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Alberta essay contest winner slammed for discriminatory gender, race views

By Joey Chini and Saif Kaisar

Posted Aug 9, 2022 11:00:04 AM.

Last Updated Aug 10, 2022 09:07:42 AM.

Several people are calling out Alberta Associate Minister of Status of Women Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk after an essay supporting discriminatory views on gender and race won third place in a government-sponsored contest.

The Her Vision Inspires essay contest winners were announced on Monday. However, after sharp criticism, the government webpage celebrating the winners was taken down.

Here are the winners of Alberta's "Her Vision Inspires Essay Contest". In Feb 22, women were invited to share their vision for Alberta and what they would do if they were MLAs. Some eyebrows are being raised by the third place essay. https://t.co/zomVmmuJnP pic.twitter.com/r1I7dVcQyO — Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) August 9, 2022

The contest was sponsored by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and started on Feb. 22. It invited women to “describe their unique vision for Alberta” and outline what they would do if they were an MLA.

The third-place essay, written by S. Silver, reads in part: “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… 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.”

The essay also suggests the province should award women with money and medals for having more than two children, rhetoric that has drawn comparisons to Nazi ideology.

The National Holocaust Centre and Museum documented medals that were given to German mothers for having several children.

“The crosses were awarded to ‘honour German mothers for their services to the German people’ and formed part of a propaganda campaign to promote large families, thereby increasing the population of the Third Reich. Only women fulfilling Nazi racial ideals were eligible for a cross; to receive one both parents of the children had to be ‘German blooded’ in line with Nazi ideas of racial purity, and mothers had to be considered ‘worthy,'” the National Holocaust Centre and Museum’s website reads.

“Rewarding white women staying in our place and having babies so we don’t get replaced by foreigners,” one Twitter user wrote.

Rewarding white women staying in our place and having babies so we don’t get replaced by foreigners. — Megan (@meganbielby) August 9, 2022

“Is this a joke? As a female Albertan, this is offensive + truly demeaning for women + our Cdns. Wake up @HomeniukJ this thought process is out dated, white privileged + anti everything but evangelical Christian. I am embarrassed to breathe the same air as you and 3rd place winner,” another user wrote.

Is this a joke? As a female Albertan, this is offensive + truly demeaning for women + our Cdns. Wake up @HomeniukJ this thought process is out dated, white privileged + anti everything but evangelical Christian. I am embarrassed to breathe the same air as you and 3rd place winner — REKmom (@YEG_REKmom) August 9, 2022

The YYC Raging Grannies, a community organization focused on social justice, also slammed the essay, calling it “chilling” and “creepy,” denouncing it as misogynistic, anti-immigrant, and patriarchal.

The UCP sponsored an essay contest. The winners align carefully with their misogynistic values, of course. https://t.co/9WbuC4tAKR — YYC RagingGrannies (@YYCRagingGranny) August 9, 2022

NDP slam essay and UCP

Members of the province’s opposition NDP, including Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin, also took to Twitter to condemn the essay.

“This is just so messed up,” she said. “Read for yourself: the 3rd place winner of the UCP’s ‘Her Vision Inspires Essay Contest’. Explain, @HomeniukJ. You proudly launched this contest. Did you pick the winners? Is this your party’s vision for Alberta?”

This is just so messed up. Read for yourself: the 3rd place winner of the UCP’s “Her Vision Inspires Essay Contest”. Explain, @HomeniukJ . You proudly launched this contest. Did you pick the winners? Is this your party’s vision for Alberta? #ableg https://t.co/NTWK4vNNcs pic.twitter.com/FnHUl34x0Z — Janis Irwin (@JanisIrwin) August 9, 2022

Kathleen Ganley, NDP MLA for Calgary-Mountain View, has joined those in calling for an explanation from Armstrong-Homeniuk as to how the essay was awarded.

Ganley called the essay “racist,” “sexist,” and “shaming,” adding it was “mistaken on basically every level.”

“Imagine being the Minister for the Status of Women and thinking you should give an award to an essay that tells women their only value is their reproductive capacity,” Ganley said.

Imagine being the Minister for the Status of Women and thinking you should give an award to an essay that tells women their only value is their reproductive capacity. #AbLeg — Kathleen Ganley (@KathleenGanley) August 9, 2022

In response to the “women are not equal to men” comment in the essay, Alberta NDP Children’s Services Critic Rakhi Pancholi told CityNews it’s unacceptable.

“This is a terrible message to send to the young women of Alberta. It’s a message that I as a mother – including of a young girl – completely reject,” Pancholi said.

“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.”

Pancholi adds that the “cultural suicide” comment in the essay is an absolutely reprehensible claim.

“It is a nod to the racist replacement theory that drives white nationalist hate, and which, according to the RCMP, is one of the ways that these dangerous kinds of groups recruit young people,” she said. “This is absolutely horrific and these comments should be condemned by elected leaders, not given awards.”

UCP admit wrongs, still more work to do

Armstrong-Homeniuk initially responded to the criticism in a statement that read in part: “The essay contest was intended to reflect a broad range of opinions from young Alberta women on what democracy means for them. While the essay in question certainly does not represent the views of all women, myself included, the essay in question should not have been chosen. Giving women of all ages a voice is something that I will always stand up for. To young women who aspire to one day have a career in politics, please keep using your voice and advocating for your communities.”

However, after the criticism online and concerns from UCP caucus members, Armstrong-Homeniuk amended her statement.

“Over the last several hours, some of my caucus and cabinet colleagues have raised concerns with me about how such an essay could be selected for an award.

“As the Minister for the Status of Women, I want to emphasize that I do not support rhetoric that in any way diminishes the importance and contributions of more than half of Alberta’s population. It’s clear that the process failed, and I apologize for my role in that. The selection of this particular essay and awarding it with third prize was a failure on my part as the head of the judging panel. Alberta’s government values the contributions of women and newcomers, and we will continue working towards removing barriers to equality so that all Albertans can enjoy opportunities and success in our province,” Armstrong-Homeniuk said.

The Legislative Assembly of Alberta said in a statement that it took the webpage down when the Speaker saw the essay.

“The Her Vision Inspires essay contest was conceived and administered by the chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Canadian Region Alberta branch. 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. As soon as the content of the 3rd place winner was brought to the Speaker’s attention he immediately made the decision for the content to be removed. The content is abhorrent and does not reflect the views of the Speaker or the Legislative Assembly Office.”

Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, says it’s difficult to understand how the essay received an award and it “raises questions about the government that established the contest and gave this award.”

While Williams sees the UCP acknowledging and taking action on the “problematic” views as a step in the right direction, there is more that could be done.

“I think they need to go further and identify how this error was made and what they want to do, especially given the fact there’s a lawsuit against this government for the treatment of one of their female staffers. There have been other claims and statements made about this government’s stance on things like gender and women’s issues. So, I think it’s something that has to be addressed quite directly.”

Dr. Rebecca Sullivan, professor of English and Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Calgary, said her initial reaction was “really disturbing and really distressing, because it was modelling very dangerous eugenical language.”

She found the content “unbearably painful to unpack.”

