Prime minister, don’t take women’s support for granted
OTTAWA—Prime Minister Mark Carney is even more popular with Progressive Conservatives today than he is with some Liberals.
At a meeting last week of the Ottawa Women’s Canadian Club, several high-profile Tories weighed in with how much they like the job he is doing. Carney’s decision to appoint the spouse of former PC prime minister Joe Clark to chair a search committee for the Supreme Court was lauded by all. Maureen McTeer has just been named chair of the Independent Advisory board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments.
The appointment was very popular with Women’s Canadian Club members, especially those of a certain age. We were recalling the thrashing McTeer took when she kept her own name back when Clark became the youngest elected prime minister at the age of 39 in 1979. It is hard to comprehend today, but so many people were livid at McTeer, claiming Clark was unfit to be prime minister because his wife would not take his last name.
The luncheon was held at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, with the topic advertised as “Life After Politics.”
Former Ontario minister and MPP Lisa MacLeod joined me on the panel which was chaired by North Grenville Mayor Nancy Peckford.
The audience included a number of former government officials and bureaucrats who well remembered how hard it was for a woman to even choose to keep her own name back in the last century.
Subject matter for the event included questions about whether women are treated differently from men when they leave politics.
MacLeod said her male colleagues who retired landed immediately in jobs while she got no offers. Instead, she started her own company.
More than two decades ago, I had the same experience. When I left politics, I was not invited to sit on a single corporate board, even though my experience in government involved responsibility for a $3.2-billion budget and 15 Crown corporations. I also chose to set up my own job, incorporating a communications and government-relations business.
The political buzz at the meeting revolved primarily around Carney and how his moves are definitely appreciated by Progressive Conservatives. One former minister in the government of Stephen Harper went so far as to tell a whole table of women that there was no way that current Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would ever be elected to the top job. Instead, those who had voted Conservative in the past were moving over to the Liberals as long as Carney was leading the country.
The crowd was primarily made up of older women, which is the demographic that has consistently kept Liberals in power for the past decade. That is also the demographic that tends to lean more to the left on environmental and social issues. The fact that their support for Carney appears strong should obviously be of concern to Poilievre’s team.
But the environmental issues that can move votes could also be plaguing the Liberals very shortly.
Respected Toronto Star journalist Althia Raj published an opinion piece last week that will cause many women to sit up and take notice. The headline read, “Mark Carney’s pesticide policy could put the economy ahead of your health.”
The new legislation, included in two omnibus financial bills, now includes economic considerations into the decision-making process for pesticide approval under the Pest Control Products Act. The legislation also allows cabinet to overrule the decision of a single minister who declares a pesticide dangerous.
According to Raj, the proposed legislation is aligning with changes currently being introduced in the United States to weaken control over pesticide approvals in that country.
But a number of environmental organizations have objected to the bill's intentions to replace a stand-alone health decision with one factoring in economic considerations.
Likewise, cabinet power to override a single minister would likely be used to promote pesticide approvals even if there are health risks.
All in all, it's the kind of under-the-radar political discussion that will not likely make front-page news. But it is the kind of change that could alienate women who tend to focus more on environmental and health concerns.
Right now, the prime minister can count on the support of these women. They know how much things have improved since the time when McTeer was attacked simply for keeping her own last name.
But women’s support should not be taken for granted.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister, and a former deputy prime minister.
The Hill Times