Le Panier Bleu and women: it’s ALWAYS the right time to denounce the lack of women

Apparently, talking about diversity is acceptable as long as we’re not in a period of crisis. During a crisis, we should leave room for “the real thing”. That’s what some people say when we denounce non-inclusive measures.

This morning, La Presse columnist Marie-Claude Lortie published an opinion piece on Le Panier Bleu. Le Panier Bleu is the ecommerce site launched in record time on Sunday afternoon by the Quebec government. It’s all about “stimulating our economy and helping our entrepreneurs […] to boost local commerce”, reads the website. The team consists of a General Manager, and the Board of Directors (BOD) of four women and four men. So there’s parity, but at the daily press briefing on Sunday, when the government announced the team behind the initiative, only three people were named, and they were all men. Several voices were raised to denounce the fact that, in 2020, having an all-male Board of Directors is not a good idea! A few hours later, we learn that there are women after all. It would have been enough for the government to announce the four women and four men on the Board during the press briefing, and there would never have been any controversy.

I scoured my Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook feeds and highlighted the three comments most representative of the general opinion.

Comment 1: “Do you really think that’s the priority right now?”
Yes, we’re going through a dramatic crisis that has us all on edge and anxious. And I am. Talking about the representation of women, who make up 50% of the population and are the main decision-makers on household consumption, isn’t a cute idea that should disappear the minute we hit a snag. It’s an intelligent, strategic concept. Women decide 70-80% of household spending, so it makes more than sense to put them on an ecommerce site’s board of directors.

The above comment also implies another dangerous concept. That only men are the real people capable of getting us out of the crisis. Do you think I’m exaggerating?
Think of all the male superheroes in the movies. For Bloomberg, among the top 50, there’s only one woman.
Think of business leaders, where only 16% of Canadian companies are run or owned by women.
Think of heads of state: fewer than 60 countries in the world have ever had a woman at the helm.
Why are there still so many men in top decision-making positions? Because we unconsciously think that a good leader has to be masculine!

Comment 2: “We took the best and they happen to be men”.
I’ve heard this phrase so many times I’ve stopped counting! No, we’re not talking about the best. Here’s why. When a company is in the process of recruiting, it writes a job ad. The person in charge publishes the advert in their network and asks for referrals. They express interest. Meetings take place. The advert is published on job sites, because human resources insist on it. Traditional” applications arrive, but are not really considered. Indeed, the ties forged with those invited for a beer or coffee at the previous stage are already strong. In the end, the coffee and beer drinkers get hired. Conclusion: if you’re not in the right network, you don’t have the job. So we’re not talking about the “best candidate”, but the “best candidate who’s in the right network and was thirsty that day”.

Comment 3: “There aren’t enough women entrepreneurs”.
Women are under-represented in the business world, so it’s normal that there are fewer of them. It is indeed harder to find them. But using this argument to explain why we preferred to create an entity without them is downright demagogic! Don’t know any women in business? Here are a few resources to help you find one:
– The Quebec Businesswomen’s Network
– Premières en affaires has published a list of 75 companies headed by women.
– Femmessor has been financing women entrepreneurs for over 20 years
– Cheffes de file, an initiative of the Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec
– BDC Women in Technology Fund

These examples are taken in the context of the pandemic, but they reveal a certain way of thinking about women’s place in the spheres of power: their presence (and therefore their absence) hangs by a thread. We all think that access to safe abortion was a given, and look what’s happening in the United States. In fact, I’m afraid. I’m afraid we’re forgetting the importance of representation, of women as well as men. I’m afraid that all the efforts we’ve put into the advancement of women could come to nothing tomorrow. I’m afraid we’re so afraid that we’ve forgotten our values.

I leave you with this quote from Simone de Beauvoir:

“Never forget that it will only take a political, economic or religious crisis for women’s rights to be called into question. These rights can never be taken for granted. You must remain vigilant throughout your lives.”