An Ontario Liberal candidate has apologized after drawing outrage for sharing a Facebook post on the differences between men and women.
“I received and re-shared a Facebook posting that, if taken literally, is without question offensive to both women and men,” Jack Uppal said in a statement sent out by Ontario’s Liberal Party. “It was certainly not my intent that the post be taken literally or to offend anyone. I apologize unreservedly.”
In a statement sent out by the Liberal Party on Sunday, Kathleen Wynne’s office said the remarks posted on Facebook were “not acceptable,” but that they “understand Mr. Uppal has apologized, which was the right thing to do.”
Uppal, a real estate agent and Liberal candidate for the riding of Nepean-Carleton, landed in hot water on Saturday after the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party circulated screen-grabs of a post he had shared on Facebook earlier this year.
On Jan. 30, Uppal posted an “analysis” on the differences between men and women, and how they differ in: multi-tasking, language, analytical skills, driving, lying, problem solving, among other things.
The text, which appears to have since been deleted from Uppal’s Facebook page, said “men’s brains have a lot of space for handling the analytical process. They can analyze and find the solution for a process and design a map of a building easily. But if a complex map is viewed by a woman, they cannot understand it. Women cannot understand the details of a map easily, for them it is just a dump of lines on a paper.”
Another section states: “Men want status, success, solutions, big process, etc…but women want relationships, friends, family, etc...”
The remarks drew a rebuke from Progressive Conservative Laurie Scott, who is running in the riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock.
“Mr. Uppal’s statements have no place in Nepean-Carleton, in politics, or in our society,” she said, adding, “it is upsetting that Kathleen Wynne would appoint a candidate in Nepean-Carleton who would spread such sexist, close-minded views.”
