Federal Labour Minister Patty Hajdu is speaking out about a recent encounter in Winnipeg.
Hajdu says she was in the Manitoba capital to announce a program to get more women working in the trades.
A union official introducing her said true friends tell each other when they look fat in their pants, and Hajdu doesn’t.
The Thunder Bay MP says the comment he made about her appearance wasn’t the only comment he made that was sexist.
“He referred to the person who would be running this program as sassy several times, and at the end of the conference he said that he was thrilled any day that he got to be hugged by three beautiful women.”
Hajdu wasn’t shocked by his comments since she’s dealt with similar comments all of her life.
“Women internalize those experiences and have learned how to cope with them in a way that creates the least kerfuffle, and that’s because we internalize this from the day we are born, from the way we are raised as young children. I had a young female staffer with me, and she was upset more than I was.”
The labour minister admits she second-guessed her response to the union official. “You asked me about whether I should have done something differently. As a matter of fact, I asked myself that in the car afterwards, I should have said that, or how come I didn’t say this. My young staffer said to me why is it your responsibility to address the harassment that you felt in the workplace; what he should have done is not make those comments.”
Hajdu adds she’s pleased the younger generation of women are going to change the narrative of women in the workforce and will not accept comments they feel are unacceptable.
