A very long election campaign can be a bore for everyone except journalists, who use the time to do what they do best – namely, snoop around on social media sites to find incriminating stuff posted by the candidates years ago.
The True North Times ("we deal in Canadian political satire designed to engage the demographics that have a huge potential impact but are plagued by apathy") has been busy with its own campaign, doing just that. This week the website revealed that NDP candidate Alex Johnstone had made a crude joke about Auschwitz. I could stop right there and it could still be political-career-ending, but let me continue. Ms. Johnstone compared part of the infamous concentration camp's architecture to the male anatomy. (LOL.) But to make matters much worse, she explained the silly seven-year-old Facebook post to a Hamilton Spectator reporter this week by disclosing that she didn't know what Auschwitz was – "or I didn't up until today," the newspaper quoted her as saying.
Ms. Johnstone, in addition to being the candidate for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, is vice chair of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.
She has made headlines before. Last summer, Thomas Mulcair was talking to CBC Hamilton when he called Ms. Johnstone "a wonderful man with great experience."
These things happen. (An editor once inserted a "Mr." into a story of mine in front of a woman's last name – her first name was Pat – and I didn't notice it in my harried BlackBerry read-through; I'm still cringing.) And while it didn't look great on Mr. Mulcair – how well does he actually know these candidates who are apparently so wonderful? – Ms. Johnstone handled the little bump of confusion nicely. "This is exactly why we need more women in politics," she said.
I'm not sure Mr. Mulcair's slip-up is exactly why we need more women in politics, but it was a shrewd response from a woman aiming to get elected.
Being in politics is ridiculously hard. You put your whole self out there, campaign like the dickens, then if you win, you're on the job 24/7 for an often meagre salary, and in reward you become everyone's punching bag. These days you not only have to be exceedingly careful about what you say, but you may be haunted by what you Facebooked way back when – maybe when you were a bit shaky on your knowledge of world wars and stuff.
Being a woman in politics adds an extra layer of fun. As any woman knows, being female is the low-hanging fruit of insults – the first thing someone might reach for in an easy, unenlightened attack. A car changes lanes without signalling? Woman driver! Tough questions from a journalist during a political debate? She must be having her period! (Can you imagine what Donald Trump might say facing off against Hillary Clinton, should it come to that?) It's maddening – and stupid.
And so we come to Christy Clark, premier of British Columbia.
After pop star Miley Cyrus came out recently against B.C.'s wolf cull, Ms. Clark dismissed Ms. Cyrus as being uninformed about the issue. "If we ever need help with our twerking policy, we'll go to [Ms. Cyrus]," Ms. Clark said.
The lowest and most laughable of blows, this red herring spoke volumes about the premier, not the pop star – or her dance moves that made headlines two years ago. Talk about a wrecking ball.
Another high-profile critic of the wolf cull is Pamela Anderson, a B.C. native and passionate animal activist. The former Baywatch star sent a thoughtful letter to the Premier concerning the hunt.
Ms. Clark suggested the two wildlife-loving celebrities have something else in common. "Both Pamela Anderson and Miley Cyrus, when they open up their closets, they probably don't find a lot of clothes."
Huh? "Cheap shot" doesn't even begin to cover these comments. Irrelevant, irresponsible, flimsy – and sexist – would be more like it. What on earth do Ms. Cyrus's dance moves or the way these women dress (for their jobs, I might add) have to do with the issue? Rather than offer a measured, mature response, the premier dove to the lowest common denominator.
Ms. Clark scored another point for sexism last weekend when, attending a Vancouver Whitecaps-Seattle Sounders soccer game, she sent an ill-advised tweet that began: "The Seattle Princesses are putting on quite a performance tonight."
Insulting male athletes by assigning them a title reserved only for female royalty is inane – and insulting to women. Further, Ms. Clark would have had to take the time to type out the offside comment (or at least speak it into her smartphone) and yet somehow didn't realize it was a really bad idea before hitting send.
I have been fortunate to work with and for strong women throughout my career. And I believe women have a special obligation to help other women in the workplace – and the world. We have enough challenges thrown at us as it is. We need to support, not belittle, each other.
I used to host a call-in radio show in Toronto. Once, I returned from a vacation, checked my voice mail, and heard a message from a listener who said she hoped I had enjoyed my time off to have an abortion, because there was no way any man would want to father a child with me. Now of all the insults that woman could have levelled at me, why that? And what sort of message would she have left had I been a man? (I'll never know; she didn't leave her contact info.)
It wasn't the first time and won't be the last my performance or journalism will be attacked by way of the fact that I'm female.
It's pretty lazy and unimaginative.
You want to criticize Alex Johnstone's astonishing ignorance? Go ahead. (Please.) But do better than calling her a "ditz" or "airhead" (among other comments I've seen). Don't make this about her gender.
Marsha Lederman