Women’s all-party caucus should join forces and speak up
Former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown and federal Sport minister Kent Hehr abruptly resigned from their posts last week after women blew the whistle on them, alleging sexual misconduct. Within hours, Mr. Brown’s career was over. More women are expected to publicly call out sexual misconduct and sexual harassment on the Hill so it will […]
Why ‘King for a Day’ approaches to homelessness don’t work
Three years ago, I set out for clinic on the kind of morning like those we’ve been having in Toronto lately, where even the hair in your nostrils freezes with each breath. I had walked about two intersections before I realized my fingers were stiff from cold—of course, I had chosen that day to forget […]
Trudeau’s totalitarian tendencies laid bare in abortion policy: reader
Re: Editorial cartoon (The Hill Times, Jan. 22, p. 8). Stephen Harper, who had a number of disagreements with the Supreme Court, once said “as a general rule, I don’t believe in imposing values upon people.” And quoting from the National Post on June 20, 2014, “Harper sharpened his message on abortion…saying political parties have […]
House should rewrite rules for pregnant MPs, it’s about time
OTTAWA—In October, after a hard-fought leadership race, NDP MP Niki Ashton gave birth to twin boys. Little has been made of it because, after all, women give birth every day in this country. While remaining an active Member of Parliament, Ashton has also been adjusting to life with not one, but two young infants while […]
#MeToo is working
TORONTO—That didn’t take long. Last Monday morning, this space wondered why the #MeToo movement had yet to alight in Ottawa. Seventy-two hours later—and just as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was about to take the stage at his annual Christmas party—TVA broke a major story: a senior staff person in Trudeau’s own office was under investigation. TVA […]
This just in: Justin Trudeau is doing a good thing
GATINEAU, QUE.—To give credit where credit is due—not an approach to be encouraged in journalism, normally—Justin Trudeau has, so far, made good on his promises to women. He has proclaimed himself a feminist, perhaps a tad righteously, at times, but he has behaved like a man who regards women as equal. He has talked the […]
Conservatives have ‘brand problem’ among female voters, pin hopes on Scheer, star women MPs to reverse trend
The Conservatives continue to trail badly among women and have what one pollster is calling a “gender issue,” despite pulling nearly even with the federal Liberals among male voters in polls over the last few months. Weekly polls from Nanos Research show a double-digit advantage for the Liberals over the second place Conservatives, nearly every week […]
Why hasn’t #MeToo movement claimed any creeps crawling in Ottawa’s corridors of power?
TORONTO—It’s hit Hollywood. It’s taken down big names in the media and it’s all over Capitol Hill in Washington, too. So why hasn’t the #MeToo movement claimed any of the creeps crawling through Ottawa’s corridor of power? Because, God knows, there’s plenty of dirty old (and young) men up there. The stories are legion. So, […]
Investing in grassroots women’s groups is our best hope for global peace
During the recent UN peacekeeping defence ministerial conference in Vancouver, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada’s Elsie Initiative to employ more women as “boots on the ground” in peace operations. While the idea of more female peacekeepers generated interest, the government’s recently announced Feminist International Assistance Policy could have more far-reaching and longer-lasting positive impacts for global […]
Prejudice: a shared Canadian value?
In one of the late Stan Rogers’ few politically themed songs, “The House of Orange,” he confronts an Irish Republican Army (IRA) fundraiser and refuses to contribute, because, despite his Irish heritage, he is a Canadian citizen. “But no penny of mine will I add to the fray. “‘Remember the Boyne!’ they will cry out […]
