Politics can be ‘brutally sexist,’ Clark says

VANCOUVER — Former British Columbia premier Christy Clark has weighed in on the discussion around sexual misconduct in Canadian politics, saying she saw plenty of “frat boy behaviour” during her time in office.

Clark, who was the first woman elected premier in B.C., posted Thursday on Facebook that politics is an often “brutally sexist” business.

“All of us who have experienced a sexual assault, harassment, or aggressive and unwelcome advances know it’s a damn hard thing to talk about,” she wrote, thanking women who have come forward.

“I was involved in politics for 25 years and saw plenty of frat boy behaviour. It made me promise myself that I would do things differently, should I ever get the chance to lead.”

Patrick Brown, a former leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party, and Kent Hehr, a Liberal MP and cabinet minister, have denied misconduct allegations in recent days.

Clark touted her achievements in the Facebook post, saying her cabinet had a greater percentage of women than any in the previous decade, and she appointed the first women to serve as the province’s attorney general and to lead BC Hydro.

“It’s an awful lot harder for sexist behaviour to go unnoticed or be deliberately ignored when there’s a woman in the room,” she said.