An essay comparing immigration to “cultural suicide” and relegating women to a role of procreation was recently rewarded by the current minister responsible for the status of women in a competition organized by the Legislative Assembly of ‘Alberta.
The contentious essay, written in the ‘Her Vision Inspires’ competition by an author only named S. Silver, won third place in the competition and was posted on the assembly’s website, where it was spotted and denounced by NDP MP Janis Irwin. The competition’s winning works have since been removed.
Mme Silver notably takes up in his own way the theory of the great replacement, put forward in certain far-right circles.
“While it is sadly popular these days to think that the world would be a better place without humans or that Alberta children are not needed since we can import foreigners to replace us, it is a sick mentality that directs us towards cultural suicide”, can we read in particular in the work written in English, passages of which have been copied by various media.
The place of women in workplaces traditionally dominated by men is also questioned by the author, who judges that women are “not exactly” equal to men.
“I believe the best approach would be to reward families for their reproductive service with financial rewards to lessen the financial burden they accept and with medals to reward the accomplishment of having more than two children,” Ms.me Silver.
The person in charge of the jury which rewarded the work, MP Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, was appointed Minister Delegate for the Status of Women last June.
The latter reacted twice to the controversy on Tuesday, first by acknowledging that the essay should not have been rewarded, but by qualifying her remarks by suggesting that it was important to leave room for a plurality of opinions.
“It is clear that the process has failed, and I apologize for my role in this. The selection of this essay and rewarding it with the third prize was a failure on my part, as president of the jury”, she then indicated in a second press release.
The third prize was a gift voucher for $200 in merchandise sold by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta gift shop.