By Dean Bennett -The Canadian Press

Rona Ambrose announces panel to aid Alberta conservative women candidates

May 5, 2018 | 10:13 PM

RED DEER –  Former federal Conservative cabinet minister Rona Ambrose says she and others are taking action to get more women to run for Alberta’s United Conservative party.

Ambrose, who also served as the federal Conservative interim leader, told UCP members Saturday she is helping create a non-profit group to help female candidates run for office.

The goal of the non-profit group is equal opportunity, she said, not tokenism and quotas.

“Jason (Kenney, the UCP leader) has said that he doesn’t want a condescending, paternalistic approach with quotas for our women candidates, and neither do we, right ladies?” Ambrose said to applause in a speech at the UCP’s founding convention.

“We just need to reach out and invite strong Alberta women to get into the process, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

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Ambrose said Kenney is supporting the non-profit group, which will include Ambrose and Laureen Harper, wife of former prime minister Stephen Harper.

It will be called “She Leads” and will encourage and mentor UCP women to run as candidates.

The UCP has two women among its 25 caucus members — Leela Aheer and Angela Pitt — but is seeking more women to run.

Laila Goodridge has been picked to represent the UCP in a byelection in Fort McMurray-Conklin, which has yet to be called.

Ambrose, a former Alberta MP and cabinet minister under Harper, took aim at political parties that seek to set targets for women.

Prime Minister Trudeau’s cabinet and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley have taken pride in gender-balanced cabinets, and Notley’s NDP sought a gender-balanced candidate roster in the 2015 election.

“There are some people that think of women as tokens. I think I speak for a lot of women in this room and outside of this room who will tell you that we don’t want any special treatment,” said Ambrose to applause.

“What we’ve always wanted and what we continue to work towards is an equal opportunity to compete and succeed.”

Heather Forsyth, a former legislature member with the Wildrose and Alberta Progressive Conservative parties, said in her speech to members that arguments suggesting women are hampered by institutional and cultural barriers are “socialist crap.”

She said she ran without a “hand up,” knocked on doors and won a seat. She labelled feminism “the F-word.”

“Why is it that both Notley and Trudeau feel they are impressing the electorate by impressing that 50 per cent of their cabinet have to be women?” said Forsyth.

“I quite frankly find it humiliating and I find it patronizing that we as women can’t do it on our own and by ourselves,” she said to applause.

Ambrose, speaking later to reporters, said the group will help with logistics like fundraising and providing a list of people to whom female candidates can reach out.

Asked about how to help women deal with social media, Ambrose said the abuse women face on social media is appalling.

“I have said to the president of Twitter Canada’s face that I think Twitter is a sewer for women, and I said that they need to make a lot of changes before it is a safe place for women,” she said.

“I had horrible, unbelievably sexually violent things said towards me, about me, on Facebook (and) Twitter.

“(For) women politicians there is this whole other level of sexual violence.”

Aheer said the mentoring will have benefits, both tangible and intangible.

“Hopefully it will inspire women of all stripes to find your power and do it and come forward,” Aheer said.