Attacks on health minister are reprehensible

Her critics should match Hoffman’s level of caring and maturity

Given the level of discourse about Health Minister Sarah Hoffman, one would think we’re in a junior high lockerroom, reeking of smelly gym gear and catty remarks about other people’s appearances.

The comments on Facebook by Jason Lien, southern Alberta vice- president for the provincial Tories, weren’t the first I’d heard about Hoffman. A couple of people submitted letters to the editor making equally adolescent observations about Hoffman’s appearance.

Lien’s stupid comments about “our morbidly obese” health minister suggested that Hoffman should ban “all sodas, candy, processed sugar products ... and fast foods ...”

Monday, he tweeted an apology, saying his remarks were “dumb” and “insensitive.”

Funny how people never seem to think about “dumb” and “insensitive” before making these types of remarks. It’s only when the socialmedia thing blows up in their faces that they mumble apologies. Which, of course, gives their apologies an air of utterly transparent insincerity. It makes it look like the only reason they apologized was that they got into trouble and they’re trying to do damage control. Which they probably are.

While Lien and others were indulging in their cloddish behaviour, Hoffman was out and about in her new role, being a class act. In the past week, she visited the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and took the time to talk with the caring staff there; on Twitter Monday, she was reminding people to “take some time to celebrate seniors this week” and their contributions to Alberta. This is consistent with her focus on respecting the dignity of others, a theme which is significant in her pre- MLA career. As vice- chair of Edmonton Public Schools, Hoffman was involved with creating the first- of- itskind policy for making LGBTQ students feel welcome in the city’s schools.

Petty- minded folks on social media are asking why they should heed the advice of, or trust, a Health minister who is overweight. Perhaps they should put it in perspective like this: Hoffman has consistently shown respect and empathy for her fellow human beings, and those criticizing her for her appearance should match her level of caring and maturity and do likewise.

Frankly, the comments about Hoffman’s appearance are totally unbecoming of adults, who should have left such garbage behind when they emerged from the aforementioned stinky junior high locker- room and into the fresh air of a more grown- up status. What Lien has done, what the online commenters who’ve chimed in with him have done, is to revert to the nasty name- calling, bullying and mocking of physical characteristics of the schoolyard.

Online commenters are also arguing that this is not about sexism. Actually, it is about sexism and Hoffman is not the first female politician to be attacked by those who are incapable of contemplating the radical idea that women are human beings with feelings. Columnist Maria Billias wrote in March in Australia’s NT News that “Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard ... was consistently subjected to a barrage of vicious name calling on everything from her appearance to her relationship to her childless status.”

All that matters is how well Hoffman does her job. The preoccupation with her weight is even more ridiculous when you think back to the shenanigans of previous health ministers. With Hoffman, we know we won’t be facing any time- and money wasting nonsense about a “third way” and other sneaky means of privatizing health care that occurred during Ralph Klein’s overly long and suffocating regime. Those ideological distractions prevented real change from being accomplished from within.

And it was all those previous Tory health ministers under whose watch all the expense scandals happened at Alberta Health Services, and also under whose watch Calgary was continually promised a new cancer centre that never materialized.

I hope Hoffman won’t let the personal attacks get her down. She has important work to do.