“One second you’re unpacking the racism, then you’ve got to swerve and unpack the misogyny, and then you’ve got to get back to the racism and the colonialism, then — oh, we’re back to the misogyny. The fact that it can be done in like one sentence — much less 500 words — it’s debilitating to read something that painfully hateful,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan is also a researcher, with her research focused on feminist media arts activism, popular culture and genres, sexual media and performance, equity, diversity, and inclusion. She is the author of the book Visual Habits: Nuns, Feminism and American Postwar Popular Culture,  which talks about religion and woman in the 1950s and 1960s.

“My heart breaks for this young woman if she genuinely believes this,” Sullivan added.

“To have such deeply embedded self-hatred and lack of worth to see oneself as merely a reproductive vessel and to justify that incredibly limited viewpoint through racism and eugenics, that is not a recipe for a positive life well lived.”

Like Williams, Sullivan also thinks a direct response from the Legislative Assembly of Alberta is warranted.

“I want to make sure that any comments should be directed at the very competition and its lack of transparency and accountability, and questions towards the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and [the competition’s] judges. I think it is really problematic that the judges have not stepped forward. [We should] hold them accountable, and not slip into exactly the problem that women have in being part of the political process — which is hateful and vile comments targeted towards them.”

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UCP cabinet minister faces questions about controversial Alberta essay contest

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An Alberta cabinet minister tried to put an end to the controversy surrounding a province-wide essay contest Friday but refused to call for the resignation of two MLAs who handed out third prize to the author of a racist and sexist entry.

Environment and Parks Minister Whitney Issik was the first minister to take questions from reporters since the scandal around the essay, which argued that women are “not exactly” equal to men and should be rewarded for having babies to avoid “cultural suicide,” broke earlier this week.

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While the two MLAs responsible for judging the contest — Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville MLA Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk who was later named the associate minister of status of women, and Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely, the parliamentary secretary for the status of women — have both apologized, neither have spoken to reporters.

Caucus officials, the premier’s office and Armstrong-Homeniuk’s press secretary have ignored questions about the situation including how and why the prize was handed out.

At an unrelated press conference Friday, Issik, who was the associate minister of status of women prior to Armstrong-Homeniuk, said she does not hold any of the beliefs that were expressed in the essay. When asked directly if Lovely and Armstong-Homeniuk should resign, Issik said,  “I’m going to say this — the two women, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk and Jackie Lovely, have both said unequivocally that it was an error and they’ve apologized. And to me, that’s the end of it.”

Issik said she was unaware of the contest’s launch, and referred questions about the process to the office of Speaker Nathan Cooper, saying it was an initiative under the legislative assembly office and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Canadian Region.

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Both Cooper and the CWP denied having any involvement in the contest earlier this week. Cooper’s office also denied the legislative assembly office was involved.

Contestant doesn’t think MLAs should resign

While the NDP has called for the resignation of Armstrong-Homeniuk and Lovely, Emelia Kazakawich, who submitted an essay to the contest that was not awarded a prize, said Friday that she doesn’t think that would be productive.

“I think that the only way that those things change is with changed behaviour,” she said in an interview with Postmedia Friday.

She said it’s concerning that MLAs would endorse an essay that suggests men and women are not equal when their positions are supposed to be used to advocate for women.

Kazakawich’s entry, which she posted on Twitter, talks about the need for Albertans to come together and see everyone as a person when it comes to things like health care, food and housing. It discusses the need to fund social supports like women’s shelters, hospitals and supervised consumption sites.

“Truly, I think that my essay just is something that sparks some conversations that I think that maybe the current government didn’t want to have,” she said.

if that's accurate then I am one of two losers, and this was my entry. https://t.co/3dGTCvbT3s pic.twitter.com/KrTgBuM7eU — emelia earhart (she/they) (@barfelope) August 11, 2022

Since she posted it, Kazakawich said her essay has been resonating with people online.

“I think that my general message is more to do with (believing) we can have an Alberta where everyone is considered a person and we can have an Alberta where people are taken care of, but we do need to put the money there,” she said.

— with files from Lisa Johnson

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‘Sad to be an Albertan’: Professor of women’s studies reacts to essay contest controversy

By Sarah Chew

Posted August 13, 2022 4:32 pm.

Last Updated August 14, 2022 10:54 am.

A professor of women’s studies at the University of Alberta says she is sad and worried after a government-run contest awarded a prize to an entry widely criticized for being sexist and racist.

Katy Campbell, who teaches women’s and gender studies, believes the Alberta government choosing such an essay to win the third-place prize highlights a darker side within the province.

The essay said, in part, that women and men aren’t equal. It also urges women to forgo careers and focus on baby-making so the province doesn’t have to bring in more foreigners.

“It’s just a factor of biology that women can reproduce,” said Campbell. “It has nothing to do at all with their intellect, for example, or their contributions apart from that to society.”

Another thing that disturbed the U of A professor in the essay is the line that likens immigration to cultural suicide.

“Sadly we know that there are pockets of racism and hate and misogyny in this province,” said Campbell. “It makes me sad to be an Albertan and really worried.”

• Alberta essay contest winner slammed for discriminatory gender, race views
• Alberta’s ‘Her vision inspires’ sparks controversy as UCP refuses to name MLAs
• Alberta ‘Her vision inspires’ judge steps forward, NDP calls for resignations amid controversy

The third-place essay was pulled, along with the other two winners, from the government’s website after criticism emerged on social media.

The “Her Vision Inspires” contest, meant to promote women’s voices in politics, asked young women aged 17 to 25 to pen essays about changes they would like to see in Alberta, and what they would do as an MLA.

Professor hopes essayist is getting support

Campbell did share a thought for the writer of the third-place essay – who was only identified as S. Silver – and hopes she is doing OK amid the backlash.

“She may be a young 18-year-old thinking, ‘this is fair, this is the way that I’m thinking, I’m going to express my views.’ And then to be attacked like this – and of course social media is particularly bad for that.

“So I hope she’s getting some support – not support for her views, but support for being able to express herself in an appropriate way.”

Essay contest judges apologize

The contest was run by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians.

The judges of the contest, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, the UCP’s associate minister for the status of women, and Jackie Lovely, the department’s parliamentary secretary, later issued statements.

Armstrong-Homeniuk said the essay never should have been chosen. Lovely apologized for her role in the contest.

“It’s clear that the process failed, and I apologize for my role in that,” wrote Armstrong-Homeniuk. “The selection of this particular essay and awarding it with third prize was a failure on my part as the head of the judging panel.”

NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi called on them both to resign from their positions .

Essayist concerned by third-place prize

Meanwhile an essayist whose work did not win a prize in the contest called the third-place essay “concerning.”

Emelia Kazakawich’s essay explored how Alberta should change their approach toward the opioid crisis, the overloaded health-care system and invest in more supports.

But Kazakawich doesn’t think resignation is the solution.

“I think an apology is fine,” she said. “I don’t think that telling people to resign from making a mistake is super productive. So I think that whatever is going to be the most productive is probably an apology and changed behaviour.”

—With files from The Canadian Press

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Camrose MLA says she was only other member on controversial essay judging panel

Jackie lovely apologizes for choosing essay with racist and sexist elements.

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Jackie Lovely, the UCP MLA for Camrose, says she was the only other MLA on a panel which awarded a prize to an essay containing racist and sexist statements. 

Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, MLA for Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville and Alberta's associate minister for the status of women, started the contest and was on the panel with Lovely.

