As women around the world have taken to social media in the past few days, posting videos of themselves dancing to show #SolidarityWithSanna, some Canadian politicians and strategists are also coming to the defence of the Finnish prime minister, suggesting she is being unfairly judged due to her gender and age.
Sanna Marin became a target after a video emerged last week, showing her dancing with friends at a private party. In the wake of the leaked clip, some political opponents questioned whether her judgment was impaired, prompting some to demand she take a drug test.
Marin — who took the test and passed — said she did nothing wrong.
“I didn’t have any work meetings planned for that weekend,” she said after the video surfaced. “I had work meetings on Monday that I, of course, handled. But we didn’t have any government meetings during that week, and I had time off, and I spent it with my friends and did nothing illegal.”
Finland’s Prime Minister <a href=”https://twitter.com/MarinSanna?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@MarinSanna</a> is in the headlines after a video of her partying was leaked today.<br><br>She has previously been criticized for attending too many music festivals & spending too much on partying instead of ruling.<br><br>The critics say it’s not fitting for a PM. <a href=”https://t.co/FbOhdTeEGw”>pic.twitter.com/FbOhdTeEGw</a>
Marin became Finland’s youngest prime minister in 2019, at 34. At the time, the Social Democrat told reporters she would remain true to herself. This isn’t the first time her private life has become the subject of public debate, leading some to say she is being held to a double standard — while others say a world leader should always be prepared to be called upon to make important decisions.
Celebrate — then tear them down
Montreal mayor Valérie Plante weighed in to this latest debate early, posting an Instagram story the next day featuring Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and the words, “Me, responding to the reactions to Finland’s prime minister,” adding an eye-roll emoji.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante took to Instagram to show her support for Marin’s dancing, seen here in an image taken from her Instagram Stories. (val_plante/Instagram )
“The fact that this became a huge story is absolutely absurd,” said former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, who faced sexist attacks during her tenure, including being called Climate Barbie by an opposition colleague — an insult hurled at her for years by her critics.
“When you think about all the critical issues that we’re going through in the world right now — a climate crisis, a COVID crisis, a security crisis — and that we are focusing on the way someone, a prime minister, but a real person, behaves in her own private time because she’s a younger woman … then I think we’ve lost the plot.”
McKenna said she didn’t go out socially for the first two years after being appointed minister, because she felt she was under such scrutiny and pressure.
Former Liberal minister Catherine McKenna says female politicians need to be able to be themselves and bring their life experience to the table without being targeted. (Giacomo Panico/CBC)
Former NDP MP Peggy Nash says people often celebrate women’s presence in public life, but then proceed to tear them down at the first opportunity.
There is a clear double standard when it comes to women in politics — especially young women, said Nash, who wrote a book called Women Winning Office: An Activist’s Guide to Getting Elected.
“I think for women — not only in politics, but in any aspect of public life — there is still this traditional stereotype of who is a leader,” said Nash. “And that is male, unfortunately.”
More leeway is given to male politicians who make mistakes, she said, as they are often thought of as not yet “fully formed,” with room to improve.
“Men are held to a standard of their potential, whereas women are held to a very rigid standard of accountability now,” she said. “And it doesn’t matter how much they’ve accomplished or what experience they have. They have to be hyper-perfect or else they get hyper-criticized. It’s an unfair double standard.”
Former NDP MP Peggy Nash, who has written a book about how to get more women into politics, says there remains a double standard in how women in the public eye are judged. (Richard Lam/The Canadian Press)
Conservative strategist Tim Powers, chair of Summa Strategies, says while there could be a double standard at play, he believes there’s more to it.
“I think there’s a lot of rigidity of view, which diminishes and takes away from what we all say about wanting authenticity,” he said. “I think there’s more hypocrisy than there is a double standard.”
He suggested some ageism is also involved when it comes to Marin, who is 36.
“Every level of diversity brings a level of complexity, if you will. So the fact that she’s a woman, the fact that she’s young … is two levels of diversity, in an environment where people are older and it’s more of a male environment.”
Anglade said she was, however, surprised by how quickly the comments about Marin’s dancing turned to speculation about drug use.
“She’s not taking drugs, she’s dancing,” Anglade said of the video, questioning whether a man in a similar situation would have been asked to take a test.
“There was no evidence of anything.… It was just people thinking that she might have.”
Quebec Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade has herself been vocal about the double standard she has experienced as a female politician. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
White males seen as natural leaders
Marin likely had no choice but to take the drug test to silence her critics, said Andrea Reimer, a former Vancouver city councillor. She agreed with Anglade that her male counterparts probably wouldn’t have even had to consider it.
“Where Boris Johnson or former president Donald Trump may not have had to deal with that type of request, a young woman in a position of leadership doesn’t have as many options,” Reimer said.
People see older white males as natural leaders, she suggested, and it takes a lot to change that perspective — but it’s been different for Marin.
“This young woman, who’s led the country through some very challenging times, and one period of dancing … was enough to confirm people’s bias that somehow she’s not capable,” said Reimer.
Former Vancouver city councillor Andrea Reimer says Marin had no choice but to take the drug test, though she questions whether a male leader would have been forced to do the same. (Belle Ancell)
Societal expectations
On Wednesday, Marin spoke about the experience, telling a crowd in Lahti, Finland, that she is human and never failed to attend to a single work task because she took time off.
“I want to believe that people look at the work we do, not what we do in our free time,” she said.
Powers, who’s worked on campaigns for former prime ministers Joe Clark and Stephen Harper, says a good leader has to be connected to their own humanity.
“You can’t be a good leader if you’re a robot, you’re disconnected, you’re unable to, you know, understand what everybody else might be doing at that time of night and having some fun,” he said.
“And what’s the test we always use in Canada? Who would you like to have a beer with?”
Summa Strategies chair Tim Powers says people don’t want their leaders to be robots. (Cynthia Munster)
Yaroslav Baran, who directed the Conservative Party’s communications through three election campaigns, agrees there probably is a double standard applied to a female leader. Had it been a male leader caught on video dancing, he said, “people would probably just kind of smile and, you know, move on. Or they’d think it’s hip and cool, and then move on.“
The bigger issue in the debate, he said, is whether a head of government is able to make an important decision when the need arises.
“Certainly, it wouldn’t pass the societal tests of the expectations that a public has of their leader, if a leader were genuinely impaired and an occasion came up where they had to make a significant decision,” he said, noting he saw no evidence of that in the Marin video.
“Where this comes into play is national security concerns, where, theoretically, if one’s perception or judgment is impaired, then they may theoretically give up state secrets or they may engage in some kind of activities that could later be used against them.”
Yaroslav Baran, managing principal for Earnscliffe Strategies, says the public would not want a leader too impaired to make important decisions, but adds he saw no evidence of that in the video of Marin. (Earnscliffe )
As for McKenna, she said she is fine with any politician or leader being criticized for the job they are doing or for a policy decision — but not for having a personal life or having fun with friends. She worries the kind of criticism experienced by Marin will have detrimental impacts, particularly if women start changing their behaviour.
“It means you stop wanting to be a real person. It means that you aren’t bringing, you know, what you have that is so valuable — your experiences — to the table,” she said. “Women need to push back and they need to push back hard.”
Canadian politicians defend Finnish prime minister after leaked partying video
4 days ago
Duration 1:44
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has come under scrutiny after a video leaked of the 36-year-old leader partying with friends on a weekend off. Some Canadian politicians have come to her defence, saying the criticism is unfair.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
