Angry in the Great White North

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion has said that one-third of the Liberal Party candidates in the next election will be women, regardless of the wishes of the local ridings:

New Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is pledging to hand-pick women to run in selected ridings across the country in an effort to fulfill a campaign promise.

Dion told the Toronto Star he is aiming to have 33 per cent women candidates in the next election, in a bid to increase female representation among Liberals.

The newly minted Liberal leader is expected sometime this week to name the panel he is setting up to make good on his promise to field at least 103 female Liberal candidates.

"My power is in my pocket if I need it," Dion told the newspaper, vowing not to renege on his pledge. "It's a commitment."

Some people think the practise of reserving nominations for women is fundamentally undemocratic:

Call me a domineering male or a chauvinist pig if you want, but I believe that we shouldn't just put more women in at the expense of males. That in itself is NOT equal- it is favouring one gender over another, only this time is females over males and not visa versa- unfortunately, many advocates for greater female representation do not see it that way.

In my opinion, the best way to ensure gender equality is to level the playing field for female candidates at the nomination level by making it easier for all prospective candidates- both male and female- to enter a race and ensuring that a nomination cannot take place unless there is at least one nominee of each gender. As well, there should be caps on nomination spending to ensure that no one candidate can have an edge over another.

But even if a woman gets the nomination, that does not necessarily guarantee that she will be elected. There is such as thing as a democratic vote in which the people decide who they want to have as their representative- if they elect a male (as well as if the nomination election elects a male), then that is their democratic choice.

And who is this Neaderthal who clearly does not keep a copy of the Liberal Party Pink Book by his bed for night-time reading?

Not some knuckle-dragging Conservative, but Drew Adamick, who hopes to be the nominee for Cariboo-Prince George. Drew is fearful that he might not be allowed to run for the nomination:

I agree with you Bob. I am planning on seeking the Liberal nomination in Cariboo-Prince George, and, yes to be honest, I would be ticked off if I weren't allowed to run. Barring male candidates is actually gender discrimination (though some people like the person who commented above me don't seem to realize that because in their minds womens equality=screwing over men), ironic considering the Liberals are the party of the Charter.

And as well, I am 18 years old- how would it look in the media and to the public if a young person who wants to serve his country was barred from running just because of his gender. John Turner would probably be aghast if he heard that, not to mention it would dash the hopes of many young people across the country and send out a message that the Liberal Party does not want to see young people (well at least not young men) seek public office.

So Drew Adamick thinks Stephane Dion's plan to use his top-down powers over the nomination process to ensure a slate with one-third women is a form of gender discrimination that has no place in the Liberal Party.

At least Drew hasn't voiced misgivings about the Kyoto Protocol or acknowledged years of Liberal inaction on the environment when Stephane Dion was environment minister. That sort of thing might convince Dion to use his powers nominate a woman in this riding:

So, Canada is now catching itself it a bit of a Kyoto Catch-22, eh? Damned it we do (potential costs to the economy) and damned if we don't (loss of international reputation- not to mention our polar ice caps!)

I'll admit the Liberals should have done more, but even then- the government can't do everything. Canadians themselves must take the plunge and make some sacrifices if we truly want to live up to Kyoto.

Oops, I guess Drew Adamick does think meeting the Kyoto commitments could hurt the economy and that environment minister Stephane Dion didn't get the job done.

After winning the Liberal Party leadership, Stephane Dion met with the caucus:

Mr. Dion concluded that, with a strong and united Liberal Party defending their interests, Canadians would make the right choice in the next election.

Better get on the phone to Cariboo-Prince George and explain to Drew Adamick just what "united" means. Or maybe just do that undemocratic gender-discrimination thing Drew is so worried about and put the kibosh on Drew's run.

Update: I thought Drew had already won. My mistake. I've altered the tense in this post accordingly. This means Drew's fears that Cariboo-Prince George might still be reserved for a woman candidate are still legitimate.