On Oct. 12, NDP MP Tony Martin held a town hall meeting for his constituents in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Although the city boasts a population of 75,000, and the meeting was advertised well in advance, only about a dozen people showed up to discuss issues with the MP.
The meeting began when an individual, who appeared to be an NDP supporter known to the federal MP, launched into a blistering attack against evangelical Protestants in Canada who exercise their democratic rights within the political process. “If Harper gets a majority government, we can kiss this country goodbye,” the speaker said. “That’s the kind of people they are. The makeup of their caucus, according to The Walrus, is 70 per cent evangelical right-wing nut Christians.”
Tony Martin said nothing. In fact, he appeared to nod in agreement. When asked byThe Interim whether evangelicals had democratic rights, and whether they should exercise these rights, the NDP MP replied: “We’re not here to talk about this.”
The Interim then pointed to an NDP handout distributed at the beginning of the town hall meeting, in which the headline accused REAL Women and Tories of having a love-in. After establishing that it was not acceptable to stereotype Jews, Muslims or Francophones, the MP was asked whether it was acceptable for the NDP to stereotype women of faith who happen to be faithful Catholics or evangelicals.
“Yes, it is,” Martin replied. “The critique is REAL Women came in and made a critique of the childcare program that the Liberals and the New Democrats wanted to bring forward.”
When asked whether the term “love-in” was sexist toward women who belong to the organization, Martin replied: “That’s your perspective.” When pushed further to state whether he considered its use sexist, the NDP MP said: “No.”
The Interim then asked whether it would be acceptable to use the expression “love-in” with another identifiable group, such as Conservatives and Jews over Israel. Martin attempted to change the subject by going to the next speaker.
It appeared that vicious attacks against women who do not toe the feminist line, or evangelicals who put their faith into political action, are fine with this so-called practising Catholic.
