Barbara Kay on the Liberal Red Book III

Everyone should read Barbara Kay in the National Post today where she demolishes the Liberal Party’s Pink Book III. Here’s a tidbit:

There isn’t a single body of women in Canada that receives federal or provincial funding that is not ideology-driven, and that includes the Liberal Women’s Caucus. The Pink Book III is rife with debunked statistics – for example, that old chestnut about women earning 70% of what men make; come on, we know that figure mainly reflects self- selection out of areas of higher personal demand so that women can spend more time with their children, a choice they happily make.

About a decade ago I wrote a piece for the Hamilton Spectator in which I argued that the wage gap between men and women in the 1990s represented a victory for feminism because it was 90% explained by the decisions women were free to make: going to school, choosing the profession of their choice, having a family, etc… The important thing about the wage gap is that it practically does not exist within an  industry between men and women of comparable education, seniority and uninterrupted years of work. Leaving the workforce for three years to have a child or two costs women when they return. That’s not an indictment of having a family or of supposedly sexist employers. It is just a fact. Needless to say there were lots of hysterical women who wrote angry letters to the editor.

About the Red Book, remember this: according to polls, the Liberals have lost their historical lead among women voters and now the Tories have a small but statistically significant lead. They have to do something to attract women voters. Of course, considering that this is Red Book III, perhaps a new tact is necessary; obviously Red Book I and Red Book II haven’t done the trick.