Defining Canadian Family Roles?

[Big Guy]

Peter McKay, a cabinet minister in the current Harper government sent out congratulatory messages on Mothers Day and Fathers Day;

The following are excerpts:

Mothers Day

“ By the time many of you have arrived at the office in the morning, you’ve already changed diapers, packed lunches, run after school buses, dropped kids off at daycare, taken care of an aging loved one and maybe even thought about dinner. Yet you come to work every morning ready to make your contribution as a public servant for the benefit of all Canadians and their families. And for this, we are all thankful.”

Fathers Day

“ I wish to take this opportunity to recognize our colleagues who are not only dedicated Department of Justice employees, but are also dedicated fathers, shaping the minds and futures of the next generation of leaders.”

I guess mothers change diapers and fathers shape minds.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/24/full_texts_of_peter_mackays_mothers_fathers_day_emails_to_staff.html

Is this a true description of Canadian families?

Is this what Conservatives expect from Canadian families?

Is this a case of “foot in mouth” disease?

Is this much ado about nothing?

[scribblet]

Much ado about nothing. Parsing words just looking for something that really isn't there, some people have too much time on their hands.

[Bob Macadoo]

Its not parsing.....its the accumulation of excerpts from Mr. McKay's juvenile persona. His tweets are high-larious.

[On Guard for Thee]

Peter McKay, a cabinet minister in the current Harper government sent out congratulatory messages on Mothers Day and Fathers Day;

The following are excerpts:

Mothers Day

“ By the time many of you have arrived at the office in the morning, you’ve already changed diapers, packed lunches, run after school buses, dropped kids off at daycare, taken care of an aging loved one and maybe even thought about dinner. Yet you come to work every morning ready to make your contribution as a public servant for the benefit of all Canadians and their families. And for this, we are all thankful.”

Fathers Day

“ I wish to take this opportunity to recognize our colleagues who are not only dedicated Department of Justice employees, but are also dedicated fathers, shaping the minds and futures of the next generation of leaders.”

I guess mothers change diapers and fathers shape minds.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/24/full_texts_of_peter_mackays_mothers_fathers_day_emails_to_staff.html

Is this a true description of Canadian families?

Is this what Conservatives expect from Canadian families?

Is this a case of “foot in mouth” disease?

Is this much ado about nothing?

Perhaps just try making a statement to start a thread if you so choose, but leave out all these questions you seem to deem apparopriate. It comes off sounding a bit grade school'ish.

[monty16]

Perhaps just try making a statement to start a thread if you so choose, but leave out all these questions you seem to deem apparopriate. It comes off sounding a bit grade school'ish.

You seem to be showing far too much concern for other individual posters when you should be sticking to the topic. It's not grade schoolish, it's politics that you don't agree with. Maybe read Bob Macadoo's comment to understand the difference between an attack on Peter McKay as opposed to what you seem to want to consistently keep on doing? Thanks!

[Smallc]

Quit critiquing the posts of others who are only trying to add to the forum.

[hitops]

My wife saw this on the national tonight, and said "I don't get it, what's the problem?"

An hour of news needs to be filled with something, advertisers would not pay much for a dark screen.

[Michael Hardner]

I think if McKay had said "here's to the fathers who work hard every day, and to the mothers who inspire their children to be good citizens" then he would have been in trouble for implying that mothers don't work.

[Keepitsimple]

I think if McKay had said "here's to the fathers who work hard every day, and to the mothers who inspire their children to be good citizens" then he would have been in trouble for implying that mothers don't work.

Yep. You got that right. My wife was completely onside with McKay.......and whether or not the feminists would like unisex garments for all.....Barbies and Princess books and clothes are in more demand than ever. What is so wrong in recognizing that in general, mothers are better "nurturers" than fathers?

[jacee]

Yep. You got that right. My wife was completely onside with McKay.......and whether or not the feminists would like unisex garments for all.....Barbies and Princess books and clothes are in more demand than ever. What is so wrong in recognizing that in general, mothers are better "nurturers" than fathers?

They're also more influential at shaping minds:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8012011/Mothers-are-strongest-role-models-for-childrens-education-report-claims.html

Can we really afford to keep paying Mckay big bucks just for entertainment value, though?

.

Edited June 25, 2014 by jacee

[Smallc]

I don't get the fuss.

[Keepitsimple]

I don't get the fuss.

Apparently, there are a number of mothers who want to be fathers - and fathers who want to be mothers!

