A note to subscribers: Yes, I know. Newsletter posts have slowed to a trickle over the past several weeks. I’ve been accosted by loyal subscribers on social media and the LRT platform, wondering what’s going on. I can’t blame it on a giant infrastructure failure. I’ve just been busy writing a conference paper and working on another project. And, I’ll confess, I’ve been feeling quite weary about Alberta politics. When I peek at social media, the polarized discourse is very discouraging. And that brings us to the subject of today’s post: Shannon Phillips's decision to leave politics.
Is "polarizing" the right term when so much of this crap stems not from ideological disagreements but from people existing in completely different information spaces/realities?
Thank you for helping us to rethink or at least explore ‘polarization.’ I find it really hard to be constructive when I think of it in those terms. Even if we temporarily call it something else, something useful may emerge.
Dammit Ms. Young, you are just so good at what you do, so spot on.
I too would like to thank Shannon Phillips for her commitment to her constituents and the province.
I would also like to say “shame” to the Lethbridge police officers and higher ups who facilitated and/or condoned and/or turned a blind eye; may your actions have real consequences.
Sharp and disturbing analysis of women in politics, thank you.
It's always been rare and challenging to be a woman politician in Canada, but this new harassment from social media represents a whole new level of hardship and discouragement.
In the mid-80s, I was a Legislative Intern in the AB Leg. I wrote a research paper about the 12 women (out of 75) MLAs, including Ministers. They graciously participated in interviews and described in detail their paths to nomination, election, and experiences as women politicians and mothers, spouses, etc. (Lisa, you can find my study in the AB Leg Library).
Back then, yes, we were all so hopeful that women were finally breaking through into elected politics in a way that existed only in other places.
Women have been elected and successful in many nations, including as leaders, but Canada trails far behind.
We are witnessing a small but loud backlash to the rise of women -- in education, in the workplace, in politics, in leadership.
We need to strengthen our processes and institutions to better support women who take on public leadership.
We need to think seriously about creating a system where death threat/violence threat goons can be traced, warned and then deplatformed. What good is an internet that operates as a mafia threatening our elected officials....and what are police for, if not to prevent that kind of lawlessness???
I think we've become far too complacent....and spineless. Beating up student protestors of a genocide on campus, but powerless to keep male chauvenist pigs from convincing our qualified women not to run for office?????
I was sad to see Ms. Phillips was leaving politics, sad but not surprised. That seems to be the way of the world these days; police intimidate a woman politician, threaten democracy, and the woman is the one who pays the price. Gonna go out on a limb here but when the pro forma kudos from the UCP get spewed up in the Leg, no one will mention the lack of consequences for police misconduct.
It seems to be getting even nastier out there. Toddler, bully behaviour is becoming the latest standard with so much of this very behaviour on constant display by the Federal Leader of the opposition 'normalizing' it. Strangely it's also women bashing women as part of this dirty politics. The level of mis/disinformation is also startling. People click onto some nonsense and just continue spreading. No desire to ponder for a moment or check actual situations. Mainstream media is also playing this game.
We have a Premier and government living and governoring in a different reality. Tired isn't the right word. Discouraged or disgusting are more appropriate and writing a column about the SOS every week is exhausting. Heck I get exhausted just reading about the Bee Sss, the retraction, the reduction of freedom. The intrusion into our lives with unwelcome legislation almost daily, and especially the threat to our democracy by dissolving independent boards to have the Premiersoffice of non civil service non elected Making the decisions. The dishonesty of accepting a coal mine refused already application illegally and having to go to court to get info thru freedom of info act is corruption at the Premier level. TIRED, time for a change
First, as to “polarization”, they are right. It is not the right word.
The basic problem is we are living in an oligarchy. Only a fool thinks Canada is a democracy or ever has been. In an oligarchy, factions of an elite fight for power and control. They try to build followings among the population. They direct these followings using propaganda networks creating false realities. They come to believe their own false realities.
