Ok, enough is enough. I’ve already gone on one politically charged rant in the past 24 hours but Norman Spector and this little Conservative sexist movement that’s developing recently definitely necessitates another. Days after the “honorable” Peter MacKay refers to Belinda Stronach as a dog, Norman Spector kindly informs us that she is, more specifically, a female dog—I believe the exact phrasing was “she’s a bitch.” This coming from the former Chief of Staff of Brian Mulroney and well-known Conservative pundit is, in one word, astonishing. For those that haven’t seen the full statement:
“I think she's a bitch. It's as simple as that. And I think that 90 percent of men would probably say she's a bitch… She is a bitch.” (Norman Spector, Oct. 31, 2006)
Anyone wondering why women are grossly underrepresented in politics need look no further than the Conservative government right now. To the Conservatives, a woman who’s bold enough to have her own opinion and cross the floor is a “dog” and a “bitch.”
If Canada seeks to correct the gender imbalance in parliament we need a Prime Minister with a clear plan to encourage women into politics like Stéphane. In fact, Stéphane has a ten-point plan dedicated entirely to this cause. The full text in English can be found here ou vous pouvez le trouver en français ici. Among many other things, Stéphane has committed to ensure at least one third of the candidates in the next election are female, to create a committee as assurance that we have the best women to run as Liberals across the country, and to guarantee gender parity in appointments to the Senate and to the boards of Crown Corporations. To quote LPCBC President and Dionista Jamie Elmhirst, “I feel like I've been time warped back to the 1950's, but maybe that's just the natural effect of having a Conservative government in power in Ottawa.”
-Trev
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