The Race for Stornoway: Hedy Fry
Her?
-Various Arrested Development characters
Age: 64
Background: Hedy was born in Trinidad & Tobago. However, I have been unable to confirm anywhere whether or not she is a Trinidadian or a Tobagan. Like Carolyn Bennett, she has a medical background.
Political History: As she is so fond of reminding everyone, Hedy defeated Prime Minister Kim Campbell in 1993, in Vancouver Centre. Of course, given the campaign Kim Campbell ran that year, this was really more a case of her finding the corpse than actually slaying the giant. In 1996, Hedy was named Secretary of State for multiculturalism and the status of women. Last election, she prevented Svend Rovbinson from stealing her seat. And, yeah, there was the cross burning incident.
Not at all interesting or relevant fact which I include only because I can’t think of anything else to write about Hedy Fry: Hedy shares a birthday with Geri Halliwell.
Rejected Campaign Slogan: “Catch Fire With Hedy Fry!”
Rejected Campaign Launch Location: Prince George
Pros: Female, visible minority, from the West. Over a decade of elected experience as a Liberal.
Cons: She certainly isn't a french Fry, to put it mildly. Is rarely taken seriously. Oldest candidate in the field.
My Take: I do think the cross burning incident got blown a bit out of proportion, but Hedy does have a reputation for making controversial and ill-advised comments. It’s a shame too, since having a strong visible minority female from Western Canada in this race would be a big plus for the Liberal Party.
Chances: Stranger things have happened. None come to mind right now, but I'm sure in the history of mankind, there may be an instance of a bigger upset win than this one.
posted by calgarygrit at
11:42 a.m.
13 Comments:
I heard that at Guantanamo Bay they make the prisoners listen to Hedy Fry speak French.
By
Forward Looking Canadian, at 1:05 p.m.
But would Ignatieff support that? :-)
By
calgarygrit, at 1:07 p.m.
According to her Wikipedia bio, she was born in San Fernando, which would be on the island of Trinidad.
It's also where Stephen Ames was born.
The current Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, Patrick Manning, and the previous PM, Baseo Panday, were also from San Fernando. Perhaps that's a sign of things to come for Hedy Fry!
By
Bailey, at 1:29 p.m.
What? That she's going to be the next Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago? Hedy, you go girl... and I mean now.
By
Ted Betts, at 1:58 p.m.
I think Ignatieff totally supports the use of 'Fry-French' as a tactic in the war on terror.
On Cerebrus's comment, I'm willing to donate 100 bucks for her plane ticket to Tobago... thats ONE bbq fundraiser I'd attend ;)
By
Forward Looking Canadian, at 2:02 p.m.
Hedy Fry or Joe Volpe...come on Liberals, roll those dice, you might get 7.
By
bza, at 3:49 p.m.
I would humbly submit that perhaps a couple of your "pros" contribute to one of the most serious of the "cons"...that the fact she is "female, visible minority" might have something to do with the fact that she "Is rarely taken seriously." We still have a pretty racist and sexist political culture, white liberal Canadian delusions of harmonious multicultural coexistence notwithstanding, and women of colour still face pretty substantial barriers no matter how highly qualified they might be for the job in question or how well they perform when they manage to overcome the barriers and get the job anyway.
By
Scott Neigh, at 6:39 p.m.
CG said:
"It’s a shame too, since having a strong visible minority female from Western Canada in this race would be a big plus for the Liberal Party."
I think the only reason she is in the race is as the token westerner/another woman/not a white man from Toronto. I don't think she is in the race as a serious candidate, but because someone at Liberal HQ thought it would look better.
I think that's a shame because I'm sure there are plenty of better qualified women/minorities/not from Toronto people in the Liberal Party - maybe they just didn't want to run.
By
Anonymous, at 7:15 p.m.
So I'm guessing that Scott is in the Fry camp. Or to use the adjective Fried.
Syncro
By
syncrodox, at 12:19 a.m.
"I don't think she is in the race as a serious candidate, but because someone at Liberal HQ thought it would look better."
Bullocks. There are 50,000 reasons why the Liberals wanted her in and 50,000 reasons only.
By
Koby, at 2:37 a.m.
You know, those EEVIL Hartler conserevatives would never even let a minority be in cabinet, never mind a woman, and would definitely not give them senior positions immediately! They'd never run them as candidates or let them be MPs!
Also, I've heard Hedy speek. Better mannerisms than Bennet (though I was drunk and trying to get to second base with my date, so who knows) but worse content. Shockingly low on the signal/noise ratio, actively stupid, vigorously misandrist.
I can think of 3 potential candidates for PM (2 LPC) that are better (far, far better) than Hedy, though I believe the liberals are not eligibile (Adrienne C, Michaelle J, and Olivia Chow). Heck Rhuby D would be a far better and more credible candidate than Hedy, but she is waiting to gain experience and build a credible campaign for when she has a real opportunity.
The LPC/NDP "racism is everywhere" peeps need to get with actual Canadian society. Don't congratualte Hedy on making "great strides" and treat her like a dog that waltzes. Demand that she show just as much credibility and competence as all the other candidates, rather than fall in to (the all too true) soft bigotry of low expectations. Granted, she is running for LPC leadership and she hasn't yet been accused of a crime, but even for you Liberals that's a low bar (disqualifying as it is of 95% of possible candidates).
By
Hey, at 10:44 a.m.
I would humbly submit that perhaps a couple of your "pros" contribute to one of the most serious of the "cons"...that the fact she is "female, visible minority" might have something to do with the fact that she "Is rarely taken seriously."
Yeah, that and the fact that she has limited abilities and is a raging nutbar. Hedy's other claim to fame is that she admitted to writing fraudulent prescriptions when she was in medical practice. She describes the practice as benign - when dealing with a patient who needed non MSP-covered treatments and who did not have coverage under an extended health plan she would write a scrip in the name of their partner if they had extended health coverage, in order to "relieve the financial burden." I guess she didn't understand that the burden was not "relieved" - it was just foisted on to someone who had no obligation for it.
By
deaner, at 1:27 p.m.
I believe everybody ought to look at this.
By
www.guadalajara-3d.com, at 8:19 a.m.
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