If history is any indication, Kamala Harris will face an onslaught of attacks about her gender.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on August 26, 2024.

OTTAWA–Former U.S. president Donald Trump was unusually quiet during the rollout of the Democratic National Convention.

He seemed to be heeding the advice of those who have suggested to the former president that he needs to start debating issues, and to stay away from personalities.

That was the public Trump last week. But the private Trump is not so circumspect. According to multiple news reports, he often refers to his opponent, Vice-President Kamala Harris, as a “bitch.”

Those reports appeared to be confirmed when his former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, appeared at the Democratic convention to denounce her former boss and tell the world how Trump also mocked his own supporters as “basement dwellers”.

Grisham denounced Trump as someone with “no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth.”

She recounted a story when the former president visited a hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was upset that cameras were focused on the dying patients, not him.

The Democratic gathering was rife with speakers who opined on why Trump was unsuitable as a commander-in-chief. But some also warned that the love-in people felt at the Chicago, Ill., gathering would quickly turn sour in the uphill battle leading to election day.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama suggested that Harris, the Democratic candidate, would face “ugly, misogynistic, racist lies” in the next 75 days. If history is any indication, she will face an onslaught of attacks. Chances are her gender will be a more popular line of attack than her race.

Trump has already put his foot in his mouth by falsely claiming that Harris is not Black. Trump made the statement in a speech to the National Association of Black Journalists when he drew a shocked reaction after stating, “I’ve known her for long time… and she was always of Indian heritage… I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

Trump shut down that line of attack after criticism from Democrats and Republicans.

Harris’ father is Jamaican, and she has consistently embraced her racial identity since joining a historically Black sorority at a historically Black university.

Attacks on her Blackness have been silenced, but we can expect gender name-calling to continue right up to election day on Nov. 5.

It seems that racial epithets are a lot more politically risky than gender slurs.

Just last week, the CBC published a story outlining the shocking level of misogyny facing female politicians on social media. The British-based Centre for Countering Digital Hate published a report stating that Instagram ignored 926 of 1,000 reported abusive comments targeting American female politicians on the app.

The not-for profit monitoring centre focused on comments left on the accounts of 10 politicians, including Harris.

Most were not removed after complaints, including comments like “make rape legal”, “death to her,” and “we don’t want blacks around us.”

Instagram owner Meta has guidelines which allow “stronger conversation” when it involves people like politicians and other public figures who are often in the news.

The Instagram exposé did not surprise those of us who have faced misogyny during and after a life in politics.

On a fairly regular basis, I am insulted when I post or repost items on X. As well as getting death threats and being told to die, I have been attacked as an over-the-hill alcoholic, “Tequila Sheila” hag. The Tequila Sheila name-calling actually came from a moniker given to me by a former Conservative minister.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna left politics in part because she was tired of the attacks and stalking that she faced as a woman politician. Her office was spray-painted with unprintable insults, and her opponents in the Conservative Party labelled her “climate Barbie” because of her interest in fighting climate change.

Harris has been in politics for a long time, and no doubt will not be cowed by the attacks she will face because of her gender and race.

Obama levelled her own personal attacks during a fiery convention speech, saying Trump may be told “that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’” to a roar of crowd approval.

Trump must be seething over how his presidential trajectory has been reversed since Republicans celebrated his escape from an assassin’s bullet literally days before their convention last month.

Expect Trump supporters to respond with more misogyny on social media.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Whatever the Liberals do these days—even if it is groundbreaking, and puts $100-million into the creation of domestic news stories—they cannot win.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on December 4, 2023.

OTTAWA—The government’s Google announcement last week should have been met with applause all the way around.

Canada has always been a leader in new ideas and instruments to protect culture, and obviously the survival of local news is a key to spawning more Canadian content.

But whatever the Liberals do these days—even if it is groundbreaking, and puts $100-million into the creation of domestic news stories—they cannot win.

Pundits variously described the agreement with Google as “dodging a bullet,” a self-inflicted wound, and another cock-up by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Talk about kicking a guy while he is down.

We know the numbers for the Liberals look grim. According to the latest polls, they are running neck and neck with the New Democratic Party. But how that unpopularity can be expanded to include the government’s Google agreement is pretty hard to swallow.

The Canadian government has followed the lead of Australia, which was the first country in the world to regulate the social media landscape in an attempt to secure funding for domestic content.

This is one area where Canadians have a fair bit of experience, and the decision to take on Google, Meta, and the other social media behemoths was a courageous one. Some said the Liberals should just wait to take their lead from the G7 or the OECD. That advice would have meant no action, as the Americans are usually opposed to public intrusion into what they consider their media space.

The European Union has been making its own inroads into taking on big tech. The EU fought Apple in a decision last year as it moved to standardize chargers for smartphones and tablets sold in Europe. Canada announced a similar decision in the last budget, and the European market of 450 million people will receive a standard USB Type-C charging port by the end of next year.

As Europe takes on Apple, Canada goes for Google. One jaded journalist went so far as to claim the Canadian government was involved in a “shakedown.”

Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne tweeted that there was “no actual legal, logical or moral case for forcing Google to underwrite the Canadian media.” He called the agreement “strictly opportunistic: 1) Google has a lot of money. 2) We want some. 3) Make them give it to us.”

In fact, there is plenty of precedent for content transmitters to chip in on Canadian story development. That model has been used in the television world since the private cable industry was required to establish a fund to support Canadian content.

Their fund morphed into partnership with the government via the Canadian Television Fund, and then into the Canada Media Fund, which currently invests $366-million annually into media production. That investment triggers $1.7-billion in industry activity in Canada, providing employment for more than 244,000 people.

As television and streaming collided through the introduction of internet media content creation, it made sense for the Canadian government to require new media players to do their part in the creation of content. As Google traffics in the news, it can also help to pay for local news creation, using a tried-and-true model that will now likely be copied by dozens of other jurisdictions around the world.

The Liberal government should be congratulated as a leader in public policy on the issue of social media transmission. Instead, even though last week’s announcement will assist in the survival of local media outlets, there were no kudos for Trudeau.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has already promised to trash the Google deal with the same vision he uses to promise defunding of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Google story was not big news across the country as it was an inside-the-beltway negotiation, but the outcome of this new investment could be critical for the survival of local media in the next decade.

Most people may not care about the intricacies of public policy when it comes to the creation of Canadian content. But without government leadership, the chance to grow a dying news industry is slim to none.

Last week’s announcement should have been met with at least one day of positive coverage. But when the media decides that it is time for a change at the top, nothing—not even a trailblazing move to save media—will kill the main story.

The appetite for political change is fuelled by negative Trudeau stories on a daily basis.

That is not going to change.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.