"I regret that this essay was chosen and I apologize for my role in that," Lovely wrote in an email to CBC News Wednesday night. "As a single mother who has pursued a wide variety of traditionally male-dominated careers, I deeply understand the strength and ability of women."

"Also, as a former ESL teacher who hosted 56 international students, I also value and appreciate the role of newcomers in our province, and will continue working to remove barriers to equity and prosperity for all."

Lovely is the parliamentary secretary for the status of women.

The author of the essay, identified only as S. Silver, won third prize in the "Her Vision Inspires" contest. The piece of writing came to light Monday night after screenshots were tweeted by NDP MLA Janis Irwin. 

The contest, which was a partnership between the legislative assembly and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Canadian Region, asked women between the ages of 17 and 25 to describe their "unique vision for Alberta" and what they would do if elected an MLA. 

Silver's essay stated that women are not equal to men and that their ability to bear children takes priority over trying to break into male-dominated careers. 

The author added that women who have given birth to two children or more should receive medals and financial incentives to prevent the "import" of "foreigners to replace ourselves." 

The government confirmed on Thursday that the contest only received five entries. 

NDP responds

NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi called on Lovely and Armstrong-Homeniuk to resign their positions from the Ministry of Culture and Status of Women.

"They have no credibility at this point with Alberta women," she said at a Thursday news conference.

"They are undermining, actively undermining, women's interests in this province. And they have no business being in these roles."

Lise Gotell, professor of women's and gender studies at the University of Alberta, said Tuesday that the views promulgated in the essay about providing medals and money to encourage women to have more children reflect programs in Nazi Germany. 

She also said the essay was racist and sexist.

• Alberta cabinet minister disavows racist, sexist essay that won prize

The legislative assembly removed the essay and all mentions of the contest from its website Monday evening after controversy erupted on social media. 

Armstrong-Homeniuk, who is the associate minister for the status of women, initially said on Tuesday the essay should have never been chosen. Hours later, she apologized for her role in allowing the "process to fail." 

"The selection of this particular essay and awarding it with third prize was a failure on my part as the head of the judging panel," she said in a written statement. 

Armstrong-Homeniuk would not make herself available to take questions. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Provincial affairs reporter

Michelle Bellefontaine covers the Alberta legislature for CBC News in Edmonton. She has also worked as a reporter in the Maritimes and in northern Canada.

Western Canada: Alberta government women’s essay contest gives third-place prize to submission equating immigration to ‘cultural suicide’

This article was published more than 1 year ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Good morning. It’s James Keller in Calgary.

When the Alberta government announced an essay contest in February that asked young women for their vision for the province, it was criticized by political opponents as patronizing and unnecessary compared with real issues that needed attention .

The province’s legislative assembly, which ran the contest, recently posted the winners, including a third-place entry that has been widely condemned as racist and sexist while echoing the far-right Great Replacement conspiracy theory.

The ensuing storm prompted the legislature to abruptly remove all of the entries from its website. The United Conservative Party MLA who spearheaded it and helped judge winners, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, issued two successive attempts at an apology. Neither Ms. Armstrong-Homeniuk, who is now associate minister of status of women, nor anyone else in the government, has explained which other UCP MLAs were part of the judging panel or why they felt the essay should be selected for recognition.

The third-place essay focused on women’s ability to give birth and proposed rewarding Albertans for their “reproductive service.”

It argued that Albertan women need to have babies to avoid allowing “foreigners” to “replace” the population, which the author said amounted to “cultural suicide.” It also argued that, for this reason, women should not be encouraged to enter male-dominated industries.

Ms. Armstrong-Homeniuk’s issued a statement Tuesday morning that said she did not agree with the essay and it should not have been chosen as a winner, but it did not offer an apology or an explanation for why it was selected as a winner, who was involved in that decision, or what in the essay she objected to.

Ms. Armstrong-Homeniuk later revised that after, she explained, her caucus colleagues raised concerns about the essay. That second statement included an apology and said awarding the essay was a “failure on my part.” Like her first statement, it did not shed any light on how or why the essay was chosen, and her office did not answer questions about who else was on the judging panel.

The third-place prize was $200 in merchandise from the legislature gift shop.

The Opposition New Democrats said none of their MLAs were involved in the contest, which Rakhi Pancholi, the party’s children’s services critic, denounced as “horrific” and a “nod to the Great Replacement theory.”

The Great Replacement is a racist conspiracy theory that falsely claims that white people are being “replaced” by people of colour.

The essay was also criticized by several candidates for the UCP leadership, including Rebecca Schulz, Rajan Sawhney and Leela Aheer.

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller . If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here .

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UCP essay contest causes controversy

by Morinville Online Staff

A UCP essay contest for young women, launched in February of this year, exploded into controversy Tuesday when it was learned that the third-place winner’s entry contained sexist and misogynistic language.

The Her Vision Inspires essay contest, open to women aged 17-25, invited women to identify in the essays specifically what they would do if they were a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The contest was a partnership between the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Canadian Region.

Alberta NDP Children’s Services Critic Rakhi Pancholi was quick to offer criticism, calling the selected entry reprehensible.

“The bronze-medal-winning essay chosen by the UCP contains comments that are misogynistic, sexist, transphobic, racist, and fascist. Much of the language used within the essay is reprehensible and sends a terrible message to the young women of this province.

Pancholi said that Alberta women are “working tirelessly to break through barriers in a society where sexism is prevalent” and continues to keep them from achieving financial, physical and psychological security.

“When we encourage women to participate in traditionally male-dominated industries, it leads to better outcomes, representation and diversity in governance and leadership in all sectors, including politics,” Pancholi said, adding the essay contest was another example of the UCP’s consistent failure to support women.

In addition to advocating that Alberta women support the province best by having two children, it also makes statements disapproving of women in traditionally male-dominated professions.

“To try to promote that women break into careers that men traditionally dominate is not only misguided, but it is harmful,” one line of the third-place winning essay reads.

The controversial essay carried with it a $200 prize. The third-place winner was awarded by Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville MLA and Associate Minister of Status of Women Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, who later removed the award and offered an apology for it having been chosen.

Below is a link to our original February article on the essay competition.

Legislative Assembly launches Her Vision Inspires writing contest

Share this:

Once again wokesters attack free speech & thought and the majority of media reports with all bias and no balance. Diversity of lifestyle, thought and expression are now viscously attacked by the same group who, only a few years ago, demanded these things for themselves. The “tolerant left” chooses character assassination, name calling, and demands for firings and resignations over consideration, discussion, and rational disagreement. They embark on modern-day witch hunts and public executions. When did traditional roles/values become so radical to merits vitriolic rants. If you read the essay without attaching your own narrative, it is none of what’s being claimed. People need to stop screaming racism, sexism, misogyny for every differing opinion – this only diminishes the meaning of these words paramount to “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. This virtue-signaling single-minded radical left can’t seem to intelligently discuss anything they don’t agree or approve of they only know to oppress, intimidate, and threaten which only demonstrates their closed-minded divisive, intolerant, fascist nature

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UCP MLA Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk responds to "Her Vision Inspires" controversy

The UCP has been under fire for their selection of the third place winner of the "Her Vision Inspires" essay contest.

