Family group gets its knitting in a knot

Never offend people with sharp pointed objects. That's the lesson Judy Wasylycia-Leis learned today in the Commons, when she tried to pay tribute to the departing Alexa McDonough. Judy threw in a little barb at the end that only political junkies might get -- those who remember that Peter MacKay once got in trouble for telling McDonough to "stick to her knitting."

"She endured criticism with grace, accepted praise with humility. We know her work is not done. Her struggle will carry on, we hope on the world stage," Wasylycia-Leis said. "One thing we know for sure is that she will not just stick to her knitting."

Well, that got some folks in knots. In slightly less time than it took the Terrible Knitters of Dent to whip up some wooly socks, the National Family Childcare Association pronounced itself offended.

"While the NFCA wishes Alexa McDonough a happy retirement as well, we do wish the NDP women caucus would stop slamming women who knit and prefer a life of childcare rather than in the house of Parliament," the association said in its release.

Unfortunately, the group didn't exactly hear the quotation properly, slamming the NDP MP for saying: "What we do know is she didn’t just stay home and knit!"

This, said the NFCA, amounts to a domestic incident.

"The National Family Childcare Association who represent men and women across Canada and the USA is demanding the NDP member Judy Wasylycia-Leis stop discriminating against women who choose traditional roles of being at home, knitting, cooking, baking cookies, etc.," the release says.

"We are very tired of other Parliamentary women putting down our roles in our family life, just so they can make themselves feel powerful. Her words are degrading and hurtful against every women in Canada whether they knit or not. Stop making us feel belittled just because we don’t make a 6 figure salary."

The pro-knitting lobby, naturally, is demanding an apology.

 

Comments

[deBeauxOs]

There was an opinion piece in some US right wing paper last week that claimed that feminists are always on the lookout for issues to get angry about. It made me laugh at its absurdity.

So the folks at National Family Childcare Association seem to have a problem with a comment about knitting, which turns out to be a "quote" fabricated from what they thought had been said. Then they issue a press release condemning what they heard and demanding an apology from Judy Wasylycia-Leis. And they say they're not feminists? Go figure.

[Sara Landriault]

deBeauxOs,

This comment wasn't fabricated it was mis-quoted, honestly mis-heard but either way the offense still stands. Judy was retaliating to Peter and both were doing it at the expense of others and I for one do not think any MP's should be putting down voters for there own agenda.