Alberta awarded an award to an essayist who argues that the sexes are not equal and that women should choose babies over careers, or the province will have to take in more foreigners, risking a ” cultural suicide.
The United Conservative Party government removed the essay from its Legislative Assembly website on Tuesday, following a wave of condemnations on social media.
Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, Associate Minister for the Status of Women, was the organizer of the competition and the president of the judging panel. She initially distanced herself from the case and then, as criticism came, took responsibility for it, without explaining which judges decided to award the prize and why.
“The contest was intended to reflect a wide range of opinions from young Alberta women about what democracy means to them,” Armstrong-Homeniuk said in a statement Tuesday morning.
“While the essay in question certainly does not represent the views of all women, myself included, the essay in question should not have been chosen,” she added.
Later that afternoon, the minister released an updated statement saying some of her caucus and cabinet colleagues had raised concerns. “It is clear that the process has failed, and I apologize for my role in it,” she said. “The selection of this particular essay and its awarding of the third prize was a failure on my part as president of the jury. »
Ms Armstrong-Homeniuk had been the face of the pageant since its introduction in February. The “Her Vision Inspires” competition challenged women aged 17 to 25 to describe their ideas for a better Alberta.
A controversial third place
The competition specified that the essays would be judged by Ms Armstrong-Homeniuk and other MPs, but did not specify the names of the other judges. The NDP opposition said they did not participate.
The first two essays suggest ways to involve more women, and the general public, in public life.
The third place winner — identified only as S. Silver — won a $200 prize, to be spent at the Legislative Assembly gift shop.
S. Silver’s essay posits that humanity’s governing mission is to reproduce itself, but that Alberta has strayed to pursue “selfish and hedonistic goals” instead.
The solution, she argues, is to recognize that “women are not exactly equal to men.” Society, she writes, should celebrate and embrace women’s role in childbearing and stop pushing them to postpone the early reproductive years as they “enter into careers that men have traditionally dominated.”
She argues that the idea that Alberta can delay childbearing and instead “import foreigners to replace us […] is a sick mentality that amounts to a push for cultural suicide”.
New Democrat spokeswoman Rakhi Pancholi said Ms Armstrong-Homeniuk needed to explain to the public why precisely this view had not been condemned, but rather rewarded.
“Sexism, racism, hate — that’s not what a government should be celebrating, but more and more of these views are becoming acceptable in this United Conservative Party government, and even now welcomed,” said Ms. Pancholi to journalists.
Ms Pancholi focused on the reference to ‘cultural suicide’, likening it to 1930s Nazi Germany urging women to have babies to spread the Aryan race. “This is an absolutely reprehensible claim. It’s a nod to the racist replacement theory that drives white nationalist hatred,” she said.
The competition was organized by the Legislative Assembly Office, which is headed by House Speaker Nathan Cooper. Mr. Cooper’s office, in a statement, said the competition was designed and administered by Ms. Armstrong-Homeniuk, as regional chair of the Commonwealth Women’s Parliamentarians Group. He added that neither the Speaker’s Office nor the Legislative Assembly Office were involved in the selection of the essays “in any capacity.”
“As soon as the third-place winner’s content came to the President’s attention, he immediately made the decision to remove the content” from the site, the statement said.
strong reactions
Three candidates in the race to replace Prime Minister Jason Kenney as party leader and premier also took to Twitter to criticize the award.
“It’s a shame that an essay arguing that women are not equal to men has won a government-sponsored award. Women and their contributions are just as precious and amazing whether we are moms or not. I can’t believe this needs to be said,” Rebecca Schulz wrote.
Rajan Sawhney continued, “Okay, Rebecca. The same goes for comments about ‘outsiders’. Alberta is the proud home of people from all over the world — from Ukraine to the Philippines, and everywhere in between. »
Leela Aheer wrote, “Well I read 1st and 2nd prize. It was great ! I don’t know how the 3rd try elevates women.”
Lise Gotell, professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Alberta, observed that the essay perpetuates an essentialist, sexist and racist viewpoint stemming from the long discredited and outdated concept that the role of women is to reproduce, as a bulwark against immigration.
“The fact that he was chosen speaks volumes about the views on appropriate gender roles put forward by this government,” Ms Gotell said. “This essay reads like something that, frankly, could have been written in the 19th century. »
– With information from Angela Amato in Edmonton