Goar: No medal for Guergis's performance at the United Nations

This is an interesting opinion article by Carol Goar from today's Toronto Star - it's regarding Helena Guergis' presentation at the United Nations. Ms. Guergis is Canada's Minister for the Status of Women.

Here's the link to the article - Goar: No medal for Guergis's performance at UN - thestar.com

And here's the first part of her article:

"This should have been a perfect week for Status of Women Minister Helena Guergis to appear before the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to talk about gender equity in Canada.

Canadian women had just put on a magnificent performance at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, winning more than half of the country's 26 medals.

Canadian women have moved beyond parity in some spheres. They attend university in greater numbers than men, make up the majority of law school and medical school graduates and constitute 51 per cent of the workforce.

Unfortunately, these achievements were obscured by the baggage Guergis brought along with her.

First, there was her government's record on women's issues.

Harper has scrapped Canada's $5 billion national child-care program, closed 12 Status of Women offices across the country and killed Ottawa's widely admired court challenges program, which helped women (and other groups seeking to test their constitutional equality rights) finance expensive court cases.

On his watch, the proportion of women on the government benches has fallen to 11 per cent, from 25 per cent under Paul Martin and 23 per cent under Jean Chrétien.

Second, there was Guergis's own reputation and recent behaviour."