Why she sucks: Oh where to begin. We commence our series on terrible conservatives with a real piece of work.
First elected to Parliament in 2004, she came to prominence early in her politeral career by telling then-Liberal Minister of Social Development Ken Dryden that working women didn't need "old white guys" telling them how to raise their kids - a sentiment that would be a lot more sympathetic if it wasn't spoken in OPPOSITION to a national child care initiative that would have helped many more of those working women, you know, work (not to mention go to school, pay their rent, take their kids out to the movies once in a while, and all of the other things made easier by not having to pay exorbitant private day care fees). Of course, draping herself in the mantle of "voice of the working Canadian woman" whilst simultaneously fighting tooth and nail against women's issues would become a hallmark of Ambrose's career.
First elected to Parliament in 2004, she came to prominence early in her politeral career by telling then-Liberal Minister of Social Development Ken Dryden that working women didn't need "old white guys" telling them how to raise their kids - a sentiment that would be a lot more sympathetic if it wasn't spoken in OPPOSITION to a national child care initiative that would have helped many more of those working women, you know, work (not to mention go to school, pay their rent, take their kids out to the movies once in a while, and all of the other things made easier by not having to pay exorbitant private day care fees). Of course, draping herself in the mantle of "voice of the working Canadian woman" whilst simultaneously fighting tooth and nail against women's issues would become a hallmark of Ambrose's career.
Take, for example, abortion. In 2012 Ambrose was a leading Conservative to vote in favour of a fetus-rights bill, widely seen as a precursor to reopening the abortion debate in Canada. When questioned in Parliament about her decision to support the bill, she once again trumpeted how awesome her government has been for women, responding "this government has an incredible track record of standing up for Canadian woman and girls." It should be noted that said track record as far as she was concerned at the time consisted of establishing the International Day of the Girl Child. Bravo. Did I mention that when she voted to curtail reproductive rights, Ambrose was actually the Canadian Minister of Status of Women? And back in 2008, not only was she opposed to Henry Morgentaler receiving the Order of Canada, she voted against even conducting a survey to see if it was something Canadians were in favour of (which they were, by the way, by a full 2-1 margin).
Still not convinced she's terrible? How about her record on same-sex marriage and LGBT issues? She recently came out in favour of the Conservative Party dropping its platform opposition to same-sex marriage, and it's always commendable when someone "evolves" their thinking on an issue in a positive way. Of course this might have a lot to do with the shellacking her party took in the last election at the hands of the Liberals, considering that in 2006 she was not among the 12 Tory MPs to vote against reopening the same-sex marriage debate even though it was a free vote and she was under no obligation to vote along party lines. And if you're thinking "well hey, that's 10 years ago, a lot can change in 10 years," it was only in 2010 that she voted against adding "gender identity" and "gender expression" to the Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code for the purpose of protecting the transgendered from discrimination, saying at the time that the amendments were "unclear and unnecessary." She then further reiterated that stance in 2013 when she voted against another bill to recognize gender identity in the Human Rights Act and Criminal Code.
But three years is still a long time in politics, certainly she would never flip-flop on an issue in a matter of weeks when it becomes politically expedient to do so, right? Wrong. Not long after the election, Ambrose was decrying Trump-style Islamophobia and the stoking of racial and religious tensions for political gain. Of course during the election campaign she was all for the Barbaric Practices snitch line so that Canadians could anonymously inform on their Muslim neighbours. And why wouldn't she be, having been such a staunch supporter of the inflammatory Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act that gave birth to it. Naturally, it didn't take long after the election for her to distance herself from that half-baked, hugely unpopular policy promise.
Conservative Party rules state that an interim leader can't run for the party's leadership when the convention comes around (in spring 2017, according to Ambrose). She's also explicitly stated she won't run for the post, even if some would like to see the rules amended to allow her to do so. The truth is, as we go through this series, you're going to find she's actually pretty far to the reasonable side of the Conservative Party and the Canadian conservative movement as a whole. And if that doesn't scare the hell out of you, I don't know what will.
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