Opposition leader Stéphane Dion has persistent difficulties in connecting with the Canadian voters. He has also been dodging bullets or knives in his back for months from the ambitious potential leaders-in-waiting, Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff. He is even experiencing problems with the rank and file members of his caucus who cannot understand him, no doubt doubly hindered by Mr. Dion’s imperfect English. However, there is one segment of his caucus with whom Mr. Dion really connects, and that is the special interest group of feminist MPs. They carry remarkable weight with him. Whatever policies they wish to have implemented, regardless of how out-of-date and unacceptable, are included in his platform. To date, Mr. Dion has:
declared that 1/3 of the Liberal candidates are to be female (see REALity May/June, 2008, p. 1);
vowed to block any vote on Bill C-484, a bill which protects pregnant women, by allowing two crimes, when either the mother or unborn child has been killed or assaulted in an attack on the mother during pregnancy;
endorsed the 2006 Liberal women’s caucus Pink Book, Volumes I and II, which covers the dogmatic feminist demands of past eras, such as violence against women (studies indicate, however, that women are as violent as men), (see REALity March/April 2008 p. 1);
supported the feminist policies of a national childcare program and pay equity;
agreed to amend the Divorce Act to make it easier for women to exclude men from access to their children; and
enthusiastically supported the Order of Canada Award to Morgentaler because, according to Mr. Dion, Morgentaler “stood up for a woman’s right to choose…”.
Mr. Dion also pledged, on June 2, 2008, that the Liberal government, if elected, would force compliance with the Federal Plan for Gender Equality first introduced by the Liberal government in 1995 at the time of the UN Beijing Conference on Women. This “gender analysis” requires that all legislation and policies must be evaluated through an “equality” i.e. feminist lens. In practical terms, the objective of this analysis is to ensure that all government actions are subject to feminist overview and approval so that the feminist ideology can be spread throughout Canada.
Gender Analysis Policy
The House of Commons Committee on the Status of Women, under the Liberals, conducted a review in 2003-2004 of the gender analysis policy to determine whether it was being appropriately carried out in the federal government. The Committee members were furious to discover that most of the Ministers and senior bureaucrats at that time were very bad indeed in that they failed, for the most part, to do their duty and serve the feminists’ cause by implementing the gender analysis policy in their departments. (See REALity, Nov/December 2005, p. 11, “Imposing Feminism in Canada”.)(
To circumvent the obstinacy of bureaucrats and insensitive cabinet ministers, feminist Liberal MPs have recently come up with a “never-fail” scheme to force the gender analysis program on all Canadians. These MPs have recommended that a “Commission for Gender Equality” be established to be headed by a Commissioner, appointed with power comparable to that of the Auditor-General, Chief Electoral Officer, or the Official Languages Commissioner to review government policies and actions and report such findings annually, directly to Parliament.
Mr. Dion has taken this recommendation to heart, and has agreed, if elected Prime Minister, to appoint such a Commission. If implemented, Canadians will then have another government agency with a team of highly paid bureaucrats with their requisite number of furnished, carpeted offices, computers, fax machines and pools of secretaries etc. ready to bring full “justice and equality” to women in Canada. These bureaucrats, including the Commissioner, will be exclusively feminists, who will be searching diligently for statistical differences between men and women in areas such as income, employment and representation in elected office etc. In effect, the Commission will be an effective way to pressure, intimidate and implement feminist policies in Canada, whether the majority of women (or men) agree to it or not.
Status of Women Committee Affirms Implementation of Liberal MP’s Policy
The opposition-dominated Status of Women Committee in the House of Commons, on June 13, 2008, endorsed the establishment of such a Gender Equality Commissioner and also passed a resolution requiring the Finance Department to publish a separate analysis of future budgets to clarify how they will affect women. It also recommended that the Finance Department develop, within two years, solutions for addressing “gender-based” inequalities in the personal income tax system. Unfortunately, the Conservative female MPs on the Status of Women Committee also supported this latter recommendation. The Conservative MPs on the Status of Women Committee are: Joy Ann Smith (Kildonan – St. Paul, Man.), Patricia Davidson (Sarnia-Lambton), Nina Grewal (Fleetwood-Port Kells, BC), Helena Guergis (Simcoe Grey, ON), and Bruce Stanton (Simcoe North, ON).
Feminist Liberal MPs such as the party’s Status of Women critic, Maria Minna (Beaches Toronto), Carolyn Bennett (Toronto St. Paul), Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre), Marlene Jennings (Montreal Notre-Dame-de-Grace, Lachine), Anita Neville (Winnipeg South Centre), and Sue Barnes (London West), to name just a few of the Liberal MPs in the Liberal caucus, are ecstatic with the co-operation of the Conservative MPs on the recommendation to the Department of Finance. Of course, they are equally ecstatic with Mr. Dion’s decision to implement the Gender Equality Commission. Mr. Dion is their friend, indeed. Whether he is a friend of the Canadian taxpayer is altogether another matter.
The female Conservative MPs should have more appropriately directed their concerns about the discrimination experienced by single income families in the income tax system rather than to supposed gender bias in the tax system.
Please write to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative MPs on the Status of Women Committee c/o House of Commons, Parliament Bldgs., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 objecting to their support of “gender-based” inequalities in the personal income tax system and request that Conservative MPs direct their concerns towards the discrimination experienced by the single income family in the income tax system.
Please write to:
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister(80 Wellington Street(Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
The Honourable Josée Verner
Minister of Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages |
