A Legislative Assembly of Alberta essay contest submission has caused many people to question how it became selected as the third-place winner.
The contest, which wrapped up at the end of February, only recently released the first, second and third place pieces.
The Opposition NDP has since called out the third place selection as racist, sexist, misogynistic, transphobic and fascist.
Dubbed, Her Vision Inspires, the essay contest asked Albertan women between the ages of 17 and 25 to submit an essay between 250 and 500 words describing, “their unique vision for Alberta and, specifically, what they would do if they were a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta,” according to a news release dated Feb. 3.
The essay contest was administered by the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Canadian Region in partnership with the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
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Janis Irwin, the NDP MLA for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood, was one of many who pointed out the third-place winner’s essay.
She called on UCP MLA of Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, as the Alberta representative for Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Canadian Region, to explain how the contest she helped launch could let a submission of such foul nature win.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, NDP children’s services critic Rakhi Pancholi spoke specifically on two excerpts from the essay.
The first: “Women are not exactly equal to men. This biological reality is also under attack by present-day delusion. To try to promote that women break into careers that men traditionally dominate is not only misguided, but it is harmful.”
Pancholi said the author writing this sends a terrible message to the young women of Alberta and it’s a message she completely rejects.
“Women are working hard to break through barriers in a society where sexism is prevalent and continues to keep them from achieving financial, physical and psychological security,” the critic said.
“And as leaders, we must never stop pushing for more women and male-dominated industries.”
The second quote from the essay she touched on was: “While it is sadly popular nowadays to think that the world would be better off without humans, or that Albertan children are unnecessary as we can import foreigners to replace ourselves, this is a sickly mentality that amounts to a drive for cultural suicide.”
Pancholi called it an “absolutely reprehensible claim” to which it gives “a nod” to the racist replacement theory, which is more formally known as the “great replacement theory.”
It’s a conspiracy theory that claims there’s a plot to diminish the influence of white people. It’s an ideology the RCMP say is used to recruit young people, according to Pancholi.
“This is absolutely horrific and these comments should be condemned by elected leaders.”
The essay also says families should be rewarded “for their reproductive service both with financial rewards to offset the financial burden they are taking on and with medals to symbolize their valuable achievement of having 2+ children.”
The Opposition NDP likened that to Nazi Germany, which awarded Cross of Honour of the German Mother medals to women who had “genetically fit” children.
Pancholi added an apology by Armstrong-Homeniuk is warranted, along with public knowledge of who the other female MLA’s were on the essay judging panel, as she said no one from the NDP was invited to judge the contest.
When asked what actions her party would want from the author, Pancholi said she believes their views expressed are deeply misguided and that she can’t comment specifically on the writer.
MLA distances herself from contest
Armstrong-Homeniuk told The Canadian Press while the contest was designed to embrace a range of viewpoints, she doesn’t agree with the essay and says it should not have won a prize.
The minister sat on the judging committee, but her office declined to provide details on the names of the other judges and why the essay was picked.
Her office added the third-place winner won a $200 prize to be spent at the legislature gift shop.
The Alberta government told Global News they removed the essay from the website when they were made aware of the inappropriate material.
“Neither the Speaker’s Office nor the Legislative Assembly Office were involved with the selection of the essays in any capacity, including who was on the MLA panel judging the contest,” the statement from the Legislature reads.
“The content is abhorrent and does not reflect the views of the Speaker or the Legislative Assembly Office.”
On Tuesday, the website’s URL led to a 404 page not found error code.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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