Growing up I always figured I could do anything the guys did, and maybe better, and nobody bothered telling me differently.

That’s why I don’t understand how equal pay is an issue.  Multiple studies have shown there is a wage gap.  According to statistics Canada women make .75 cents to $1 for a man doing the same job.  It is unfair, and it does need to be addressed.  But, putting in perspective wouldn’t it be better to have a job first? An economy worth talking about?

There is a motion before parliament to change the lyrics to O Canada.  Liberal M.P. Mauril Belanger is trying to change the lyrics from “in all our sons command” to “in all of us command.”  I’ve never had a problem with that.  It’s a linguistic thing.  In French if you have a group made up of 5 men, and 1 woman its plural is “Ils” because there are more men than women.  It’s also an historic reference.  At one point our military (likely when it was written) was all men.

Take a look at how far this country has come.  At one point in the last five years there were 5 female premiers in Newfoundland & Labrador (Kathy Dunderdale), Quebec (Pauline Marois), Ontario (Kathleen Wynne), Alberta (Alison Redford), and British Columbia (Christy Clark,).  That’s a huge step for feminism.  Another one is Justin Trudeau’s gender equal cabinet.  It’s impossible for the next government to go back to how it was before.  What’s more is what it says about the rest of parliament: that all women are to be treated equally.  And that will be even tougher to turn away from.

We should always be striving for equality, and that perfect world.  But we shouldn’t do it to the exclusion of all else.  We should have perspective.