Urinals Would Be Banned In 1/3 Of Liberal Ridings

Dion will have to rethink this promise.....

Do you agree with the Liberal strategy of selecting only female candidates in some ridings?

Yes 309 18%
No 1375 81%

People Speak Out

So this is democracy?

Stéphane Dion's plan for more female candidates in the next election is being called discriminatory
Feb 10, 2007 04:30 AM

Dion may bar male candidates in some ridings

Feb. 9.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's apparent plan to prohibit men from running in some ridings in the next federal election is troubling. If true, and if subsequently implemented, the plan would implicitly condescend to women and discriminate against men.

Dion's apparent plan would allow only women to run in these particular ridings for the Liberals just because they are women. And qualified and capable men would be barred from running as Liberals in these ridings just because they are men.

I understand the misguided logic behind the reported plan – that is, to help increase the number of elected women in Parliament. Yet the notion implies that women can't or won't run or win in an election without receiving preferential treatment.

This seems offensive and condescending to women who have rightly fought over the years for equality and to be treated the same as men. And the reported plan clearly discriminates against men because they are men.

No amount of rationalizing by Dion and his cohorts about this apparent sexist plan can justify its implicit unfairness.

Tim Cowan, London, Ont.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion would be wise to check out United Nations human-rights standards before he embarks on the banning of male Liberal party candidates in some ridings.

Paragraph 401 of The United Nations and Human Rights: 1945-1995 (United Nations Blue Book Series) states, "Inequalities (between men and women) can persist in practice despite the existence of laws and regulations intended to guarantee equality under the law. Therefore, the ... parties to the convention (on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women) are invited to take special measures to establish de facto equality while ensuring that these measures are non-discriminatory."

Banning males from running for the Liberal party is discriminatory. And it doesn't say much about Dion's commitment to UN human-rights standards (including those that have the force of law in Canada) that he would so nonchalantly engage in the violation of human rights in order to gain a minor political advantage.

Sid Knowles, Mississauga

I read, with some dismay, that Liberal campaign organizers plan on barring men from being nominated in some ridings so that they can meet their target of 33 per cent female candidates.

While I applaud any attempt to increase the role of women in government, I can't help but wonder if the Liberals have taken into account the very discriminatory nature of their announcement.

Gerard Kennedy, Stéphane Dion's special adviser on election readiness, says this is "consistent with our democratic processes." I disagree. Canada has a tradition of promoting equality. It's a shame the Liberals seem to have forgotten this.

Rafael Gomez, Guelph, Ont.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to read that the Liberals are planning on women-only nomination races. To quote Gerard Kennedy, Stéphane Dion's special adviser on election readiness, "We're trying to find the techniques that are consistent with our democratic processes to the greatest extent possible."

I am having a hard time equating democracy with this policy.

Dugald Souter, Kemptville, Ont.