Alberta's associate minister in charge of women's issues Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk was one of the organizers and judges of the contest, and says the essay should never have been chosen. The essay had elements of sexism, racism, and white nationalist ideology.

"Over the last several hours, some of my caucus and cabinet colleagues have raised concerns with me about how such an essay could be selected for an award. As the Minister for the Status of Women, I want to emphasize that I do not support rhetoric that in any way diminishes the importance and contributions of more than half of Alberta’s population," Armstrong-Homeniuk said in a written response.

The author, identified only as S. Silver, won third prize in the "Her Vision Inspires" contest. The original link showcasing the three winning essays was taken down after screenshots of the essay were posted to Twitter by NDP Women and LGBTQ2S Critic Janis Irwin .

The essay, written by somebody only identified as "S. Silver" states that "women are not exactly equal to men," and that giving birth to children is more important than breaking into careers traditionally dominated by men.

It adds that women should be given medals for having two or more children.

At press time, Armstrong-Homeniuk did not respond to a request for further clarification as to what went into the judging process, or who was involved in judging the essays.

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Her vision inspires … outrage! Fury greets UCP Government prize for essay that calls women best suited as vessels for babies

What were they thinking?

If Alberta’s United Conservative Party were a normal Canadian political party, it wouldn’t necessarily have been a bad idea for someone to have the bright idea of asking young women between the ages of 17 and 25 to enter a contest in which there were asked to “imagine how you could strengthen your community and bring about change with a career in politics” in 500 words or less.

But seeing as the UCP is a party with a strong social conservative base that must soon contest a general election that will be decided in Calgary, a large Canadian city that is not necessarily all that enamoured of social conservative nostrums, it’s odd that no-one in the UCP strategic brain trust saw the danger in such a scheme.

There was fury in the land last night after the three winning short essays in the Her Vision Inspires contest were published on the Legislative Assembly’s website and the third-place winner turned out to be a screed variously described as misogynistic, sexist, racist, homophobic, fascist, and transphobic, to mention just a few critiques. 

New Democrat Janis Irwin, MLA for Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood and the Opposition party’s critic for women’s and LGBTQ2S+ issues, seems to have been among the first to spot it . No sooner did she tweet about it with screenshots than all three winning “essays” were ripped down from the Legislature’s website . 

Too late, unfortunately for the UCP, thanks to the Wayback Machine and the magic of screenshots.

The bronze medal winner, as it were – actually, the third-place prize was a $200 gift certificate for the Legislature’s gift shop – began like this, “Women have a unique strength: our ability to give birth.”

I imagine most readers will see where this is headed from here, and I’m not going to spend any time attacking the author, who presumably is a young person who wrote what she sincerely believed. 

The real questions are for her elders, the ones who came up with this brilliant idea, picked a piece that was guaranteed to provoke outrage as a winner, and presumably are quite prepared to let the young author cope with what follows on her own. 

Passages like the suggestion “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,” evoked comparisons to so-called white replacement theory. 

To write that “to try to promote that women break into careers that men traditionally dominate is not only misguided, but it is harmful,” was guaranteed to provoke anger. Anyone with an ounce of sense should have been able to see that. 

The author’s call to reward fecund female citizens with medals for producing two or more babies, prompted comparisons to the Cross of Honour of the German Mother , an idea from that period of German history so dark that we’re not allowed to mention in Alberta political commentary.

You can read all three essays for yourself if you wish here . 

The contest idea appears partly to have been the brainchild of Associate Status of Women Minister Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, the UCP MLA for Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville, acting as as Alberta’s representative to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians’ Canadian chapter. The judges were a “panel of female members of the Legislative Assembly,” according to a page published in February when the contest was announced. That page has now disappeared.

No NDP members knew anything about the controversial winning essay until it appeared online last night. Former UCP status of women minister Leela Aheer, fired from cabinet last summer and now a candidate to lead the party, said in a tweet that she was not included “for obvious reasons.”

In reaction to media coverage, Ms. Armstrong-Homeniuk published a defensive statement saying, predictably, that “the essay contest was intended to reflect a broad range of opinions from young Alberta women” and that “giving women of all ages a voice is something I will always stand up for.” 

However, she also said “the essay in question should not have been chosen,” a statement at variance with the tone of the rest of her response and an interesting observation for a member of cabinet who was presumably overseeing the project. 

This afternoon, embarrassingly, media coverage was starting to show up in the United States , and it is likely to circle the globe by the morrow. 

Later this afternoon, Ms. Armstrong-Homeniuk published a second statement on social media that said in part, “It’s clear that the process failed, and I apologize for my role in that. The selection of this particular essay and awarding it with third prize was a failure on my part as the head of the judging panel .” (Emphasis added.)

So, while we still don’t know who the judges were, we do know that one of the judges didn’t know what the judges decided. 

Also shockingly inattentive were the officials of the Legislature Office. 

Speaker Nathan Cooper told media that even though the essay somehow got published on his office’s website, he found its contents “abhorrent” and said that as soon as it was brought to his attention (by Ms. Irwin’s tweet?) he had it removed. 

So who is running the Alberta government now, anyway? 

We all know Alberta’s governing party is so busy searching for a replacement for Premier Jason Kenney it has trouble doing its job. But since it will be October before the next leader of the UCP will be chosen, perhaps the party should assign someone to mind the store in the meantime. 

It seems likely that Mr. Kenney, who is well known for his micromanagement skills, might have time available for such a role. 

If he’s not interested, perhaps Ms. Irwin from Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition could take it on for the sake of the province. She seems to be paying attention! 

Join the Conversation

47 Comments

Frankly I don’t believe for a minute that the 3 rd prize essay was written by a 17-25 year old woman. It seem more in tune with far right UCP messaging and was likely concocted by one of the useless comms. individuals, that are predominantly male.

As for Nathan Cooper’s comment, I think he sees the writing is on the wall for possibly his own job and others, as the UCP lurches from one debacle to the next.

I am sorry to disagree, but having grown up in a home where I was also inundated with the particular views of my parents, I have no trouble believing that the author was indeed a 17 year old – just one that has had some, uh, unique views aired frequently and without challenge around her. If you surround a kid with your particular viewpoints and praise her for parroting them, this is what you get.

You don’t believe it was written by a young woman? What do you think the religious based schools and evangelical churches are producing? Certainly not critical thinkers. Under Klein, home-schoolers had a choice of using the secular public curricula or the “Advanced Christian Education” curricula which is pretty much reflected in that unfortunate young woman’s essay. That secular curriculum is the same curricula which the Kenney Klan is replacing with even more religious and capitalist indoctrination for everyone. Take a careful look at the size of their churches. Alberta’s future as a modern society has already been damaged.

Nathan Cooper serves on the CPA for Alberta. Methinks he doth protesteth too much. The CPA and the women’s branch work together. How could this Franken-contest have slipped under his radar?

http://www.revparlcan.ca/en/canadian-region-cpa/

I understand where you’re coming from and truly wish you were right. Important idea that I might not be phrasing very well – you know how all humans have that little voice in their head that says ‘you should have done x, you shouldn’t have done y?’ Sort of like your own “inner critic?” There’s real psychology on this but I can’t for the life of me remember a google search string, if anyone can fill the blank there I’d be very grateful. There’s a word for it but I’m blanking and don’t have time for a wiki-walk, sorry 🙁

Anyways, it’s possible for someone else to colonize that voice, and you hear their words instead of your own. “You should have gone to med school. You shouldn’t have followed your impractical dream.” Does that sound more like you, or your teachers and your parents? “You should have worked harder, longer. You shouldn’t have taken that time off to do that thing you really wanted to do.” Is that you, or your boss? “You should have been chaste. You shouldn’t have gotten that abortion.” Is that you, or your priest? This is, sadly, incredibly common in the West, because IMO most “happy” citizens aren’t “happy” as much as they have “Stockholm Syndrome.”

