Solidarity

Photo credit: Denver News

The reason this post is coming late to you is not because I was at the Women's March in Washington or even downtown Toronto.

Instead, I was at session with the Metis Nation of Ontario, talking with them about the province's Climate Change Action Plan, and all the things promised them there (let's say, for the sake of argument, about $40 million in projects to help them offset the carbon price).

The last time I'd seen some of these folks was in July 2015, in my pre-cane days, and I remember I had a bad cold. I also remember I really liked the people I met. And I noted then, a bit amused, the signs of divided gender roles.

In 2015, the room was set up with round tables, with six seats per table. Women filled the tables at the front of the room; men filled the ones at back. The women participated earnestly in the conversation. The men chatted among themselves. 

Yesterday, the room was set up with one big table, so the genders were more mixed together. They'd had more than a year to think on the matter of climate change and they all came prepared. This time men and women spoke more equally. Pauline from Thunder Bay and Ernie from Cochrane talked the most.

Over the course of the day, we talked about the Action Plan, about cap and trade and about adapting to climate change. Then everyone was supposed to break out into groups to brainstorm ideas. I joined one group, just to listen, but, as soon as Tom from French River saw that I was the only woman, he assigned me the role of writing everything down on the flip chart paper.

So I did.

We goofed around a bit - two of them asked if I was married when they heard the Action Plan would spend approximately 8 billion dollars over five years - but we worked fast and were done before the other groups. 

So John from Sudbury told me the 100% true story about how he renovated his wife's kitchen. First assuring me that his wife is a good woman, he told the tale of how he offered to buy her new appliances. So she got a beautiful new stove and dishwasher and fridge. Then he told her she could have anything else she liked. "Anything at all," he said, "Just tell me and I'll get it and install it." She asked for new cupboards and a new countertop. "So I bought it all, and installed it myself," he said. "Cost me fifteen thousand dollars." 

"So I was talking to my wife afterwards, looking at how nice the new kitchen was," said John from Sudbury, "and I asked her, now that I spent all this time and money on your new kitchen, are you going to become a better cook?" 

"She looked me right in the eye and said, 'no.'"

"Then there's no way I'm renovating the bedroom," said John from Sudbury. 

We all had a good laugh.

This was a nice moment for me because, while in major cities around the world millions of women were peacefully protesting the divisive words and cruel intentions of an unimaginably powerful man, these nice people enjoyed the gentle comedy in the differences between men and women.

I held onto that happy thought as I walked the three kilometres home, grateful for that experience and grateful, too, for how much my hip continues to improve.

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen