XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, bc.politics   
   XPost: ont.politics, edmonton.general   
   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   You bet it did.  Ralph Klein, asshole extraordinaire, got away with   
   being a bully, a drunk and a bigot for years.  That was okay by the   
   Conservatives of Alberta - and by the electorate.  But Alison Redford   
   was 'not a nice lady' when she played tough.  The "$45,000 to attend   
   Mandela's funeral" was just an excuse to give her the shaft.   
   Conservatives' TRADEMARK is to use and abuse taxpayer monies.  What she   
   did was commonplace and expected.   
   There is just no room for females in the likes of the red-neck province   
   we know as Alberta.  Hang your heads low, Albertans.  You're still in   
   the 1940s as far as your politics go.   
   ____________________________________________________________   
      
   The Canadian Press Posted: Mar 22, 2014   
      
      
   Alison Redford resignation: Did sexism play a role in her demise?   
   Current, former politicians from across the country weigh in   
      
   Alison Redford announced this week she was stepping down as Alberta's   
   premier.   
   	   
      
   Former Edmonton Liberal MP Anne McLellan said while it's a complex   
   issue, she's sure Alison Redford was treated differently because of her sex.   
      
   The Progressive Conservative premier made mistakes, McLellan said, but   
   her caucus and voters — both male and female — had unfair expectations   
   of her as a female leader.   
      
   "There seems to be some standard that somehow it's OK for men in public   
   life to act a certain way. But if women do that, that makes them not   
   nice ladies," she said.   
      
   "Both men and women have to understand how significant a barrier that   
   can be for participation of women in politics."   
      
   McLellan pointed to Calgary legislature member Len Webber, the first of   
   two caucus members to leave the party in the days leading up to   
   Redford's resignation. Webber told reporters he could no longer work   
   under Redford because she was a bully and "not a nice lady."   
      
   McLellan, who served as Prime Minister Paul Martin's deputy, said during   
   her time in Ottawa she wasn't always a nice lady, either.   
      
   "If people are suggesting that in my over 12 years in public life as a   
   minister in the federal government that I never swore, that I never   
   slammed a door, that I never spoke sternly to a staff member, that's   
   crazy. You're in a very stressful, high-profile situation and then you   
   respond to that stress and I think that's normal."   
      
        'In some ways the very nature of our legislative process —   
   combative — has not been traditionally a role some women are comfortable   
   in.'- Former Saskatchewan NDP premier Lorne Calvert   
      
   Martha Hall Findlay, a former Liberal MP who ran unsuccessfully for   
   leadership of the party in 2006 and 2013, described Redford as a   
   "ground-breaker."   
      
   She said Redford has helped confirm that women can and should be premier.   
      
   "I'm sorry that it didn't work out better," Hall Findlay wrote in an   
   email. "The political challenges she has faced have nothing to do with   
   gender, but are part of the overall challenges of politics."   
   'Of course there's a gender issue'   
      
   Former Saskatchewan NDP premier Lorne Calvert said it may be telling   
   that Redford isn't the only female premier to leave office recently.   
   Lorne Calvert 20090605   
      
   Former Saskatchewan NDP premier Lorne Calvert says women face more   
   challenges. (Troy Fleece/Canadian Press)   
      
   Kathy Dunderdale, the Tory premier of Newfoundland and Labrador,   
   resigned in January amid questions about her leadership and sliding   
   approval ratings.   
      
   Nunavut's Eva Aariak also lost her seat late last year after saying she   
   wouldn't seek another term as premier.   
      
   Before those departures, Canada made history by having six female   
   provincial and territorial leaders. Three remain: Christy Clark in   
   British Columbia, Kathleen Wynne in Ontario and Pauline Marois in Quebec.   
      
   Calvert would like to see more women in politics, but concedes they face   
   more challenges on the job.   
      
   "I don't want to be sexist here, but in some ways the very nature of our   
   legislative process — combative — has not been traditionally a role some   
   women are comfortable in. And yet good governance will tell you that   
   that's not all that effective anymore."   
      
   Alberta Liberal House Leader Laurie Blakeman agrees that female leaders   
   are at a disadvantage, but says there is more behind Redford's resignation.   
      
   "Of course there's a gender issue," said Blakeman.   
      
   "Is that the only reason that things went off the rails here? No."   
      
   The Alberta Tories have forced out their last four leaders. Before   
   Redford, they turfed Ed Stelmach and Ralph Klein.   
      
   "Gender is part of it," said Blakeman. "But so is character and   
   management choices and political ideology and a really, really, really   
   old party that's been here a long, long time."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)