Why We Really Should Be Upset with Iris Evans
It's already old news, the uproar over Alberta's Minister of Finance and Enterprise Iris Evans' comments last week about how she believes it is best for a parent to stay home to raise the kids. I don't know what the rest of the country is upset about at this moment, but here in Edmonton, we've moved on to fume over MLA Doug Elniski's comments about women's equality and what men find attractive.Oh, it never gets boring in oil country let me tell you.
What Iris Evans said is something we've all heard hundreds of times. Even my own mother who was the primary breadwinner in our family for many years has said similar things to me. I can understand why people were upset with Iris Evans. As Haley-O already explored, we're all pretty sick of being pitted against each other. Being a parent is hard enough. But this isn't why we should be upset with Iris Evans.
For me what was shocking was not what she said (it's up to her constituents to decide if she speaks for them in the next election), but that she didn't say anything with meaning afterward. As the Minister of Finance and Enterprise, I expected her to announce programs to support her views--an increase in minimum wage, liveable single-parent subsidies, rent control. In a province as rich as Alberta, there are no excuses.
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of politicians who have so much to say, but give us nothing tangible. The Conservatives have it pretty easy here, they've been in power provincially for thirty-four years. (Coming from BC where the politics is bi-polar at best, this makes my head explode.) But maybe it's time the citizens start demanding our politicians speak and work for us.
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