Betty Granger is a former school trustee in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
, Canada who provoked controversy during the
2000 federal election with her comments about Asian immigration to Canada, initiating a national political debate. She later became a campaign organizer for
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
.
School trustee
Granger was 57 years old at the time of the 2000 election, and had served for almost ten years as a school trustee. She was already known as a prominent figure in Winnipeg, and had taken part in a civic-action protest against plans to restructure traffic policies for the
River Heights region in 1994. Granger and others argued that the city's plans would lead to congestion and create chaos for local businesses.
During her time on the Winnipeg school board, Granger was criticized on two separate occasions for allegedly making insensitive remarks about homosexuals and racial minorities. Though, Granger disputed the accusations in both instances.
In 1993, fellow Winnipeg school trustee Bill Sanderson accused her of "intimating that all aboriginal peoples are thieves" following a private conversation.
[''Winnipeg Free Press'', 30 July 1993.] Sanderson, who is aboriginal, had informed Granger that he had purchased a computer from his nephew; Granger responded by saying that it was likely stolen. Granger responded to the controversy by saying she had done nothing to offend, and demanded that Sanderson apologize for his accusation.
In 1996, the ''
Winnipeg Free Press
The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...
'' quoted Granger as saying that students in one particular class were probably performing poorly because they believed their teacher to be gay. She was quoted as saying, "This man is a flamboyant homosexual. He's so effeminate,
tudents areput off. The first day of school, this fellow showed up in a bright pink muscle shirt." Granger denied making this statement. At a subsequent closed-session meeting of the school board, she moved a motion reaffirming the board's commitment to human rights and non-discrimination.
2000 campaign
A similar controversy arose during the 2000 campaign, although with larger implications. Granger, running in the
riding of
Winnipeg South Centre
Winnipeg South Centre () is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1979 and since 1988.
Geography
The district includes the neighb ...
as the candidate of the conservative
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...
party, was widely criticized for remarks that she made to
University of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW, or U of W) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It offers undergraduate programs in art, business, economics, education, science and applied health as well as graduate progra ...
students concerning an "Asian invasion". She was quoted as saying, "Canadian students can't get into some of our university programs in
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
" because of an influx of Asian students, and made reference to "a well-monied population buying up blocks and blocks of real estate" in
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. Concerning a recent influx of refugees from
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, she was quoted as saying, "There was a realization that what was coming off these boats was not the best clientele you would want for this country." She also claimed that some immigrants supported "Tamil terrorists".
Granger later offered a formal apology, saying, "I apologize for my remarks and any misunderstandings made at the University of Winnipeg. I am on record for increased immigration into Manitoba and my community". Granger suspended her campaign shortly after making the comments, although her name remained on the ballot.
[''Canadian Press'', 20 November 2000] She also claimed she had been pressured to withdraw by the office of party leader
Stockwell Day
Stockwell Burt Day Jr. (born August 16, 1950) is a former Canadian politician who served as leader of the Canadian Alliance from 2000 to 2001 and later as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.
A provincial cabinet minister from Alber ...
, Manitoba campaign chair
Clayton Manness
Clayton Sidney Manness (born January 23, 1947) is a Manitoba politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1981 to 1995. In 1983, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of ...
and others.
She received 3,210 votes (8.53%) in the election, finishing fourth behind the winner,
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist.
* An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...
candidate
Anita Neville
Anita Ruth Neville (born July 22, 1942) is a former Canadian politician from Manitoba, who has served as the province's 26th lieutenant governor since 2022. She was also a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada, first being elected ...
. After the election, she was censured by the Winnipeg School Board for her comments. Granger herself voted for the censure motion, and acknowledged that her comments had offended some people. She also expressed regret that some people had congratulated her for her remarks.
Her brother, former
Libertarian Party Libertarian Party may refer to:
*Libertarian Party (Argentina)
* Liberal Libertarian Party
* Libertarian Party of Australia
* Libertarian Party of Canada
** British Columbia Libertarian Party
**Libertarian Party of Manitoba (now Freedom Party of Ma ...
candidate
Dennis Owens, later claimed that Granger's remarks had been taken out of context, and noted that most of her speech had addressed the need for more immigration to Canada.
Aftermath
In the immediate aftermath to the 2000 controversy, Granger announced that she would not seek re-election to the Winnipeg school board in 2002. She later reconsidered and declared herself a candidate for re-election. She was defeated, finishing sixth in a district which elected three board members. In 2004, she was appointed by the Winnipeg School Board for a two-year term on a committee overseeing the Children's Heritage Fund.
Granger was hired as a campaign organizer for
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
in 2002, as Harper successfully challenged Stockwell Day for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance. Granger's role as president of a party
Riding association
An electoral district association (), commonly known as a riding association () or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the electoral district
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) distr ...
was defended by Harper, who stated that Granger had been the victim of a "slur story" in the 2000 election: "Betty Granger is a riding president, a member in good standing. She's somebody that other members I've talked to think very highly of, and quite frankly, she was the victim of an unfair slur story in the last election campaign."
[Stephen Harper, ''Calgary Herald'', January 15, 2002.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granger, Betty
Manitoba candidates for Member of Parliament
Canadian Alliance candidates for the Canadian House of Commons
Candidates in the 2000 Canadian federal election
Women in Manitoba politics
Manitoba school board members
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
20th-century Canadian women politicians