S. Silver could be real, but more likely this is another one of those “friends” of the premier who turn out to be fictional composites of actual people, and the supposed contest never happened. None of the UCP want to admit to judging it. What a coincidence that “S. Silver” would say exactly what the UCP wanted “her” to say, during their leadership contest no less.

Where is that premier, anyways? No comment on S. Silver’s wish to pay Alberta women for making babies? Maybe that’s the Alberta recovery plan: putting anyone with a functional uterus to work, catalogued and ranked by price and fecundity. Publish it on the internet, maybe. Pick a price, no offer refused?

We knew it would happen: the people of Twitter have spoken. UCP means “Uterus Control Party”.

Of course the essay would be 500 words. As in The Bible, 500 is a recurrent theme. 500 staff must move to Athabasca. A staff is a biblical thing, too.

Our Associate Minister also appointed herself Minister, but should we tell her she reports to the man who is in charge of women? Or did the man step aside to let a woman take a job better-suited for a woman? Remember, there are “pink” jobs for ladies and “blue” jobs for gents. Never the twains shall meet, unless they’re on the same tracks, headed for a collision.

I’m not going to tell the “writer” of that “essay” how to spend the $200 gift card, but 50 of these:

https://capitalgifts.ca/products/hand-saniziter

Personally, I would choose the Caramunchies. There is something strange about promoting expensive junk food in order to provide for Edmonton’s hungry. And what about the hungry in Calgary or Bruderheim?

It would be a truly wonderful thing if the essay was revealed to be a piece of satire designed to make the UCP look foolish, but either way they look foolish. So mission accomplished, or not.

Truly the gang that could not shoot straight.

The only thing safe… is everything except their feet.

This reminds me of the Social Credit Party style of government, that was in power for decades, which Peter Lougheed fought so hard to replace, and successfully did, way back in August of 1971. There are many people who are still alive, and who do recall the Social Credit Party, and their quite backwards thinking, as well as their backwards policies. We have such antiquated thinking in the Reformers and pretend conservatives, that are in political parties like the CPC, and the UCP. Peter Lougheed was one who knew that Reformers can’t be trusted. Ask anyone who was around when the Social Credit Party was around, and they will also likely tell you about the similarities between them and the Reformers. This is pushing Alberta into a negative light, once again. Until people in Alberta take off their blinders and see that the UCP are a bad government, we can only expect more of this.

Anonymous Actually I got to know three of the social credit MLAs and they all had to admit that they agreed with what Peter Lougheed was doing for Albertans . One stated “ How can you be in opposition to Lougheed when you agree with everything he has done”. At least he was honest about it. Not like these Jason Kenney fools who would dream up some stupid comments to put Lougheed down. And In fact one told me that it was because of Lougheed that the social credit party folded.

Remember back in the day when even most of the highly ambitious adults were not willing to intentionally destroy society to further their ambitions? *wistful sigh* I’m barely old enough to remember.

Don’t forget to mention that the Reform movement was founded by Preston Manning, son of long-time Alberta Social Credit premier Ernest Manning. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Another day another screw up, gee what a surprise. One more thing for their stupid supporters to try to defend. You would think they would have woken up by now but some still haven’t. It’s still some how all Notley and Trudeau’s fault, but they can’t tell you why. Funny how brainwashing works. All mouth and no brains, as a lawyer friend used to say.

Alan K. Spiller: That’s one of the things that these pretend conservatives and Reformers know how to do so well is blame others. They keep on lying so much, that they think it’s the truth. Sadly, their base eats it all up. We don’t see any benefits. This also reminds me of something I read about, which mentioned something that happened before television was around. It was when radio was the source of entertainment. There was some type of broadcast put on air, where space aliens were coming to get the population. There were people who were dumb enough to fall for it, and unfortunately they did. I don’t recall what the broadcast was, but I believe it was aired in the 1930s, or in the early 1940s.

It was Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” broadcast in 1938.

Anonymous: it was an adaptation of H. G. Wells’ novel “The War of the Worlds,” by Orson Welles in (I think) 1938. Apparently, people who missed the first episode (and likely enough, some who heard it) didn’t hear the disclaimer that announced it was a radio play, not a news report.

I think, to be fair, that you can forgive some of those frightened listeners in 1938 for their credulity. Radio then — like the Internet now — was still a relatively new medium, and people then took it very seriously. I’ve heard a recording of that broadcast, and it closely mimics the style and tone of legitimate news broadcasts of the day, so it’s not surprising that many believed it was really happening.

Any resemblance to modern online “fake news” — like the recent Twitter post of the “New Zealand banana slug” — https://twitter.com/MarkRMullen/status/1556335187197403146?s=20&t=Hp_ASiLZ7gHpgC02MKiPGQ — is purely coincidental ;-). Full disclosure: I kind of fell for that one myself, until I saw the post that the video was fake.

How many times can the UCP shoot themselves in the face? Let me count the ways.

Now that it appears, based on this weird contest, the UCP’s own Minister for the Status of Women have decided to embrace and promote the belief and White Replacement Theory is a thing. This can only mean 1) they don’t care anymore, or 2) they are doing everything they can to appease Danielle Straitjacket’s effort to make the UCP crazier than ever. (#MUCPCTE…Muck-piece-tee) Judging by the fact that this whole thing has gone viral — that is picked up by other news outlets everywhere — the UCP are doing everything they can to disown what they thought was a fantastic idea.

Regarding the popular series “The Handmaid’s Tale”, it should be noted that it mere existence is having unintended consequences. The unintended consequences being that Christian-nationalist/white-nationalists in the US have embraced the series as a proof-of-concept for their vision of the world they want. Though I’m certain many of them have never heard of Margret Atwood, nor had read her novel, the visual and powerful TV adaptation of Atwood’s book has whetted their appetites for “Gilead”. A number of alt-right bloggers are saying that the series has given them the inspiration and the blueprint to create this reality. The overturning of Roe v. Wade and the current legal battles breaking out in many US states over women’s reproductive freedom, and its restriction, is raising the political temperature considerably.

Now that Alberta is beginning to show its true Gilead self, I’m wondering when Smith is going to drop her pro-choice position and embrace the notion that a woman’s uterus is the property of the state. This should be hilarious.

Well that was really weird. This seems like something Social Credit would have done in the 1960’s. Maybe the PC’s were on to something when they were warning us about a decade ago or so that their, at the time kook right wing opponents, were a throw back to the worst of Social Credit times.

Of course, those PC’s had their own problematic features too, like serious ethical lapses and arrogant entitlement. The UCP really has managed to combine the worst qualities of its predecessors.

In any event, the whole thing seems to be going amok, now that Kenney is no longer in control and is just going through the motions until the party picks his replacement. Not that Kenney probably would have disagreed with this essays sentiment, but would have been at least politically aware enough to realize how cringe worthy this seems and likely stopped it.