[Michael Hardner]

What is so wrong in recognizing that in general, mothers are better "nurturers" than fathers?

Or that they work more ? This fact is a top (and accurate) complaint about family work arrangements.

[The_Squid]

Social conservatives certainly have a particular view of what the family unit should look like. Moms change diapers. Dad goes off to work. This is some sort of ideal for those kinds of people. However, this type of family is getting further and further from reality...

[On Guard for Thee]

And Mackay seems to keep on doing it. Someone commented on the news that he should try and evolve at least into the 20th century. Maybe later on the 21st.

[Keepitsimple]

It may be trendy for the latee-sipping urban elite to chatter on about mother/father stereotyping but all they do is degrade the nurturing skills provided mainly by mothers that instill a sense of love and security. In general, those nurturing skills come naturally to women - not so much to men. Sure, we're all evolving - especially the two-income-dependent families.....but there are reasons why custodial cases favour the mother over the father, more often than not.

[On Guard for Thee]

We all know that in the "good old days" daddy went to work and mommy stayed home to raise the kids. But the times they are a changin'. Have been for quite some time. And you'd think a high profile federal minister should be aware of that.

[Keepitsimple]

Here's some interesting polling information that tends to show that McKay is more in touch with mainstream womanhood than the latte crowd give him credit for:

75% of new UK mothers would prefer to be stay-at-home Moms if they could afford it:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2199539/75-new-mothers-stay-home-bring-child-afford-to.html

Only 37% of working US mothers would prefer fulltime jobs:

http://news.msn.com/us/poll-finds-spike-in-working-moms-preferring-full-time-jobs

[jacee]

We all know that in the "good old days" daddy went to work and mommy stayed home to raise the kids. But the times they are a changin'. Have been for quite some time. And you'd think a high profile federal minister should be aware of that.

I'm not a fan, but ... some people didn't read ...

He's talking to staff, who do work

"By the time many of you have arrived at the office in the morning, youve already changed diapers, packed lunches, run after school buses, dropped kids off at daycare, taken care of an aging loved one and maybe even thought about dinner. "

But Dad doesn't get to do diapers.

..

[Topaz]

Question, was he the only minister to send out these kind of messages and if so why?? I don't remember him doing before. Family life has changed so much even in the last ten years.

[On Guard for Thee]

Question, was he the only minister to send out these kind of messages and if so why?? I don't remember him doing before. Family life has changed so much even in the last ten years.

That's a good question. I certainly haven't seen/heard anything similar come to the surface. However, as I think Jacee is pointing out, he may be getting a raking over the coals over statements possibly take out of context. anyway it's BBQ circuit time and this will blow over like the smoke off an Angus beef sirloin. Damn I'm gettin' hungry.

[Keepitsimple]

In addition to the previous surveys that I posted, here's some additional data on what actual working moms think - and how that differs from Dads. What the latte crowd misses in their attack on McKay - and mothers in general - is that a married couple can be "equal" but still agree on, or migrate to those responsibilities that either come more naturally or make the most practical sense.

At this time, 66 percent of women work either full or part time: 74 percent work a full-time schedule while the remaining are employed part-time.

Yet when you ask these working moms what they would prefer to work, a whopping 62 percent say part-time. (On an interesting note, 79 percent of dads would prefer to work full-time!)

http://www.allbusiness.com/labor-employment/working-hours-patterns-full/13420414-1.html

Edited June 29, 2014 by Keepitsimple

[Keepitsimple]

.....But if you really want to understand how shallow the anti-McKay crowd are - and how complex a woman's children/work choices and concerns are - just read this article. As much as the Latte crowd would like to boil it down to an "equality" issue - it's far, far deeper than that.

Every ten seconds a baby is born in the United States, which means someone becomes a mother or adds to her family. There are tears, joy and suddenly lots more to do. Plink! The first domino tumbles in a complex trail that ends up in a big choice: Stay at home? Go back to work? Something in between?

The Working Mother Research Institute has taken a close look at this chain reaction in What Moms Choose. We surveyed more than 3,700 women to find out who ends up at home, who goes back to work and all of the push-pull factors that shape those decisions. This report, our second annual, is part of the Working Mother Research Institute’s ongoing mission to help all employers attract and retain women by becoming more family-friendly.

Link: http://www.workingmother.com/research-institute/what-moms-choose-working-mother-report

Edited June 29, 2014 by Keepitsimple

[Remiel]

People like to argue based on what "comes naturally" a lot but the question here is what "comes not, unnaturally" .