Al Schalm’s letter to the editor extolled the virtues of Christy Clark and implied that NDP supporters are stupid. He also expressed that women should love Clark’s feminist views. What a place of privilege this man speaks from. I can tell you that the liberal and left leaning people I have met are intelligent, educated folk with a drive to not only support themselves, but to help make the world a better place. They are generous with their time, spirit and money. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn’t made an attempt to get to know us.
In respect to Clark being someone we women can look up to, I vehemently disagree. From her heavy make up, pink suits and disingenuous smile, she is actually the stereotype of what we are trying to get away from. She has not supported programs or legislation that would protect women and help them either rise out of poverty or reach equality.
A feminist would be supporting legislation that disproportionately affects women. Sixty per cent of minimum wage earners are women and 83 per cent of single-parent families are headed by women. Increase minimum wage so women raising families alone get some help. Supporting daycare initiatives, increasing support for services to victims of sexual assault, and raising welfare rates all help to address problems that disproportionately affect women and their children. Teachers are 70 per cent women but Clark spent 16 years and millions of our tax dollars dragging them through court.
If Mary Ellen Spear Smith could accomplish so much for women as a lone female MLA, surely Clark, as premier, can do something more. One thing I heard consistently on the campaign trail from Liberal, NDP, and undecided voters alike was that they despised Clark. We all agree that she is no hero to us.
Sylvia Lindgren