Conservative Party Casts Doubt on Qualifications of Women Cabinet Ministers
Party’s top spokesperson under fire over statements suggesting women are appointed to cabinet to fulfill a ‘gender’ quota
The Conservative Party of Canada’s top spokesperson is under fire after issuing a tweet suggesting women cabinet ministers were selected to fulfill a “gender” quota.
Sarah Fischer, the Conservative Party of Canada’s Director of Communications, issued the tweet in response to international headlines lambasting Conservative MPs for refusing to applaud women cabinet members.
During United States President Joe Biden’s address to Canada’s House of Commons last week, Biden scolded Conservative MPs who refused to applaud.
“Even if you don’t agree guys, I’d stand up,” Biden told the Conservative MPs.
Biden calls out Canadian MPs who didn’t applaud female Cabinet members during speech https://t.co/ARpQhbGyjT
— The Independent (@Independent) March 25, 2023
Responding to the international headlines over the weekend, the Conservative Party’s communications director suggested ministers serving in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet have no way to know if they were selected on the basis of “gender” rather than “merit.”
“Imagine being a woman in Trudeau’s cabinet and not knowing if it was merit or gender that got you there,” Fischer tweeted.
Imagine being a woman in Trudeau’s cabinet and not knowing if it was merit or gender that got you there.
— Sarah Fischer (@SarahFischer__) March 26, 2023
Within a day, the tweet has already received several hundred critical responses, including from a number of provincial cabinet ministers in British Columbia.
Bowinn Ma, BC’s Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, responded that “comments like these undermine all women” while Grace Lore, BC’s Minister of State for Child Care, commented that Fischer’s comments “undercuts every single leader” who is a woman.
On Twitter, Fischer responded to critics by accusing them of “radical wokeism.”
Neither Fischer nor the Conservative Party of Canada responded to requests for comment from PressProgress.
Shortly after receiving questions in connection to this story, Fischer tweeted that she finds it “patronizing, insulting and demeaning when Trudeau expects a pat on the back or a standing ovation for placing women in his cabinet to fill a quota.”
Fischer did not respond to follow-up questions from PressProgress asking if she had a specific concern about the qualifications of any specific cabinet ministers whom she alleges were appointed to fulfill a quota.
Prior to being hired as the Conservative Party’s Director of Communications, Fischer had been a long-time party staffer and 2019 Conservative candidate under Andrew Scheer in the Toronto-area suburban riding of Don Valley North.
After the election, Fischer launched a blog in which she expressed support for the Freedom Convoy and ranted about conspiratorial threats to Canada.
NEW: New Conservative communications director railed against ‘globalists’ and ‘new world order’ on blog.
“Woke defenders of the proposed societal reengineering have labelled its critics conspiracy theorists … This is not a conspiracy theory.”https://t.co/cNrrnFqZd2 #cdnpoli
— PressProgress (@pressprogress) November 8, 2022
One post alleges a plot between Trudeau, the World Economic Forum and other “globalists” and “globalist organizations” are using the COVID-19 pandemic to bring about “the inception of a new world order.”
“Woke defenders of the proposed societal reengineering have labelled its critics conspiracy theorists,” Fischer warned her readers.
“This is not a conspiracy theory; it couldn’t be more blatantly obvious.”
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