Olivia Chow (Layton's Wife) Running In Election

I realize her husband is the leader of the party and all, but isn't it nice that the press was so focused on him--as if she couldn't stand on her own two feet. Note the questions--"so where's your husband?" "so if you win and your husband doesn't, will you give up your seat to him?" Sigh. And we wonder why there aren't more women in politics. I like her answer anyway.

At least no one will be able to pin me as easily as "so-and-so's wife." Although I did get a question like that already--"so are you a farmer's wife?"

I'm more than looking forward to the day someone calls my husband "Susan Thompson's husband." Although he may not be



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Now call it extreme if you like, but I propose we hit it hard, and we hit it fast, with a major, and I mean major, leaflet campaign.--Rimmer, Red Dwarf

I watched on Don Newman's show & I don't think he focussed a lot on the fact that she's Layton's wife. He mentioned it but didn't go on & on about it. Maybe on CanWest they did, which wouldn't surprise me.

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"In 2002 Canada will be 135, the same age the USA was in 1911... Americans of 1911 had a very sketchy view of themselves as a nation." - Douglas Coupland

Susan I do agree with the perception the media portrays women as usually, somebody's something, be it wife, mother etc. Why don't we hear, 'where is your wife?'... as in what do we know about Harper's wife, or does he have one, what does she think about his running? Those are the questions usually asked of women, true there was a little of that towards Martin, because his wife has made a point of not being in the political or media eye; but won't it be nice when people are accepted for who they are not in relationship to who they are married to! I am more concerned about the other relationships politicians have, such as relations to corporations, other foreign powers, consultants and special interest groups those are the relationships that will affect me, not the personal relationships of politicians.

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If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?

I agree that a woman shouldn't be defined by her husband. But in this specific case, this might only appear to be the case. If it was Jack Layton's brother running, wouldn't he get the same kind of "where's your brother?" attention?

And I think I should mention that it's a thoughtful strategy for Olivia Chow to make her announcement without Jack Layton there by her side. Normally a politician will have his/her partner by his/her side for such an announcement, but in this case, everyone knows that Jack Layton supports her entirely, yet her solo announcement distances her from the "Jack's Wife" title.

And remember this: at the end of the work day, Jack Layton and Olivia Chow will presumably have dinner together and they'll inevitably end up talking politics. Most likely, they are each others' closest consultants. So yes, it does matter that she's married to Jack Layton. He's the leader of the NDP!!! Just like it would matter if Carole James's husband ran for the NDP in BC. Simply put, we ARE defined by the people around us and how we interact with them. The fact that Olivia Chow and Jack Layton are married reflects their political histories and opinions upon each other because they are running cooperatively for the same party.

I don't think it would be fair for the media to ignore the connection. It's an important one, just as the comparisons and contrasts between Paul Martin and his father are important. The personal relationships between politicians are very important because they illustrate what kind of subject the politician is focussing on. This doesn't mean that Jack Layton's views and Olivia Chow's views are necessarily the same, even if they are married and running for the same party. But in a political landscape where we're often bombarded with lies and misinformation, it serves the public to know who it is that politicians respect and why. But I digress, and I know that the line between headline and tabloid is often very thin.

-KY



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Kory Yamashita

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Kory interesting points, although different from mine, I will reflect on your points as I believe they are important and ones which I hadn't considered. Perhaps those intimate relationships are more important than I had presumed, but I think that I want to know more about their record and their relationship with strangers; as in how will they take our views to parliament and represent us, the Canadian public?
Thanks for expanding my horizon though.

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If I stand for my country today...will my country be here to stand for me tomorrow?

Whelan, I don't really think that Olivia Chow's relationship to Jack Layton should define her. I just think that it's one point among many that should be used together to form an overall perception about her personality. Right now she's a Toronto city councillor right? I think that is more important than her husband's career in terms of what she can do for the public. But Jack Layton's views and career also matter.

I don't know whether most of your readers are Westerners, but we in Toronto probably see coverage of Olivia Chow's relationship to Jack Layton differently than folks in the west. Here, *both* are *extremely* well known. The people who will (or will not) vote for Olivia, people in the riding, don't need to know her relationship to Jack to know where she stands on the issues, because they have known that for many years - and they have known of the relationship to Jack for some time as well. Our only concern about Olivia running for federal office is that we will lose her from local council.