Alberta NDP Children’s Services Critic Rakhi Pancholi is calling for Status of Women Minister Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry for the Status of Women Jackie Lovely to resign their cabinet roles..A press conference will be held in front of the hospital in Fort Saskatchewan at 11:15 am on Thursday..The NDP is calling for the resignation in the wake of the an essay contest and their subsequent refusal to be transparent and accountable to Albertans..Earlier this week, a "fascist" essay written by an aspiring future elected official was removed from the official government website in Alberta..The "Her Vision Inspires" essay contest was recently held by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and received three submissions. It was judged by Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, a UCP MLA and associate minister for Status of Women and Alberta rep for Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians and received an award for third place."The third place essay was clearly not inspiring," Pancholi said."It was misogynistic, sexist, racist transphobic and fascist. This government in a process led by Fort Saskatchewan MLA and associate minister Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk supported an essay that argued that women are not equal to men, that women entering into careers that are traditionally male dominated is misguided and harmful, that people from other parts of the world coming into our province is quote, cultural suicide, and not to the racist replacement theory that drives white nationalist hate. This is a terrible message to send the young people of this province, particularly as a message meant to inspire.""It's a message that I as a mother, especially as a daughter, completely reject," Pancholi said."It's frankly embarrassing to have to assert this in 2022. Now we know not only was the essay itself a major problem, the entire process of the contest has been filled with issues. First, the minister blame the process, refusing to take responsibility for her own actions and directions. Next, the government went into hiding, refusing to answer questions, and it forced the media to find panelists through a process of elimination.""This is entirely inexcusable behavior. As it turns out, the decisions of this so called panels were made by just two MLAs Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk MLA for Fort Saskatchewan Vegreville and Jackie lovely the UCP MLA for Camrose," Pancholi said."Both of these women represent the ministry for the status of women as associate minister and parliamentary secretary. I'm here today to ask and demand that they resign their roles immediately. Today. No more excuses. They have both displayed a horrendous lack of good judgment and an inability to take seriously the work required to advance and promote interests of women in this province," Pancholi said.“They must step down immediately.” Pancholi called for Armstrong-Homeniuk and Lovely's resignations from outside the Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital, where obstetric services are currently suspended and expectant parents are forced to travel further to receive health care.“This could be catastrophic for expectant mothers in this region,” she said. “These are the kinds of issues that women in Alberta expect their elected officials to be focused on. That’s what Rachel Notley, myself and our entire Caucus want to do, should we form government.”The Western Standard reached out to Armstrong-Homeniuk for comment. One was not received by press time.More to come....
Alberta NDP Children’s Services Critic Rakhi Pancholi is calling for Status of Women Minister Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry for the Status of Women Jackie Lovely to resign their cabinet roles..A press conference will be held in front of the hospital in Fort Saskatchewan at 11:15 am on Thursday..The NDP is calling for the resignation in the wake of the an essay contest and their subsequent refusal to be transparent and accountable to Albertans..Earlier this week, a "fascist" essay written by an aspiring future elected official was removed from the official government website in Alberta..The "Her Vision Inspires" essay contest was recently held by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and received three submissions. It was judged by Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, a UCP MLA and associate minister for Status of Women and Alberta rep for Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians and received an award for third place."The third place essay was clearly not inspiring," Pancholi said."It was misogynistic, sexist, racist transphobic and fascist. This government in a process led by Fort Saskatchewan MLA and associate minister Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk supported an essay that argued that women are not equal to men, that women entering into careers that are traditionally male dominated is misguided and harmful, that people from other parts of the world coming into our province is quote, cultural suicide, and not to the racist replacement theory that drives white nationalist hate. This is a terrible message to send the young people of this province, particularly as a message meant to inspire.""It's a message that I as a mother, especially as a daughter, completely reject," Pancholi said."It's frankly embarrassing to have to assert this in 2022. Now we know not only was the essay itself a major problem, the entire process of the contest has been filled with issues. First, the minister blame the process, refusing to take responsibility for her own actions and directions. Next, the government went into hiding, refusing to answer questions, and it forced the media to find panelists through a process of elimination.""This is entirely inexcusable behavior. As it turns out, the decisions of this so called panels were made by just two MLAs Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk MLA for Fort Saskatchewan Vegreville and Jackie lovely the UCP MLA for Camrose," Pancholi said."Both of these women represent the ministry for the status of women as associate minister and parliamentary secretary. I'm here today to ask and demand that they resign their roles immediately. Today. No more excuses. They have both displayed a horrendous lack of good judgment and an inability to take seriously the work required to advance and promote interests of women in this province," Pancholi said.“They must step down immediately.” Pancholi called for Armstrong-Homeniuk and Lovely's resignations from outside the Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital, where obstetric services are currently suspended and expectant parents are forced to travel further to receive health care.“This could be catastrophic for expectant mothers in this region,” she said. “These are the kinds of issues that women in Alberta expect their elected officials to be focused on. That’s what Rachel Notley, myself and our entire Caucus want to do, should we form government.”The Western Standard reached out to Armstrong-Homeniuk for comment. One was not received by press time.More to come....