LETTER FROM THE COLUMNIST
Regarding last week’s LETTER TO THE EDITOR
In response to Kathy Wiens;
Unfortunately what you are suggesting is gender consistency, an admirable first step, but something different from gender equality. I suggest that the paucity of women in government is even more reason to ensure that what women there are receive positions of respect and authority (where they are qualified, of course). Doing this would likely encourage more women to run for government positions, leading to a more even balance. And while I fully agree that our primary concern should be of the suitability of the member, you admit yourself that this rarely happens. Given that, then why should we not push at least for the representation of men and women on Cabinet to more closely reflect the population, or at very least to maintain the minimal gender consistency (of 9 women on Cabinet), something your own count shows the government has failed to do. The hypocrisy lies in that we are attempting to tell other countries to promote gender equality. Yet we are taking no steps to promote it, we’re barely maintaining consistency.
Karl Low
