As a millennial woman myself, I could not disagree more with author Sabrina Maddeaux’s stated reasons for the Conservatives’s failure to reach female voters. Their platform was an utter embarrassment, cobbled together and released at the 11th hour. Inserting a few issues central to women would not have saved them. Neither would showcasing more female candidates, as Maddeaux suggests the Conservatives should’ve done. Many of those candidates spout the same vile and divisive rhetoric as their leader, and they’ve done their share of injecting toxicity into recent sittings of Parliament, too.
What alienated this millennial female voter was a hyper-partisan leader who has directed his decades-long career at demonizing non-supporters, spewing vitriol, deliberately sowing mistrust of our institutions (including the media) and stoking grievances and disunity across the country — not to mention an entire party that fell in line behind this venom. Give me a leader who doesn’t openly support the harassment and abuse of Ottawa residents, as Pierre Poilievre appeared to during the convoy demonstrations, and she or he will have my vote.
Rebecca Wagner, Waterloo
Maddeaux hits the nail on the head in her op-ed. To connect with women voters, however, the Conservatives must be bold. What would really help would be replacing Poilievre as leader. The obvious choice for his replacement would be Melissa Lantsman, who is a strong, intelligent and powerful woman.
Mark A. Greenberg, Toronto
I heartily applaud Maddeaux for analyzing the reasons behind the distance between the Conservatives’ political messaging and the interests and attitudes of Canadian women. What has gone unremarked upon is the apparent suggestion that our entire economy is built on jobs typically held by men. “Boots not suits” — what could be more stereotypically male? Poilievre’s messaging largely ignored the importance of jobs in health and education, positions disproportionately occupied by women.
J.E. Seth, Toronto
Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
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