It's a solid move.
Seriously though, are people a really offended by this or just feel obligated to at this point?
If it were most other people I'd accept an apology and go about my business. But in his case we're talking about a guy who casually calls other people racists for far less. If he thinks people who are racist should be run out of society then he shouldn't expect a different set of rules for himself, this also applies to the far left supporters. If this were Andrew Scheer, or Max Bernier they'd be forced by their party to step down because it can't be rationally explained away to the public. If it were Donald Trump there would be blood in the streets.
For myself I also view it as a larger pattern of poor behaviour. In the last year we have confirmation that he's sexually assaulted a woman and done some at least passively racist shit in the past. In more recent time he obstructed an investigation into some illegal shit, oh and he doesn't seem to have any ethics at all according to the ethics commissioner.
All that being said, this is probably the first time I've actually thought to myself "He should probably be resigning." I mean he doesn't manage a Mattress Mart he's supposed to represent us as a nation. I honestly don't see how any rational person could cast a ballot and declare "I want him to be the face of our nation."