EDMONTON (AP) — Alberta has awarded an award to an essayist who argues that the sexes are not equal and that women should choose babies over their careers to prevent the province from having to import more foreigners and risk a “culture suicide”.
The United Conservative government removed the essay from its legislature’s website on Tuesday following an outcry of condemnation.
Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, Alberta’s Assistant Minister for the Status of Women and also an organizer of the pageant and one of the judges, also distanced herself from the whole affair.
“The essay contest was intended to reflect a wide range of views from young Alberta women about what democracy means to them,” Armstrong-Homeniuk said in a statement.
“While the essay in question certainly does not represent the views of all women, including mine, the essay in question should not have been chosen.”
Armstrong-Homeniuk was not available for an interview.
His office declined to say who else sat on the review committee and how and why the trial was chosen.
what people are reading
The contest announced that the essays would be judged by Armstrong-Homeniuk and other members of the legislature, but did not specify names.
Armstrong-Homeniuk was appointed to the cabinet post in June, but has been the face of the race since she ran in February.
The “Your Vision Inspires” contest challenged women ages 17-25 to describe their ideas for a better Alberta.
The United Conservative government removed the essay from its legislature’s website on Tuesday following an outcry of condemnation.
The first two essays suggest ways to engage more women, and the general public, in public life.
The third place winner, identified only as S. Silver, won a $200 prize to spend in the legislature’s gift shop.
Silver’s essay posits that humanity’s guiding mission is to reproduce itself, but that Alberta has lost its way to pursue “selfish and hedonistic goals.”
The solution, she argues, is to recognize that “women are not exactly the same as men.”
Society, she writes, should celebrate and embrace women’s childbearing role and stop pressuring them to put off the best childbearing years while “throwing themselves into careers traditionally male-dominated.”
She says the idea that Alberta can postpone procreation and instead “import foreigners to replace us…is an unhealthy mindset that amounts to a drive for cultural suicide.”
Opposition NDP critic Rakhi Pancholi said Armstrong-Homeniuk owes the public a full explanation of how this view was not condemned but honored and rewarded.
“Sexism, racism, hate – this is not what any government should celebrate, yet these views are becoming more and more acceptable in this UCP government, and are even now applauded,” Pancholi told reporters.
Pancholi zeroed in on the reference to “cultural suicide,” comparing it to 1930s Nazi Germany that encouraged women to be recipients of babies to propagate the Aryan race.
“This is an absolutely reprehensible statement. It is a nod to the racist replacement theory that drives white nationalist hatred,” he said.
The contest was run through the office of the legislature, which is headed by Speaker Nathan Cooper.
Cooper’s office, in a statement, said the contest was conceived and managed by Armstrong-Homeniuk in her role as regional chair of the group of Commonwealth women parliamentarians.
“Neither the Speaker’s office nor the legislature’s office participated in the selection of the essays in any way, including who was on the MLA panel that judged the contest,” the statement said.
“As soon as the third place winner’s content came to the attention of the Speaker, he immediately made the decision to remove the content.
“The content is abhorrent and does not reflect the views of the Speaker or the office of the legislature.”
Three candidates in the race to replace Prime Minister Jason Kenney as party leader and prime minister also took to Twitter to criticize the award.
“It is a shame that an essay that says women are not equal to men has won a government sponsored award. Women and their contributions are equally valuable and amazing, whether we are mothers or not. I can’t believe this needs to be said,” wrote Rebecca Schulz.
Rajan Sawhney followed up, writing: “Alright Rebecca. The same goes for comments about ‘foreigners’. Alberta is the proud home of people from all over the world, from the Ukraine to the Philippines and everywhere in between.”
Leela Aheer said, “Well, I read the first and second place (essays). They were great! I’m not sure how the third trial elevates women.”
Lise Gotell, a professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Alberta, said the essay perpetuates an essentialist, sexist, and racist viewpoint stemming from the discredited and outdated concept that a woman’s role is to reproduce as a bulwark. against immigration.
“The fact that he was elected speaks volumes about this government’s views on appropriate gender roles,” Gotell said in an interview.
“This essay reads like something that, frankly, could have been written in the 19th century.”
— With files from Angela Amato in Edmonton
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 9, 2022.