Of course the New Democrats have been “dismissive” of Premier Christy Clark.
Who wasn’t?
Nearly everyone was dismissive during her two years as premier before the 2013 election. The media, the pollsters, people on every corner — including more than a few Liberals — wrote her off almost completely. Right up until the first returns on election night showed that she had confounded all expectations and scored one of the biggest comeback wins in history.
Where it gets decidedly touchy is in determining whether that dismissive attitude has continued past the election as far as the NDP is concerned, and whether it’s based partly on the fact she is a woman. She thinks it is so and has made a determined effort to air the point.
She said last week the NDP — mentioning former leader Adrian Dix and present leader John Horgan — sees women in politics differently from men. Then re-emphasizing later: “There’s no question the NDP are pretty dismissive of me.”
She went on to say that — although in her role it doesn’t apply — “for a lot of women, being dismissed at work, and having the things you say written off because of your gender, really hurts a lot of people.”
Horgan and party strategists gnashed their teeth over this foray over the weekend but decided not to respond. Until Tuesday, when during a conference call with reporters he took it on at some length.
He said he passed at first because the idea is “ridiculous.”
“I personally do everything I can to be as balanced as possible on these matters in my personal life and my political life. I was offended by it, to be quite honest.”
Horgan said his differences with Clark are entirely about ideas, and gender is irrelevant.
He said there is no evidence her comments are accurate but “it became a story. I’m disappointed by that.”
“I have had nothing but strong female role models in my life and I am everything that I am as a result of that.
“I’m passionate and I’m big and I’m male and there’s not a damn thing I can do about that.”
Horgan said he’ll continue to do his best to meet public expectations of an Opposition leader and criticize Clark.
“Is she a formidable campaigner? Absolutely.
“Is she a partisan political animal? Absolutely.”
But he said people have a different set of interests than just who won the day in partisan debate.
“They want leaders to respond to issues in a meaningful way rather than a glib and irreverent way. And that’s not a gender issue, that’s an approach, that’s a perspective.”
“I have to tell you I have tremendous respect for Premier Clark’s abilities as a politician. I have serious misgivings about her abilities to manage the various files I’m raising in the legislature.”
It’s hard to criticize a government without appearing dismissive at some point. The NDP spent weeks pouring scorn on Clark’s enthusiasm for liquefied natural gas. They raised doubts about her government’s handling of the investigation of the mill-explosion fatalities, the health-ministry firings, the Mount Polley dam collapse and various other things.
The cast-in-stone adversarial nature of parliament means a premier is going to get yelled at and have answers discounted regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other characteristic. If that looks dismissive, it’s because it is.
But determining whether the dismissiveness originates in political differences or in perceptions of gender is a no-win game where every player has a different answer.
It’s striking how good Clark is at arguing with the Opposition when she decides to take part in the jousts. She single-handedly demolished them one day two weeks ago and carried the needling into the next day, driving the Opposition to distraction.
It looks as if she’s determined to keep it up.
Just So You Know: As a member of the dismissive majority before the spring of 2013, my main takeaway from the election results was a resolution never to underestimate Clark again. It’s a vow anyone is free to copy.