In an oligarchy, there are always campaigns to take out key people in the opposing camp, or people who are just not going along with them. I have noticed a strong tendency for these types of creeps to use the target’s opposite sex against them. Women will have sexual harassment directed against them, as referred to in this article. You know what men get falsely accused of, or trapped into.
Our present oligarchy is breaking down. We are in economic decline. The only thing actually “growing” in our economy is debt. We are headed for a fascist type dictatorship. Such entities always prove incapable of governing, but they create an incredible mess for some years.
The only solution is a transition government which can abolish the oligarchy and lay down the conditions in which a democracy would be possible. You can call this a ‘trusteeship”, dictatorship”, or whatever. Nothing else is finally going to get us out of the present dilemma. Those who find this unacceptable will not want to be told they are in their own false reality.
The attack and disinformation machines of the oligarchic factions must be broken up. The whole society must be brought back to sanity. That means, there is one truth and one reality, for everyone, always. There are no ‘poles’.
I, as a male, simply have no first hand knowledge of what women go through in politics. Certainly, some will say that politics is a rough game and if the can't take the heat ..... and all that stuff. Certainly politics is a rough game - really, what sane person WOULD enjoy that stuff? - but, as near as I can tell, there is much more vitriol and just plain nastiness when one is a woman. That is, as near as I can tell, but I will allow you and other women to comment more fully and intelligently that I ever could.
Now, something else. I am a Calgarian and I fully accept that perhaps Jyoti Gondek is getting a rough right. Well, she doggoned well deserves a rough ride! I absolutely understand that women have issues that may be different than mere males and that in many cases the criticism is unfair and just, too, too, too much.
BUT, when a woman - or a man - fouls up as badly as Gondek has fouled up then they should be lit up forever and a day.
So, I request that both you and readers do not defend Gondek because she is a woman; if you do wish to defend her do it because you believe that she did a good job. I absolutely do not believe that she has done a good job; I think that her performance has been an abomination, and that is not an evaluation based on gender but on performance. Having said that, I fully recognize thatI am simply one person and you may have a completely different evaluation of her - but please do not make that evaluation because of her gender.
Is "polarizing" the right term when so much of this crap stems not from ideological disagreements but from people existing in completely different information spaces/realities?
Thank you for helping us to rethink or at least explore ‘polarization.’ I find it really hard to be constructive when I think of it in those terms. Even if we temporarily call it something else, something useful may emerge.
Dammit Ms. Young, you are just so good at what you do, so spot on.
I too would like to thank Shannon Phillips for her commitment to her constituents and the province.
I would also like to say “shame” to the Lethbridge police officers and higher ups who facilitated and/or condoned and/or turned a blind eye; may your actions have real consequences.
And the Crown Prosecutors? Words fail me…
Sharp and disturbing analysis of women in politics, thank you.
It's always been rare and challenging to be a woman politician in Canada, but this new harassment from social media represents a whole new level of hardship and discouragement.
In the mid-80s, I was a Legislative Intern in the AB Leg. I wrote a research paper about the 12 women (out of 75) MLAs, including Ministers. They graciously participated in interviews and described in detail their paths to nomination, election, and experiences as women politicians and mothers, spouses, etc. (Lisa, you can find my study in the AB Leg Library).
Back then, yes, we were all so hopeful that women were finally breaking through into elected politics in a way that existed only in other places.
Women have been elected and successful in many nations, including as leaders, but Canada trails far behind.
We are witnessing a small but loud backlash to the rise of women -- in education, in the workplace, in politics, in leadership.
We need to strengthen our processes and institutions to better support women who take on public leadership.
We need to think seriously about creating a system where death threat/violence threat goons can be traced, warned and then deplatformed. What good is an internet that operates as a mafia threatening our elected officials....and what are police for, if not to prevent that kind of lawlessness???
I think we've become far too complacent....and spineless. Beating up student protestors of a genocide on campus, but powerless to keep male chauvenist pigs from convincing our qualified women not to run for office?????
A serious reboot is in order.
