or perhaps he’s just trying to put the best spin on a foolish and ill-conceived statement.

What he has succeeded in doing, inadvertently it seems, is shine a light on the heart of the matter: charges that a lack of staff in nursing homes leaves seniors sitting around in sodden undergarments for hours at a time.

If this is indeed the case, it flies in the face of Smitherman’s 2003 pledge to fix problems in nursing homes with a “missionary zeal.” He said that after seeing photos of an elderly woman in a nursing home, who suffered from a gangrenous bedsore.

Perhaps if Smitherman wore a diaper for hours after soiling himself he might be closer to getting a personal point of view. But again, it’s not about that. It’s about care and attention, and basic decency.

Imagine telling a senior, who has had a lifetime of independence, that he or she can’t go to the washroom, and to just sit around until someone can help. It’s not acceptable.

The Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors says seniors in nursing homes should be getting at least three hours of personal care; it says the average is now about 2.5 hours a day.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents workers in nursing homes, says the standard should be 3.5.

What should it be, Minister Smitherman? Your boss, the premier, says he has no idea what it should be, and that it’s your job to figure it out.

So rather than saying dumb things, and then turning around and apologizing, get on with the job of coming up with an official standard for daily personal care of seniors in nursing homes.