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FEMALE LIBERAL MPS WHINING OVER THEIR NOMINATIONS

Prime Minister Martin announced in November 2003 that he wanted open nominations for Liberal candidates and that, as a result, there would be no appointed or favoured candidates in the nomination process. Even incumbents will not be protected. In short, in the forthcoming federal election, all the candidates are expected to fight for their nominations.

However, no sooner had Mr. Martin made the announcement than a collective whine arose from the feminist women Liberal MPs, who demanded that their own nominations be considered a special case and given protection. (There are 40 female MPs, i.e. 23%, in the Liberal caucus.) In other words, MPs, many of whom are feminists, who are supposed to support "equality" between men and women, are seeking something quite different - special treatment because they are women. Female Liberal MPs, such as Sophia Leung (Vancouver Kingsway), Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre), Marlene Catterall (Ottawa West - Nepean) Jean Augustine (Etobicoke-Lakeshore, whose own nomination was personally handed to her by Mr. Chrétien), and Anita Neville (Winnipeg South Centre) all complain that "aggressive challenges" are being made to their riding nominations by "malevolent" males. What hapless victims these women candidates claim to be in light of this open nomination process! According to the Ottawa Citizen, December 6, 2003, Anita Neville, leader of the Liberal Women's Caucus, pronounced herself "furious" that "a lot of cowboys" in the party are ganging up on the female MPs as the men seem to think they have a better chance than the women.

The loudest whine of all has came from former Heritage Minister, Sheila Copps (Hamilton East) who claims that she and other female MPs are being targeted to lose their nominations. Under redistribution, Ms. Copps's riding has been redrawn to be joined with the riding of Tony Valeri, a Martin loyalist and now Minister of Transport, to form the new riding of Hamilton-East-Stoney Creek. The two MPs are now in a head to head battle over the nomination for this new riding. Ms. Copps claims that this is all part of a deliberate plan by Mr. Martin against female MPs who failed to support him in the Liberal leadership race. She claims that it is no coincidence that a majority of ridings where there is a nomination fight are held by women. In 1986, Ms. Copps wrote her autobiography, Nobody's Baby, in which she discussed her strong independent nature and belief in feminist principles. But she has now shown herself to be a "baby" all right - a big cry-baby, who doesn't want to fight for her riding, but prefers to play the gender card in a bid to get the nomination handed to her on a platter.

However, Mr. Martin brought these squeals of female anguish on himself when he told the Liberal women's caucus at the Liberal Convention in Toronto in November 2003, that he wanted 52% of his caucus to be composed of women. This is interesting because Parliamentarians are not elected to represent people of the same age, sex or race as themselves. MPs are selected to speak on behalf of a community. There are many qualified women who would make excellent Parliamentarians, but they must be subject to the same rules as everyone else, and this includes showing the capacity and will to win nominations.

The public does not vote according to gender and anatomy, but rather, votes for the platform and effectiveness of each candidate. Candidates, such as Sheila Copps, should be reminded of that.

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