Well the UCP seems to finally have found something else to talk about other than COVID conspiracies and separatism. As the saying goes, when someone shows you who they are, believe them. We have been shown, ahem warned.

Where did all of these associate ministers appear from? Obviously many of those choices leave a lot to be desired and demonstrates how thin the talent pool in the UCP really is, not to mention the pantheon of stupid ideas. No doubt there will be many more goof ups to come before we can get a real government in place.

How can one provincial government be this incompetent? Absolutely blows my mind that the Albertan electorate tolerates the UCP’s disastrous, immoral bungling. When’s the last time anyone in this party scored a goal that wasn’t on themselves? Suggestions for better leaders: Some random homeless person – will know more about the economy Some random incarcerated person – will have more respect for the rule of law Premier Bud – ain’t no rule says a dog can’t be Premier Rob Ford’s ghost – would be more grounded in reality Pierre Poilievre – morally equal, significantly less incompetent A cross eyed pogo stick riding raccoon – will have more gravitas than anyone in the UCP, plus will have innovative ideas about trash disposal!

I find it hilarious how Danielle Smith attracted a huge crowd of only 200 at her rally in Chestamere last night. Want to bet most were seniors being every lie she fed them? Too dumb to realize that her plan could cost them their old age security payments, Canada pension plan payments and their public health care benefits. The seniors in my circle of friends know we have received a lot more in payments than any of us ever paid into them. A population of 38 million is certainly going to be able to provide for us a lot better than 4 billion could.

Sadly, Mr Spiller, her recent Edmonton rally had a far more diverse crowd than one might have expected. Graham Thomson wrote about it in the Star.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2022/08/12/i-went-to-a-rally-for-danielle-smith-albertas-potential-next-premier-heres-what-i-saw.html

There is a reason why Alberta has become the laughingstock of Canada.

It was bad enough with Kenney. Now we have Danielle Smith.

There is not enough room in the clown car to fit them all in.

They need a bus. Or two.

It is an embarrassment.

Highly doubt “Emily”exists ,the author of the submission,the UCP are into “contests”of late and how these contests are presented and victories are layed out are certainly questionable to say the least , Trying to glean dates ,submission information,panel lol,and these strange pop up contests is worth an audit ,where are the rest I would define the framework to be limited in access ,so where’s the rest of the submission s ,I repeat these designs are something to ponder ,myself talking to the manipulators gives me depth ,simple questions like “where and who designed such old “funning”narratives I am Confident the Minister of status of women is a truth teller ,the willful blindness in this shop is another story ,I travelled this institution before ,we have “funning words “ for these people,we know what they think of women and children and their narratives The department of Status of Women has been ran by fascism since the beginning of time ,women,family ,community haters while taunting the label of disguise,to the highest authorities of the land ,to the MPs,Privcy Council,all the same gig Then again is it the old up the sleeve trick ,squirrel?Status of women personal like chaos ,another manufactured repeat?us women in rural Alberta say enough Reminds me of the Iris Evans contestant times !Regardless a worthy audit if you can get Albertans away from the Trudeau rip off theme ,scheme,

How was this ridiculous panel chosen ? Are real questions ? Exploitation of women and children is nothing new for this savvy institution called “Status of women”!Hate children as I know The lunatics have the keys

Who’s running the government? Well, maybe the executive is busy with party things, but the Loyal Opposition seems to be doing its job just fine—and now it has alerted that other part of government, the electorate which is also responding as it should, eliciting reaction from the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the associate minister who has since taken responsibility for awarding third place in an essay contest to an unabashed wish-list of patented SoCondom dystopia, Redoubter separatism, and dog-whistle bellicosity of the extreme-right. So it’s not all bad.

But it’s still pretty bad.

What did they think they were doing? It appears the contest should have been an all-party affair, but that would have disallowed the improper use of the expressly nonpartisan offices of the Speaker and the Legislative Assembly for what appears to be one faction of the UCP caucus firing a shot at the other during its current leadership race; only UCP MLAs sat on the panel of judges (we don’t know who yet). Associate minister Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk who presided over the judging admitted only that the source of concern about the essay came from her own UCP caucus and cabinet. But the fusillade-cum-fireworks has precipitated much, much wider criticism, rendering her explanation at least as hackneyed as the offence.

What were they thinking? It appears they weren’t thinking, but probably had in mind some kind of statement of terms in the ongoing battle for control of the party riven between the ProgCon and Wildrose factions, ironically scoring enough hot controversy across the continent to damage the extremist faction’s leadership prospects and the party’s chances of winning the next election, now single-digit months away.

Jason Kenney should be running the executive until the party leadership convention in October, but the eruption of Mount Bozo—just when erosion of voter-memory had excavated free the fossilized dinosaurs of the Wildrose Badlands, entombed in a fiery lake of lava from a previous eruption—doesn’t look quite like the K-Boy’s reputed micromanagement: he’s either refocusing his campaigning gift onto other prospects, is losing power to control by promoting or demoting caucus members, or both. In any event, the fusiliers have put their Handmaiden sally on display most ham-handedly, blowing their cover in a way that suggests they might not expect to occupy their position much longer, anyway—at least in contingency after what looks like a “Hail Mary” pass from a jittery corner of the UCP caucus.

Because one of the leadership candidates, former cabinet minister Leela Aheer, was also not apprised of the essay until its spectacular flop, the ideological war raging inside the UCP is the only hole Armstrong-Homeniuk’s peg fits into: if it were a shot over the hunkered Alberta citizenry, the essay is too anachronistic, too retrogressive to persuade a majority of citizens to vote for it. No, this was a misguided missile corkscrewing o’re the war within the UCP, a signal taken down quickly for lack of encryption, but most assuredly received by its intended. However, it’s most inappropriate for any party or faction thereof to abuse the nonpartisan offices of government in order to deploy batteries in partisan psychodrama like this one.

Naturally the UCP is focusing on itself, distracted from anything beyond the range of ordinance in this most-critical test the party has faced yet. The essay awards’ path was smoothed, its ballistic trajectory perhaps more of an emergency flare than useful battle tactic in the party’s current straits, but relatively unremarkable compared to the more hyperbolic volleys some of the candidates are already lobbing at each other. But the context of the third-rated essay—reproductive recuperation from “sickly minded” replacement of Christian patriarchy by way of foreigner-enforced “suicide” —is of necessity a longterm objective, even farther away than the next UCP crisis, the next general election. In essence, the essay laments the mores of an age long past as if history itself is a victim and its subscribers now so threatened that retreat and recuperation (in order to buy time for baby-factory handmaidens to replenish and subdue the earth) are the only option.

If it’s already a life-or-death (or “suicide”) situation, then it rather braces subscribers for the possibility of defeat in the general contest, more likely now that the terms of the party’s inborn conflict is deliberated in such maudlin fashion. This is classic redoubterism, replete with notions of return and self-justified vengeance, some day when the slow-poke population bomb supplies sufficient reserve to the front where, fulfilling the manly art of war, they are passed the torch. The only thing missing—but implied—is Mormon-style polygamy in this practical sense.

