A member of the Ottawa Board of Health is speaking out against body shaming after she received a letter from a resident telling her she shouldn’t be on the board because of her weight.
Elyse Banham said the letter, dated Jan. 12, sat unopened for weeks on her desk at the Ottawa Birth and Wellness Centre, where she’s executive director. Banham figured it was simply more hate mail protesting the centre’s vaccine clinics.
She finally opened the envelope March 18, and realized it was a response to an Ottawa Citizen article in which Banham called for more diversity on city boards. The letter is signed, but CBC has been unable to verify its authenticity or find the writer, and is therefore redacting the name.
Banham has been a member of the Ottawa Board of Health for four years and has applied for another four, the article noted. But the letter writer took exception to that, apparently based on the photo of Banham accompanying the article.
“As a member of the Ottawa Board of Health, citizens expect you to be a role model for our city’s residents and believve (sic) you cannot fulfil that role due to your unhealthy status. It is unacceptable to be overweight by the 20 pounds it appears you are carrying,” the letter to Banham reads.
“I would be happy to see you on the new committee on the condition that you become a better role model.”
This letter was sent to Banham’s work address on Jan. 12, 2023, in response to an newspaper article Banham appeared in that same day. Banham isn’t sure the name of the person who signed the letter is real. (Elyse Banham)
Banham told CBC on Sunday that she was hurt by the letter, but not entirely surprised.
“It’s not that I haven’t experienced this before — I think that people can be very unkind to each other. But this was the first time that somebody took the time to send me a letter and point out that I wasn’t capable of performing work because of my body appearance,” she said.
She decided to post the letter on Twitter, and said she’s received many supportive messages in response.
Fixed it for you. <a href=”https://t.co/3pt173sxkn”>pic.twitter.com/3pt173sxkn</a>
What a horrible letter & strange to direct it at you. They clearly have distorted ideas about health.<br><br>And it’s hurtful & shaming to folks who are overweight – size should never preclude someone from leadership.<br><br>Thanks for your service & I’m sorry you received this kind of hate.
Ignore this person. They clearly have so little respect for themselves that they felt it appropriate to lash out at someone trying to make a positive impact. <br><br>Keep up the good work and know there are many more out there who support you.
Catherine Kitts, the city councillor for Orléans South–Navan and chair of the health board, called the letter “horrendous.” Kitts said she’s sad not only for Banham, but also for the letter writer who took the time to send such a hateful message.
“I was proud of member Banham for calling it out, because that also takes guts, and I was pleased and not surprised to see this outpouring of support for her,” Kitts said. “Member Banham is such an incredible addition to the board of health. She’s such an excellent contributor and a very valued member, and that should be the message. Her contributions to the board speak volumes.”
Vitriolic attacks are an ugly side of public leadership, Kitts said, and situations like this are a reminder “that this is what we’re facing every day.”
Jill Andrew, co-founder of the advocacy group Body Confidence Canada, said that when women in public positions are targeted by body-based discrimination and harassment, “it certainly doesn’t create the type of welcoming, inclusive climate that we need to have more strong women coming forward. So it’s disappointing.
“All too often women are judged not by our intellect, not by the quality of our work or by the history of our work, but by our waistlines. And it is absolutely absurd … it can take many of us away form the duties we have on our plate.”
Jill Andrew, co-founder of Body Confidence Canada, says body size alone can’t be used to determine someone’s health status. (CBC)
Banham said she’s proud of the support she’s received after going public with the letter.
“Nobody wants to be told they’re 20 pounds overweight. I can certainly tell you that I did not enjoy that part of my day. But talking to somebody like Greg Fergus — a member of Parliament who posted about working with me and the fact that I am somebody who leads with integrity and tries to use my thoughts and my opinions to support others — I value that and I’m very grateful,” she said.
She said she hopes her experience will show people wanting to serve on boards and in other leadership roles that while there will always be people out there wanting to take shots at them, there are many others who will come to their defence.
“The intent of this message was to hurt me and belittle me. And it would have been easy for me to take that and feel isolated in it. But the reason I shared it is because we can do better together, and the majority of people think that, and that’s why there’s been this outpouring of support,” Banham said.
“And so I’m grateful for all those people who came to my defence, and what I think that really says is that we are looking for more diverse opinions.”
Listen to Elyse Banham’s entire interview with CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning on Monday
Ottawa Morning7:44Ottawa Board of Health member speaks out about body shaming
A member of Ottawa’s Board of Health is speaking out after a stranger said she couldn’t do her job because of her weight. Why she’s hoping to deconstruct the narrative around body shaming, by sharing her story.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
