Interim Tory leader Ambrose says Clinton’s defeat not a rejection of women

“It is a message to Mr. Trudeau, who is more interested in impressing bureaucrats at the United Nations with his big policies that really are hurting working people. And the more out of touch you are with regular working people … the more you will be rejected.”

Ambrose made the remarks at a news conference she called to protest the Liberal government’s plan to move a federal immigration processing office and its 280 jobs to Edmonton from Vegreville, a rural town in eastern Alberta.

Her visit comes after the only two women candidates in the Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership race announced they were dropping out.

Calgary legislature member Sandra Jansen said she quit because of ongoing online harassment. She also said she was bullied at last weekend’s policy convention by another candidate’s volunteers over her support of women’s reproductive rights.

Ambrose said being hassled is part of the job for women in politics. The answer is to keep confronting it head on and hopefully it will go away.

“Listen, politics is a tough sport,” she said.

“Any woman who is in politics will tell you that they have experienced intimidation and harassment, but … when you are faced with that kind of situation, you have to call it out.

“That is what you do on a daily basis. You confront it. You name it. You deal with it. All of us do … so that those people that do the harassing and the intimidation and the bullying — particularly online — are seen for what they are, and that is important.”

Women from different political parties who are concerned about the harassment of Jansen were to hold a rally in Calgary on Thursday afternoon.

Nirmala Naidoo, who ran for the federal Liberals in the last election, said the bullying of women in politics cannot be tolerated.

“We need women in politics and it’s hard enough to convince good women to run, she said. “The last thing we need is the bullying of brave women into dropping out of races.”

John Cotter, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Interim Tory leader Ambrose says Clinton’s defeat not a rejection of women

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