Confessions of a Misguided Trio

Canadian Election 2006: Where have all the Women gone?

I have the utmost respect for Michael Ignatieff, but Sheila Copps' column today hits the point straight up.

The abrupt resignation of Jean Augustine, Canada's first black woman cabinet minister, paved the way for the entry of Harvard intellectual and putative Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

The loss of Augustine, a three-time chair of the woman's caucus and one-time minister of multiculturalism and status of women, continues the erosion of strong women and minorities in Parliament. That she should step aside for another white male speaks to the absence of true equality that plagues the political process in general and the Liberal Party in particular.

I disagree with Copps' view that Ignatieff's move from academia to federal politics was ill-conceived, but at the same time, Copps has always been one of, if not the, strongest voices for women in the Canadian Parliament.

Article: Liberal democracy? Ha!
Sheila Copps, 30 Nov 2005
Toronto Sun

posted by Carla @ 3:42 PM