MLA disheartened after resolution honouring women politicians devolves into 'hurtful' remarks

A Manitoba MLA says some of her colleagues ruined what was supposed to be a respectful discussion about the achievements of women politicians.

While debating a Progressive Conservative resolution recognizing the historic role of women in Manitoba politics, Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureux said Tuesday she heard "hurtful and disrespectful comments" that she found particularly troubling on International Women's Day.

During the debate, Lamoureux says, a male politician asked aloud who wrote the speech a female legislator was reading.

She recalled three individuals saying there are no feminists in the other party, which Lamoureux condemned by saying if politicians take "this blaming stance, they are actually obstructing any systemic change."

One male MLA referred to other members as "mean girls," Lamoureux added, before retracting the statement, while some members mocked International Women's Day by singing Stand By Your Man.

"I'm blown away at this level of disrespect in this chamber, and I'm ashamed because Manitobans deserve better," Lamoureux, who represents Tyndall Park, said in her response to the members' statement. Some MLAs in the Tory caucus gave her a standing ovation.

Bystanders hold blame, too: Lamoureux

Lamoureux told the legislative chamber she scrapped her earlier remarks about International Women's Day in order to bring attention to the issue of decorum. The resolution was debated in the morning, before question period in the afternoon.

She declined to name names or blame any political parties, saying all MLAs hold some blame as "we all stood by as bystanders as it happened."

But Health Minister Audrey Gordon, with the governing Progressive Conservatives, pointed fingers at the NDP.

"What is the message that they're sending to girls and other women that want to sit in this Manitoba Legislature, that they'll be shouted down and told that they're mean and we don't belong here? It's unacceptable." 

She was the individual talking when a male MLA questioned whether she wrote her speech recognizing the accomplishments of female politicians, Gordon said.

She pointed out that her speech was non-partisan, acknowledging former Liberal leader Sharon Carstairs, the first woman in Canada to lead a political party, and current NDP MLA  Amanda Lathlin, the first First Nations woman to become a MLA in Manitoba.

Responding to the allegations against her party, NDP MLA Malaya Marcelino said she only heard one of those comments and said the "mean girls" remark was retracted by her colleague after it was said.

"I'm here to focus on things that we can do as legislators to improve things for women on International Women's Day, and I'm sure that all the legislators that were gathered here today want those same things."

Close pay gap, NDP says

To that end, Marcelino introduced a private members' bill Tuesday to call upon the government to help close the pay gap by requiring private employers with more than 100 employees to file a pay audit report, outlining disclosed gender and racial identities and the rate of pay for each position.

The legislation would also ask companies bidding on government contracts to ensure they have reached pay equity. The bill, however, cannot pass without the support of the governing Progressive Conservative.

As of last year, federally regulated employers are required by law to provide equal pay to all people for the same type of work.

After question period Tuesday, Lamoureux said she hoped her members' statement will help improve the decorum in the house, which she said is worsening in her opinion.

The day earlier, Speaker of the House Myrna Driedger told the house the "overall noise level" has become too high now that all MLAs are in chamber again as pandemic restrictions have eased.

"It can also give a negative or unflattering view of the assembly to those who are watching our proceedings, particularly at this time of world unrest," Driedger said, according to the legislature's transcription.

In 2019, a tearful Lamoureux condemned "cheap shots" from NDP members who were implying her accomplishments in politics were due to her father's political pedigree.