To be a female voter in Canada is to have other people most of whom, it must be said, are not female tell you what your problems are.  The most recent example is International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne's announcement of forthcoming trade missions for women, as well as LGBTQ and Indigenous Canadians, at the party's national convention in Halifax, the idea being that "those who have been ignored in the past" "have not fully shared in the benefits of trade."

Like many of the Liberals' previous feminist initiatives, this one is not negative.  But it leaves a plurality of real-life women at a loss to explain how it will help them.  Female business owners are a narrow segment of voters, and female business owners who benefit from government cheerleading are narrower still.  Yet Champagne would have you believe this trade mission is for the good of women, period.

This isn't new.  When Canadian politicians talk about "women," they are usually talking about their woman: a female voter who has been reverse-engineered to like their platform and match their target demographics.  She may only exist in speeches, but you can see her reflected in every policy proposal aimed at women.  Marketers have created customer archetypes this way for generations.  In the era of voter microtargeting, however, parties risk being tuned out by women who don't match the archetype.

Nevertheless, they persist.  Here are the model female voters you can expect for the 2019 election:

Liberal: Amy (age 25-45) lives in or within a short commute of a major city.  She has a professional degree, or some certifications on top of her undergraduate degree.  She works full-time for a major company and is eager to move up to the C-suite.  She is married to someone with a very similar socioeconomic status to her own.  They have one or two children, and their biggest sources of stress are the costs of their mortgage and daycare.  Amy considers herself a feminist, which she defines simply as equality between women and men, and participates in a number of women's leadership groups around town.  Politically, her biggest priority is gender equality in corporate Canada.

Conservative: Donna (age 35-60) lives in a mid-size city, or within an hour's commute of a major city.  She has a university degree.  She works part-time in a position that is not prestigious, but offers a flexible schedule and decent pay.  She is married to someone in a higher-pay, higher-stress position than her own.  They invariably have two or more children, and the cost and schedule of their kids' activities is their biggest source of stress.  Donna is not a fan of the word "feminist," although if you ask, she'll say women and men should be equal.  Politically, her biggest priority is community safety.

NDP: Jodie (age 18-35) lives in the core of the city where she earned her first social science degree, and is working toward a master's.  She works part-time in a community health clinic.  She is involved in a number of local activist groups and can often be seen at marches and rallies around town.  She is currently single and does not see herself having children.  Her biggest source of stress is her student debt.  She fully embraces the word "feminist," although she believes feminism has largely failed to address race and gender identity.  Politically, her biggest priority is climate change.

Who is missing from partisan Canada's outreach to women?  (Besides me, I mean.  Nobody speaks to a Canadian voter of any sex whose biggest priorities are international labour mobility and flattening the tax code.)  Note that while all of the above women have things to worry about, none of them are truly suffering.  They're educated, employed, and free to pursue their interests.  The single mother in public housing, the cancer patient waiting months on end for life-saving surgery, the lifelong mill worker witnessing the collapse of her hometown's economy in real time where are they?  Afterthoughts, at best.  For each party, the model female voter is the profitable female voter.  The one who can be persuaded to write them a check if you promise the right roundtable or tax credit or grant.  But women with real problems require too much work.

And if a woman is not truly suffering, if she's simply not ambitious enough to be Amy, not low-key enough to be Donna, and not passionate enough to be Jodie, she's too inscrutable even for lip service.  She's the first to tune everyone out.

Photo Credit: Toronto Star

Written by Jess Morgan

On a rainy Tuesday night in Woodbridge, Ontario, throngs of provincial Liberal Party supporters packed into Montecassino Place Banquet Hall for the nomination meeting and rally for Liberal MPP and Minister of Economic Development and Growth Steven Del Duca, who is running as the first OLP candidate in the new riding of Vaughan-Woodbridge — one of fifteen seats being added to Queen's Park this election (which will make the new seat count 122 at the provincial legislature after this election).

Despite the tea leaves showing the Liberals may get trounced this election — polls repeatedly show the Liberals well behind the Progressive Conservatives, sometimes even third behind the NDP — the mood was very upbeat for Del Duca's rally and nomination meeting, where about 1,000 showed up to support him.

Outside the hall, dozens upon dozens of LiUNA Local 183 members stood outside chanting, "Hey, hey, ho! Del Duca has go to go!"  The union members were protesting the changes in Liberals' 2018 budget that they believe strips away their collective bargaining rights.  They also set up a large inflatable rat holding an alliterative sign reading "Dirty Deal Del Duca".

No matter the potential harbingers of the rain, protesters and polling for the impending fate of the OLP, the atmosphere inside the packed hall juxtaposed the outside tumult with enthusiasm, albeit not quite on par with recent Ford rallies, but not too far off.

This wasn't a typical party riding association's nomination meeting.  Attending Del Duca's de facto pre-launch bid to replace Wynne as OLP leader were some other eminent political figures.  Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, former Liberal MPP for Vaughan and Minister of Finance Greg Sorbara, and Vaughan mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua all were in attendance and gave lengthy speeches praising Del Duca.

Del Duca, a Liberal MPP since 2012 and former union administrator, has been one of the stronger and more prominent members of Premier Kathleen Wynne's cabinet in his previous role as Minister of Transportation, moved to the position of Minister of Economic Development and Growth in a recent cabinet shuffle.  In the Vaughan-Woodbridge Liberal riding association press release, his "achievements" listed were all government facilities and transportation projects he had been able to get for Vaughan, including the city's first subway, connection to the Highway 427 extension, a new hospital, six new schools, and "increased GO train service".

Absent was the direct mention of the contentious Kirby GO Station, planned to be built in Del Duca's riding, the Ministry of Transportation announced as one of twelve new stations, even though it hadn't been approved by Metrolinx and the agency's own reports suggested the Kirby station would result in a drop in overall ridership on that GO line.

In an election where many Liberal seats are up for grabs, Del Duca, if the nomination meeting is any indicator, is clearly popular with his constituents, likely due in large part to his ability to get government facilities and transportation projects built in his riding.

Former PM Chretien's speech was well-received and indirectly touched on a couple of elephants in the room.

"To be a Liberal is to be fiscally responsible and socially preoccupied," said Chretien to the rapturous crowd.

Yet, on Wednesday the Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk would come out with a scathing report deeming the Liberal government's financial books "not reasonable" because her office believes the Liberals are understating the deficit by $5 billion this year, which would mean the current deficit is around $11 billion.  Furthermore, the Liberal government plans to run deficits for several more years, even though annual provincial interest payments on the debt are already the fourth largest expense item in the provincial budget, and that's with interest rates being currently low.  A Globe and Mail report over the weekend explained how the Liberal government refinanced the Hydro debt in a convoluted way, likely resulting in the province having to pay an additional $4 billion in interest payments to service that debt.

Premier Wynne's government has been anything but fiscally responsible.

"[Wynne] has shown a lot of courage in front of very difficult files," said Chretien, going on to praise Wynne's leadership.

Yet Chretien flew to Toronto, at the age of 84, to be at Del Duca's nomination meeting, indicating Del Duca wanted him there to raise his profile before the likely events of the Liberals losing the impending election, Wynne stepping down as the leader of the OLP, and Del Duca throwing his hat into the ring to replace her.  At the nomination meeting I couldn't help but think, just as the rain, protesters and polls foreshadow the demise of the current Liberal government, the enthusiasm in that room signified a not-too-distant future rejuvenation to come.

Photo Credit: Yorkregion.com

Written by Graeme C. Gordon