Comments a BC Liberal election candidate made during a roast for a retiring MLA have become an election issue, after being widely circulated on social media Saturday night.
The comments were made by North Vancouver-Seymour candidate Jane Thornthwaite in a Zoom video leaked to This is Vancolour podcast host and CKNW contributor Mo Amir and have generated accusations of sexism and misogyny and calls for an apology.
I’m not going to editorialize this.
Rather, I’d like to hear from women on how they feel about this clip.
I’m sharing because a woman reached out to me and asked me to do so (her email in below tweet).#bcpoli pic.twitter.com/AiDwFmBT7F
— Mo Amir ॐ This is VANCOLOUR (@vancolour) October 11, 2020
In a story apparently meant to tease former West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Ralph Sultan, Thornthwaite recounts a series of interactions he had with North Vancouver-Lonsdale NDP candidate Bowinn Ma while in opposition.
Sultan had pledged to hold Bowinn to account on behalf of the Liberals, Thornthwaite said.
“Except Bowinn, as you know, very pretty lady, and she knows she’s got ‘it,’ and she knows how to get Ralph going,” says Thornthwaite in the video.
The two then-MLAs ended up seated together on a couch at an event at Capilano University, Thornthwaite said.
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“Very, very close together for almost the entire time … we were supposed to be networking and all this, but Bowinn knows how to get you,” she said.
“Bowinn would be right up, right next to him, cuddling, cuddling … and Ralph would be enthralled with her.”
BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, along with candidates Mike de Jong, Karin Kirkpatrick and Jordan Sturdy can be seen chuckling in response to the story.
I have huge respect for all women who push through glass ceilings. I’m one of them. So is Bowinn Ma. Ralph Sultan has the same respect and a soft spot for his fellow UBC engineer, and I made light of that at a roast. I have always and will always support more women in politics.
— Jane Thornthwaite (@jthornthwaite) October 11, 2020
Global News has requested comment from both Jane Thronthwaite and Bowinn Ma about the video.
Thornthwaite has since tweeted that she has “huge respect for all women who push through glass ceilings.”
“I’m one of them. So is Bowinn Ma. Ralph Sultan has the same respect and a soft spot for his fellow UBC engineer, and I made light of that at a roast,” she said.
“I have always and will always support more women in politics.”
At a campaign announcement Sunday, Burnaby-Lougheed NDP candidate Catrina Chen slammed the video.
“Yesterday I was very, angry … but today I’m very, very sad,” she said.
“Nobody should deserve comments like this, it’s ugly sexist comments that are not acceptable, whether it’s a private setting or a public setting.”
The video also drew a barrage of online criticism, including from BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau who called the comments “appalling.”
This is appalling.
If women are not warm in the workplace, we are castigated as rude. If we are friendly, we get this. @BowinnMa is incredibly professional and her ability to forge friendships across party lines makes the legislature better. She is owed an apology. https://t.co/xhwCxWJ6mS
— SoniaFurstenau (@SoniaFurstenau) October 11, 2020
“If women are not warm in the workplace, we are castigated as rude. If we are friendly, we get this,” wrote Furstenau.
“@BowinnMa is incredibly professional and her ability to forge friendships across party lines makes the legislature better. She is owed an apology.”
— More to come…