Let’s put a stop to abuse and bullying behaviour in the legislature

Attacks against female politicians on the rise, writes Sydney Sharp

Abuse in the home is rightly condemned on all fronts by community leaders. Now, abuse in the houses of government needs to be challenged, too.

In the Alberta legislature, the lack of civil discourse is appalling. Yelling is commonplace on both sides of the House.

All leaders need to rein in the bellowers and call them on the bullying.

Imagine what it must be like for a politician who has suffered grotesque abuse in the home — like Alberta MLA Maria Fitzpatrick — having to endure the bully ways of the House.

Social media attacks against the premier and her cabinet go beyond cyber-bullying into threats on Rachel Notley’s life. There were comments about killing the premier on Opposition Leader Brian Jean’s own Face- book page that should have been removed immediately.

The premier has clearly tried to downplay the level of attack because she doesn’t want to see it escalate. That is understandable and it’s courageous, but the public needs to step in with direct complaints and social media challenges to those who engage in this behaviour.

A contentious bill shouldn’t encourage abuse and bullying against any politician.

Meanwhile, a politician should be armed with sufficient facts and wit to disarm an opponent, rather than resorting to shouts and threats. When former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wanted to make a political point, she lowered her voice.

There are rules for debate in the House, but the attitude seems to be: So what? There must be a will to change the tone of the discussion.

What do we do when we see it on TV or on social media? Who do we call? What’s the message we are sending to the abused and, indeed, abusers in the home?

Finally, what are we telling young women — and men — who want to enter politics?

Most of us just take it in, get angry, talk about it to friends, but we do nothing beyond that. It’s time to stand up, especially since the bullying is aimed most directly at a female premier.

Women in politics have always lived challenging lives. When women first achieved office, they weren’t taken seriously; what were they doing running for office when they should be running the home? There were innuendoes — sexual, physical and emotional. Women weren’t cut out for politics because they were (at this point you can name your sexist put-down, because they’ve all been said and heard.)

Some women in government responded subconsciously by gaining weight. The extra pounds became a personal shield against very public attacks.

“I created around myself a physical protection,” former federal minister of health and welfare Monique Begin told me more than two decades ago. She added 60 pounds in six months, though didn’t do it consciously.

Women in politics were derided, groped and politically discarded. Ever since Agnes Macphail became the first woman elected, in 1921, to our House of Commons, women have managed to overcome substantial barriers to become mayors, premiers and, briefly, prime minister.

In 2015, an equal number of women to men were given cabinet posts, first in Alberta and then in Ottawa, something that Norway managed to do in 1986 when Gro Harlem Brundtland became prime minister.

In Alberta, the movement toward political equality seems to have increased the amount of abuse and bullying women receive in the political house. A woman as premier is no longer unique, but the rise in verbal and cyber-abuse is. Social media have taken it into the public marketplace.

While public institutions such as universities and colleges have tackled cyber-bullying, legislative bodies have fallen behind.

Every time there’s a new legislature, politicians of every party start by promising a new tone of co-operation and friendship. This quickly becomes their first broken promise. The dreadful example they set for themselves then encourages and enables the haters.

It’s time for the elected representatives, and every person of goodwill, to call a halt.