This is all very sad. Here's what is happening in my neighbourhood, not that you really need to collect more examples: https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/pam-damoff-wont-seek-re-election-citing-fears-for-her-safety-and-disgust-with-toxicity/article_7de9e596-07ba-11ef-977d-57a581fd24d5.html
I was sad to see Ms. Phillips was leaving politics, sad but not surprised. That seems to be the way of the world these days; police intimidate a woman politician, threaten democracy, and the woman is the one who pays the price. Gonna go out on a limb here but when the pro forma kudos from the UCP get spewed up in the Leg, no one will mention the lack of consequences for police misconduct.
It seems to be getting even nastier out there. Toddler, bully behaviour is becoming the latest standard with so much of this very behaviour on constant display by the Federal Leader of the opposition 'normalizing' it. Strangely it's also women bashing women as part of this dirty politics. The level of mis/disinformation is also startling. People click onto some nonsense and just continue spreading. No desire to ponder for a moment or check actual situations. Mainstream media is also playing this game.
We have a Premier and government living and governoring in a different reality. Tired isn't the right word. Discouraged or disgusting are more appropriate and writing a column about the SOS every week is exhausting. Heck I get exhausted just reading about the Bee Sss, the retraction, the reduction of freedom. The intrusion into our lives with unwelcome legislation almost daily, and especially the threat to our democracy by dissolving independent boards to have the Premiersoffice of non civil service non elected Making the decisions. The dishonesty of accepting a coal mine refused already application illegally and having to go to court to get info thru freedom of info act is corruption at the Premier level. TIRED, time for a change
Hello, Lisa;
First, as to “polarization”, they are right. It is not the right word.
The basic problem is we are living in an oligarchy. Only a fool thinks Canada is a democracy or ever has been. In an oligarchy, factions of an elite fight for power and control. They try to build followings among the population. They direct these followings using propaganda networks creating false realities. They come to believe their own false realities.
In an oligarchy, there are always campaigns to take out key people in the opposing camp, or people who are just not going along with them. I have noticed a strong tendency for these types of creeps to use the target’s opposite sex against them. Women will have sexual harassment directed against them, as referred to in this article. You know what men get falsely accused of, or trapped into.
Our present oligarchy is breaking down. We are in economic decline. The only thing actually “growing” in our economy is debt. We are headed for a fascist type dictatorship. Such entities always prove incapable of governing, but they create an incredible mess for some years.
The only solution is a transition government which can abolish the oligarchy and lay down the conditions in which a democracy would be possible. You can call this a ‘trusteeship”, dictatorship”, or whatever. Nothing else is finally going to get us out of the present dilemma. Those who find this unacceptable will not want to be told they are in their own false reality.
The attack and disinformation machines of the oligarchic factions must be broken up. The whole society must be brought back to sanity. That means, there is one truth and one reality, for everyone, always. There are no ‘poles’.
I, as a male, simply have no first hand knowledge of what women go through in politics. Certainly, some will say that politics is a rough game and if the can't take the heat ..... and all that stuff. Certainly politics is a rough game - really, what sane person WOULD enjoy that stuff? - but, as near as I can tell, there is much more vitriol and just plain nastiness when one is a woman. That is, as near as I can tell, but I will allow you and other women to comment more fully and intelligently that I ever could.
Now, something else. I am a Calgarian and I fully accept that perhaps Jyoti Gondek is getting a rough right. Well, she doggoned well deserves a rough ride! I absolutely understand that women have issues that may be different than mere males and that in many cases the criticism is unfair and just, too, too, too much.
BUT, when a woman - or a man - fouls up as badly as Gondek has fouled up then they should be lit up forever and a day.
So, I request that both you and readers do not defend Gondek because she is a woman; if you do wish to defend her do it because you believe that she did a good job. I absolutely do not believe that she has done a good job; I think that her performance has been an abomination, and that is not an evaluation based on gender but on performance. Having said that, I fully recognize thatI am simply one person and you may have a completely different evaluation of her - but please do not make that evaluation because of her gender.