The prospect of a UCP defeat very likely presages the breakup of the party along its familiar scar-line. In that event, Redoubters among the extremist faction amplify their narrative—say, half the caucus and party. Where could they go that could quickly accommodate, say, 500-1000 party members and their family members?

Isn’t there anyplace where god-fearing handmaidens can go to spawn in peace? Someplace like maybe a remote rural town—maybe with, like, an unused university?

Naw!—couldn’t be. There must be some other goofy reason why the UCP has made an ultimatum to Athabasca U that the university can’t possibly meet and that guarantees its bankruptcy.

But…you never know with these jokers.

‘…history so dark that are not allowed to mention it in Alberta political commentary’.

As did Europeans in the 1920’s and 30’s we seem to pussyfoot around contemporary evil. For readers interested the Cross Of Honor of the German Mother was awarded by Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler’s Lebensborn.

I think our host was making a sardonic reference to “Godwin’s Law”, the Internet “rule” that says the longer an online discussion goes on, the higher the probability that some reference to Hitler or Nazisim will occur. The corollary of that “rule” is that the first person to invoke Hitler or Nazism loses the argument, and that discussion is also deemed to be over.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

Reply to jerrymacgp No argument was made, won or lost. Godwin’s notion is neither law or rule; it is an unproven, simplistic, and dismissive hypothesis. I am grateful that this blog promotes material for thought and sharing of perspective.

The more things change, the more they stay the same as my Dad used to quote. If I remember correctly, in about 1988, the federal government was planning to sign onto the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The provinces were asked to agree to the Convention, which was available for signature by U N member nations. Every province, except Alberta, agreed to abide by the Convention. Part of the reason that Alberta did not agree was that some groups were concerned that they, as parents, would have less control over their children. This sort of paternalistic thinking still exists, as evidenced by the prize offered to the author of the essay we are discussing. I read the essay, and it appears to me to be earnest, not ironic. After reading David’s op ed, I researched the Cross of Honour of the German Mother created by the German Reich. The highest of the 3 so-called honours was available to women with 8 to 12 children. There were additional requirements for all levels. The value of women, as outlined by the author of the third place essay, is limited indeed. I believe that we as a society need to reject this narrow gender bias about the role of women. It appears that everyone approached seems to disavow any part in the decision to award the third place prize to this essay. How, then, was the award determined and how did it end up on the website where it was published?

My grandmother could have won that award, based on the number of children. Did they give bonuses for multiple sets of twins — fraternal and identical? I’m not sure it would have meant much to her. She was too busy in her one-acre garden, cooking meals from scratch three times a day on the wood stove, and hauling meals to the fields for the men. Then there was the lack of running water, which meant hauling and heating water on the stove to wash clothes in a galvanized bin by hand, hanging them outdoors on a clothesline, even in the winter, heating the iron on the stove to iron them, mending and sewing. Her chores never ended. Maybe she would have preferred a furnace to heat the house instead of coal, running water, etc.

There’s no going back. Times have changed and there’s nothing romantic about any of that.

I had previously posted my description of Jason Kenney’s UCP as “…dysfunctional, incompetent and embarassing.” I now wish to update this description by adding “incorrigibly” in front of the previous descriptors.

This is just … sad. I’m fairly certain that the essay wasn’t composed by Ms. D. Smith, though. She wouldn’t have been content with third place.

As for the whereabouts of Yippee-kay-Kenney, he may be in Ottawa applying for the position of Top Gun at the Church of Freedom.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/united-people-of-canada-st-brigids-security-force-1.6546148

In his spare time, he could apply some spit-and-polish to the pulpit. You know he loves a pulpit.

So I see, the primary purpose of women is to breed, as per this prize winning essayist. And it must follow therefore men are the breeders. Well that’s pretty graphic and offensive. And this is what an all woman panel chose as amongst the best vision for Alberta women. Didn’t the east block also pass out medals and bonuses for extra children bred? Sorry but this kind of backward garbage is the reason I happily left Alberta for BC in 1998. I have never regretted it. I do hope the NDP wins the next provincial election to return just a bit of normalcy to my former now utterly imbecilic province. But I am filled with doubts that they will win. Some how rural Albertans strike me as just primitive, and are utterly asking to be taken to the cleaners. Uterus Control Party for a snowy white Alberta!

As much as there are those who are convinced this is the work of sheering idiocy and incompetence, I have another take on all this weirdness.

It’s stupidity by design.

Of course, the contents of these essays were ridiculed. But they were published, given a platform, and their writers rewarded. The politicians who gave recognition to these excretable tomes can claim that they didn’t know any better. Or, worse, just call these thoughts just another unpopular opinion. Or, as Tucker Carlson would put it, “We’re just asking questions.”

The problem of course is that these ideas have been given notice and, to varying degrees, they are finding sympathy with those who say are the positions presented in these essays really wrong? After all, as Pat Buchanan once said, “Say what you will, it’s a lot easier to settle and integrate 1,000 Norwegians into North Carolina than it is 1,000 Somalians.” Yeah, Buchanan is a bug-eyed racist, and he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. Some would say and believe that he has the courage to speak truth to power and call out the prevailing belief system as a pile bullshite. It’s these speakers of supposed truth who will cast themselves as the truly brave, the real patriots, and the genuine humanitarians. Or, as a long-depart GOP member of Congress once boasted, “We conservatives are the real intellectuals, the hard scientists, the ones who truly know and understand the ways of the real world. Fantasies need not apply.”

So, there’s no reason to think that the day was won now that these essays has disappeared from the Internets. Rather, the claim that sunlight is a disinfectant for bad and evil ideas is not true. Sunlight gives life and encouragement to evil and evil ideas. Once something has been let out of Pandora’s Box, it will never be put back in.

I read all three of the essays and I was not impressed with any of them. They reminded me of those beauty contests where the contestants made a five minute speech, gushing about saving the world, or peace on earth. Maybe it was the published format but with no paragraphing they just rambled on. The second place essay was more substantial but none of them had original ideas. A thought to ponder – Ron Orr is actually the Minister of Culture and Status of Women. Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk is an Associate Minister of Status of Women. Need I say more?

Canoemamma…I think you’re on track with Ron Orr, just looked him up, and going by where he was “schooled” , goes right with the way of thinking with the essay, another notch in the mixing of church and state belt ..literally & figureatively…and maybe the backing off has something to do with what’s happening with the Legacy school in Saskatchewan.???

