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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Activist dislikes being called the 'defence minister's wife'
Wayne Cuddington / Postmedia News archives Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay (POSTMEDIA OTTAWA CITIZEN)
OTTAWA -- Human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay is complaining about how the media treats her marriage to Defence Minister Peter MacKay after a story quoted her calling for Omar Khadr's repatriation -- reopening a debate about the role of politicians' spouses in Canada.
After the story appeared, she went on Facebook to protest being referred to in the article as MacKay's wife.
"I have a name you know," she said.
In the article, published in Prince Edward Island's The Guardian newspaper Wednesday, Afshin-Jam MacKay said the federal government should bring Khadr, a Canadian citizen detained in Guantanamo Bay for war crimes, back to Canada immediately.
That night, Afshin-Jam MacKay posted a statement on Facebook saying she had been drawn into a political discussion when she was under the impression the interview would be about her book, The Tale of Two Nazanins. The political views she expressed in the article were personal and "distorted," she said.
In her Facebook post, Afshin-Jam MacKay also expressed anger about being referred to as MacKay's wife. MacKay married Afshin-Jam MacKay -- a former Miss World Canada and an advocate for ending child executions in Iran -- in January.
"After I expressly and emphatically told (the reporter) numerous times that I was tired seeing my name continually left out of interviews and referred to as 'The Defence Minister's wife'... this is exactly what he chose to do," Afshin-Jam MacKay said.
But the spouse of a high-profile politician such as MacKay has to expect to have a higher profile as a result of the marriage, said Sylvia Bashevkin, a professor of political science and an expert in women and politics at the University of Toronto.
To be seen as an independent force separate from that spouse is certainly doable, but rare, she said.
"It is possible, but I would argue it takes tremendous force of personality and tremendous political ambition. And it also takes the support of the spouse," Bashevkin said.
Politicians' wives are expected to be cheerleaders for their husbands -- especially when their husbands are right-leaning -- Bashevkin said.
"Wives of politicians, traditionally in Anglo-American systems, are expected to be sort of dutiful campaigners who smile and clap at all the right times, as a sort of helpmate to their typically male spouse," Bashevkin said.
"We're in a particular period right now where it's questionable the extent to which a cabinet minister is able to express an opinion that hasn't been cleared by the prime minister."
Three-quarters of MPs are male, and they're partnering with professional and well-established women with their own careers and opinions, said Nancy Peckford, executive director of Equal Voice, a multi-partisan organization dedicated to electing more women to all levels of political office in Canada.
The role of politicians' wives, therefore, is evolving from 30 years ago, when Maureen McTeer, whose husband is former prime minister Joe Clark, made waves for keeping her own name and identity, Peckford said.
"I don't think we can expect women all of the sudden to be the mouthpiece of their partners. I don't think that's reasonable in a contemporary relationship," Peckford said.
"I can certainly see where Peter MacKay's partner is coming from and I respect her views and insistence that she be seen in her own right for her own identity and for her own opinions."
-- Postmedia News
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 27, 2012 A14
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