NDP calls for resignation of government members who awarded controversial essay
The Alberta NDP has demanded resignation letters from leaders of the province's status of women department, who awarded an essay that claimed "women are not exactly equal to men" and suggested "foreigners" are used to "replace" Albertans.
Associate minister Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk and parliamentary secretary Jackie Lovely shouldn't "be anywhere near the status of women ministry," the NDP's children's services critic Rakhi Pancholi said Thursday.
The two MLAs confirmed they were the only politicians that judged the "Her Vision Inspires" essay contest and awarded an unknown writer, S. Silver, as the third-place winner.
Lovely apologized in a statement, to CTV News Edmonton, but she did not explain what happened with the contest.
"I regret that this essay was chosen and I apologize for my role in that," Lovely said. "As a single mother who has pursued a wide variety of traditionally male-dominated careers, I deeply understand the strength and ability of women.
"Also, as a former ESL teacher who has hosted 56 international students, I value and appreciate the role of newcomers in our province, and will continue working to remove barriers to equity and prosperity for all," she added.
Silver's essay argued women's professional aspirations distract from their reproductive responsibilities.
It also proposed it is "popular nowadays to think that the world would be better off without humans, or that Albertan children are unnecessary as we can import foreigners to replace ourselves. This is a sickly mentality that amounts to a drive for cultural suicide."
A UCP spokesperson told CTV News Edmonton that neither the party nor caucus had any involvement in the essay contest and that the contest generated five entries total, with the winners awarded $200 to spend at the Legislative Assembly of Alberta gift shop.
"The third-place essay was clearly not inspiring. It was misogynistic, sexist, racist, transphobic and fascist," Pancholi said.
In the background of her press conference loomed the Fort Saskatchewan hospital, whose labour and delivery ward have been closed due to a doctor shortage, which Pancholi called an example of the United Conservative government's ruinous effect on Alberta's health-care system.
"While the minister for the status of women was promoting essays stating women should be focused on their reproductive capacity, women and people who can get pregnant cannot give birth in her own riding," Pancholi said.
The NDPer called their resignations the "only option," given both MLAs have steadfastly refused to clarify the process and criteria by which the essays were selected as winners, who participated on the judging "panel," and how much the writers were awarded.
Although the contest website named the Canadian chapter of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) as a partner, the organization denied on Thursday any involvement.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.