Once again wokesters attack free speech & thought and the majority of media reports with all bias and no balance. Diversity of lifestyle, thought and expression are now viscously attacked by the same group who, only a few years ago, demanded these things for themselves. The “tolerant left” chooses character assassination, name calling, and demands for firings and resignations over consideration, discussion, and rational disagreement. They embark on modern-day witch hunts and public executions. When did traditional roles/values become so radical to merits vitriolic rants. If you read the essay without attaching your own narrative, it is none of what’s being claimed. People need to stop screaming racism, sexism, misogyny for every differing opinion – this only diminishes the meaning of these words paramount to “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. This virtue-signaling single-minded radical left can’t seem to intelligently discuss anything they don’t agree or approve of they only know to oppress, intimidate, and threaten which only demonstrates their closed-minded divisive, intolerant, fascist nature

An interesting and sad irony indeed, wherein so many self-described tolerant and open minded liberals have savagely attacked a human being for having the unmitigated gall to express an opinion that deviates from the myopic and narrow false narrative perpetrated by the sanctimonious Left for generations; namely that women and men are equal in every respect (indeed one and the same gender), and there are no significant cultural differences between peoples from across the globe. Having read the essay in question, it is clear that there is nothing posited that would approach anything close to resembling racism, misogyny or hate speech! On the contrary, and again ironically, the demeaning and disparaging comments hurled toward the young essayist reflect the true nature of the intolerant Left: animosity to anything other than self-evident Groupthink, a complete lack of understanding of the nature of critical thinking, and, quite frankly, represents a fascist approach wherein all dissent must be crushed. To equate ideas in this essay, such as the effect of demographic immigration shifts on Canada to white supremacist theories, or that advocating that the government provide more assistance to families that are raising children resembles NAZI policies, is ludicrous, intellectually dishonest, and shameful. It never ceases to amaze me that those on the Left, who presume to champion human rights, are the most egregious offenders of our fundamental liberties- including in this case the right to free speech. Looking for fascists people? Go look in the mirror.

As an after thought, the real contempt in this issue is reserved for the politicians who, instead of vigorously defending this young lady’s right to express herself, and owning their decision to award her third place standing, decided to collapse in a heap, issue apologies and essentially open her up to abuse and hatred. Shameful cowardice on display. This nation needs leaders to tell the real Fascists to fuck off.

Dead on Paul!!! Thank you for those refreshing words.

“women best suited as vessels for babies”

Seems to me, they are alot better suited then men.

Brett: The phrase, of course, means as opposed to doctors, lawyers and successful politicians, as opposed to men. But I’ll grant you the point for raising that one. DJC

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Advancing social justice, promoting decent work

Ilo is a specialized agency of the united nations, schoolchildren discuss future of work: an essay contest in baku.

On 14 June 2019, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Azerbaijan held in its premises an awarding ceremony of the essay contest on the topics of the ILO Centenary and the Future of Work. Schoolchildren from Baku took part in the contest.

Earth Day Events Planned at Scranton

In recognition of Pope Francis’s call toward environmental sustainability, The University of Scranton’s Sustainability Office chose “Sustainable Living, Caring for Creation” as the theme for this spring’s Earth Day celebration, which includes nearly a dozen events, many of which are open to the public, free of charge.

The theme is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” and The University of Scranton’s commitment to join a coalition of colleges from around the world to develop, implement and evaluate initiatives around seven ecological goals over a seven-year period to meet the Pope’s call for integral ecology and to gain designation by the Vatican as a Laudato Si’ University .

This year’s Earth Day Essay Contest, open to area students in grades 5-12, has the same theme: “Sustainable Living, Caring for Creation.” Submissions will be accepted until April 5, and winners will be announced at the Evening of Environmental Science event on April 18. For more details on the essay contest, visit the contest webpage .

The exhibit in the University’s Hope Horn Art Gallery, titled “Our Common Home, University Art Collection,” will highlight 20 th and 21 st century portrayals of scenes and nature associated with eastern Pennsylvania. The exhibit opens April 5, with a Curator’s Lecture in the Pearn Auditorium of Brennan Hall from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by an opening reception in the Hope Horn Gallery in Hyland Hall from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibit will be on display during gallery hours through May 3. The lecture, reception and exhibit are open to the public, free of charge.

The Weinberg Memorial Library will host an Environmental Art Show featuring art of members of the University community in the Charles Kratz Scranton Heritage Room from April 15 to April 24. A lecture by artist Theresa O’Connor on April 15 at 5 p.m. will open exhibit, that can be seen, free of charge, during library hours.

The University will host an Earth Day Fair on April 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Atrium of the Loyola Science Center. The event will feature University student displays as well as, displays from university departments, local non-profits and governmental offices, which will provide information about sustainable practices and products.

The Evening of Environmental Science, set for April 18, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Atrium of the Loyola Science Center, will feature a display of essays received for the Earth Day Essay Contest, as well interactive environmental displays and activities. Awards for the Earth Day Essay Contest will be presented at the event. The Earth Day Fair and the Evening of Environmental Science are open to the public, free of charge.

For members of the University community, the University will host a day-long Environmental Teach-In, which focuses on topics of environmental sustainability, on April 23, beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Loyola Science Center. Earth Day celebrations conclude with a kayaking trip on the Susquehanna River for students on May 5, hosted by the University’s Sustainability Office and the Society for Sustainability and Conservation.

Related Earth Day events that were held on campus prior to the month of April, included a World Water Day event at the DeNaples Center on March 21 that featured interactive activities and displays to help raise awareness of water usage and its importance. From Feb. 19 to 23 the Fresh Food Company held Plant Based Meals Week for University students. Also, on March 5, the film “The Letter: Laudato Si, A Message for our Earth” was screened at the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center.

Visit The University of Scranton’s sustainability webpage for information about the University’s sustainability efforts and Earth Day events , or call the Office of Sustainability at 570-941-6267.

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Student ‘How To’ Contest Winner

How to Become Friends With a Wild Bird

A winning essay by Shannon Hong, age 16.

By The Learning Network

This essay, by Shannon Hong, 16, of New Hyde Park, N.Y., is one of the Top 11 winners of The Learning Network’s new “How To” Informational Writing Contest for Teenagers .

We are publishing the work of all the winners over the next several days, and you can find them here as they post.

Each essay is illustrated by an image or video from a Times article that touches on the same topic. For this one we have used a video from a 2023 Times article, “ Why Mister Grouse Is the Friendliest Bird in the Forest .”

“I think the greatest gift a wild bird can give to you is friendship,” says Alexandra Rösch, author of the How to Befriend a Wild Bird series on her YouTube channel, Krari The Crow. Through many years of maintaining friendships with birds, Rösch has been able to find tranquility in the beauty of nature amidst the busyness of the world. Although it may seem like having a bird friend is something only Snow White can accomplish, developing a heartfelt connection with these feathered creatures is within your reach, whether outside your home or at a park.

“Familiarize yourself with the bird species you want to attract,” says Rösch. Although you can make friends with many types of birds, it’s easier to make friends once you lay the groundwork. Figure out what species you’re interested in and research its tastes. For example, while blue jays like to eat crushed peanuts, peanuts are too big for house sparrows, so if you want to attract house sparrows, try putting out bird seeds.

Once you’ve found a way to attract a bird species, let the birds come to you. Remember that most birds are not used to human interaction, so gentle persistence is key. Don’t act frustrated, as you may startle the bird. You can tell how a bird is feeling about you by the look of its feathers. “If a bird is relaxed, it will sit down and look all puffy,” says Rösch.

In the wild, birds recognize each other by their voice. If you want a bird to remember you, try talking to it. Some birds, such as crows, are even capable of facial recognition. Overall, if you spend enough time with the bird, it’ll be able to “recognize you regardless of what you wear,” says Rösch. Over time, a bird will be able to put its trust in you, just like people in human relationships.

You can tell if a bird sees you as a friend if it visits you frequently and comes close to you without fear. They will realize that you’re someone who is trying to help them.

Once you’ve built a friendship with a bird, you can continue to maintain this bond by spending time with your new avian companion. You just might notice how calming it is to just spend some quality time watching your bird friend. “It is a very beautiful experience,” says Rösch.