Vaughn Palmer: Liberal’s wrong words on diversity shed light on his own party’s failure

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VICTORIA – BC Liberal leadership candidate Renee Merrifield was the target of contempt last weekend when she accused the New Democrats of practicing “symbolic diversity.”

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“They still have five, no offense to anyone in the room, middle-aged white guys who control their entire party,” Merrifield charged during an online leadership forum Saturday. “They have a diversity photograph. They have symbolic diversity. But they don’t have it real. “

Doesn’t the NDP have “real” diversity?

With people of color as ministers of economic development, labor, advanced education, child care, commerce, infrastructure, and tourism? In a gender-balanced cabinet with women as ministers of finance, forests, education, municipal affairs, agriculture, and child and family development?

When I first saw Merrifield’s comment on social media, I wondered if he was looking at the same government that I have been covering.

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Even the part about the “five white guys who control their entire group” was out of line.

He was referring to the prime minister, the head of the government house, the whip, the chairman of the caucus, and the chairman of the party. Only the first two have the power of control. The rest are mere civil servants compared to most cabinet ministers.

The reaction to Merrifield’s comments was not long in coming from the NDP’s side: “insulting,” “undermining” and simply “wrong.” And those were the printables.

The Kelowna-Mission MLA, one of six candidates for Liberal leadership and the only woman in the field, protested that the “symbolic diversity” comment was taken out of context.

“I never want diversity to be symbolic,” Merrifield said Tuesday, coming to his own defense in an interview with CTV News’ Bhinder Sajan. “So I’m so sorry that it was understood that way.”

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The next day, he expanded his lines of defense, saying that his complaint was actually directed at the BC Liberals.

“My audience was my own party, where I held them accountable,” he told Mike Smyth on CKNW on Wednesday. “In fact, I said verbatim: ‘We have a diversity problem.’

Now he congratulated the new Democrats on their achievements on diversity.

“I truly believe that the NDP should be commended for what it has done within its caucus ranks,” he assured the radio audience. “I think some of their partisan politics have been phenomenal in reality, not just introducing diversity, but fostering diversity. In no way would I want to undermine what any of those incredible MLAs are doing. “

That still left the candidate with some explaining to do.

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How does the accusation of “symbolism” square with the post-NDP praise for successfully promoting diversity?

“I said these five middle-aged white guys, I was talking about the party leadership,” he said. “But he wasn’t really talking to the NDP. He was not holding the NDP accountable in any way, shape or form. In fact, I was holding my party to account. “

Except that’s not how his words were interpreted, especially in the toxic realm of social media.

“The attack that followed, the things that call me online, I finally had to turn it off because it’s violent.”

Merrifield’s call for BC Liberals to do much more to promote diversity was foreshadowed in the party’s autopsy on last year’s losing campaign. “Many perceive that the party lacks diversity, fairly or unfairly,” the independent review concluded.

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“BC Liberals need to recruit, listen, and uplift British Columbia people of all genders, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and economic background. … The province has changed, and so have the BC Liberals. “

The strongest response to Merrifield’s complaint about “symbolic diversity” came from Jas Johal, the former liberal civil rights player who hosts his own show on CKNW.

“What an incredibly absurd statement from Renee Merrifield,” Johal wrote on her Twitter account. “The NDP has nine MLAs of South Asian descent, five Chinese Canadians and one Filipino Canadian.”

Addressing Merrifield directly, he added: “Your comments are offensive to the collective talent, effort and sacrifice that each of these individuals brings to the Legislature.”

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If Johal had left him there, his words would have been hurtful enough.

But Johal took advantage of the opening to offer a broader critique of the party he represented in the 2017-2020 legislature.

“Say what you want about the NDP’s policies, but as a group they come much closer to reflecting the BC electorate in the third decade of the 21st century than the BC Liberals,” he wrote. “It is not just the caucus: the BC Liberal Party apparatus, the constituencies, etc., are not in the least like Canada today.

“After 16 years in power, when the BC Liberals had access to the entire government apparatus, they still did not reflect the society they governed. Not even close. Do you think it was an accident?

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Plus, there was this: “At its core, diversity is a tactical exercise for BC Liberals, not one that is essential to their values.

“BC Liberals have used minorities as cannon fodder, running them in a few constituencies, while the majority of the white community members are stationed in safe seats. It’s called structural and institutional racism. “

Some liberals tried to persuade Johal to run for leadership last year. His comments largely explain why he decided to return to the media.

As for Merrifield, whether he intended to do so or not, his comments managed to focus on the continuing failure of his own party to promote diversity.

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