An essay that compared immigration to “cultural suicide” and argued that women are not exactly equal to men was awarded a prize by the legislature in the province of Alberta in an essay contest championed and judged by a MLA who is now the provincial associate minister for the status of women.
Organizer Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk invited women between the ages of 17 and 25 to participate in the contest.
The contest encouraged entrants to outline their vision for the province and detail what they would do if elected as members of the provincial legislature. When the contest was announced in February, a news release stated that Ms. Armstrong-Homeniuk and a panel of female MLAs would serve as judges of the contest.
There were two statements released by Ms. Armstrong-Homeniuk on Tuesday, the first one stating that the essay should not have been chosen, the second one stating that she had taken responsibility for its selection as a winner. Neither of them explained how that happened or who else was on the judging panel.