This is an essay written by Nathan Schneider. This is being stored in a sandbox page, to aid in using references. Please tolerate this until I remove it.

section 1[edit]

Democracy is the representation of all voices in government. Yolande Cohen, in the book Women and Counter-Power, “In Western Democracies, the overwhelming majority of women do not participate in the decision-making process. It could be said that democracy developed without women, if not against them”. It was in 1921 when the right to be represented in parliament was extended to women. At that time there were only four women candidates in the federal election, and of these four Agnes MacPhail of the Progressive Party was elected. One woman out of 235 seats had been elected. Although a large barrier had been demolished to democracy many still stand today. After being elected, MacPhail said “I can almost hear them coming” ^[1]. She felt that women would enter politics in as equal numbers as men. Today, Canadian women share a much greater portion of seats, but have not yet received their share of representation. There was no rout of women dashing for seats in the House of Commons as MacPhail had anticipated. Equal representation of women in government will take reforms to the way many political parties and the media operate, as well as stronger supports for women in government, by government.

section 2[edit]

One of the fundamental things women discuss when it comes to entering politics is the hostility they are met with on the floor. In Afghanistan, five years after the invasion and the war against the misogynistic Taliban, there “[had] been no fundamental change in Afghanistan” ^[2], in fact “Those who speak for justice are threatened with death”, 27 year old Afghani MP, Malalai Joya recounts “on May 7th, 2006 I was physically attacked by two warlords [inaudible] M.Ps in Parliament just for speaking the true crimes of the Northern Alliance. One of them even shouted 'prostitute, take and rape her'” ^[3]. She even confesses “one day, they may kill me” ^[4]. One may argue that this sort of hostility towards women in parliament may be a thing in the past. That it may just be a thing for countries which are starting to modernize and that Canadian women do not need to fear this kind of abuse. However, comments made about former Conservative Party MP Belinda Stronach suggest otherwise. Alberta premier Ralph Klein cracked a joke, "I don't think she (Stronach) ever did have a Conservative bone in her body. Well except for one," he told a crowd that groaned, laughed and clapped. He then followed it up with "Well, speaking of Peter McKay" ^[5]. Her former male caucus members were also not forgiving, as Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott labelled her a prostitute ^[6]. Meanwhile Bob Runciman, a Tory Member of Provincial Parliament from Ontario, called her an attractive dipstick. The Canadian media also wasn't too forgiving. "Blonde Bombshell" was the headline in the National Post^[7]. The Edmonton Sun opted for a perhaps more tasteful "Cheap Trick”. The sexual comments made about this would be enough to make any woman feel uncomfortable treading into territory that has been traditionally dominated by men. When David Emerson or Wajid Khan crossed the floor there had been no such uproar with ad hominem sexual remarks by caucus or the media. It is this very open hostility that prevents women from entering politics.

section 3[edit]

Women make up 27 per cent ^[8] of the Afghanistan Parliament, whereas women in Canada only make up 21 per cent of the house. It is possible that the role women are playing in the early Afghani democracy will lead to a more inclusive society far sooner than in Canada. In order to counter the status quo and apathy of women in Canadian politics, Canadian parties must nominate more women. If you break it down, into parties 11 per cent of members from the Conservative Party are women. Liberals have a substantially higher 33 per cent, and the Bloc Quebecois shares this percentage. The party that comes closest to fair gender representation is the New Democratic Party, with 41 per cent ^[9]. These figures are relatively close to the number of women candidates that where nominated. In 2006, the Conservatives ran only 12.3 per cent women candidates, the Liberals 25.7 per cent, the Bloc at 30.6 per cent and the New Democratic Party had 35 per cent of their candidates as women ^[10]. In 2004, the numbers are also more comparable, however the NDP came in second for the highest percentage of women candidates, as they were beaten out by the Marxist-Leninist party who ran 36.8 per cent women candidates. If the mainstream parties wish to increase women representation in the House of Commons, they must nominate more women to run in elections.

section 4[edit]

What makes these parties achieve a higher number of women? It helps when the party has the organizational support for women. The New Democratic Party has various provincial women's wings, such as the Saskatchewan New Democratic Women (SNDW). They provide a woman's perspective. The wings serve as a voting block at conventions, as well as having several members occupy many positions on the party executive and, in Saskatchewan, are given money to help them operate, recruit, educate and fund raise. The New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan offers the Bessie Ellis Fund which is dedicated to supporting female candidates through financial contributions ^[11]. In the federal scene, the New Democratic Party has the Agnes McPhail Fund ^[12], they also supplement lost income of a candidate, which helps alleviate the financial burden on a women who choses to run. The New Democratic Party federally has “an equal opportunity mandate for nominations, particularly in the priority seats. This means that there must be either a woman, a youth, a visible minority sought out and declared in priority seats before the nomination will be approved” ^[13].

section 5[edit]

The Liberal Party has the National Women's Liberal Commission to advocate women representation. The roots of this organization started in 1928, when women across Canada gathered in a national assembly. They formed this organization so that women in the Liberal Party had a strong and active voice in making policy. On top of this, it actively sought out ways to get women in more involved and significant roles in the party ^[14]. It is made up of a national president, six regional representatives, and twelve provincial/territorial presidents who oversee women’s clubs across the country. The Liberal Party has the Judy LaMarsh Fund, named after a former Minister of Health and the first woman Liberal cabinet minister. It was founded in 1984 ^[15] to ease the financial burden on women who wish to enter politics.

section 6[edit]

The Conservative Party, is generally male dominated. A search of the constitution shows no references of “women” or “female” ^[16]. In fact, of the 18 members who sit on the National Council of the Conservative Party of Canada, only 3 members (16 per cent), are women. Of these women, all are from Ontario which short changes gender representation from other regions of the country ^[17]. This provides compelling evidence that women are under-represented in the Conservative Party. One can even go as far as to claim disrespected, as was evidenced when Belinda Stronach crossed the floor. The conservative view of women is even openly articulated by their members, such as David Sweet who said "There's a particular reason why Jesus called men only. It's not that women aren't co-participators. It's because Jesus knew women would naturally follow" ^[18] or Maurice Vellacott and his hard pro-life stance ^[19]. As a final indicator of where a woman stands to the Conservative Party, Stephen Harper cut 43 per cent of the operating budget for Status of Women Canada. This, ironically enough, at a time when UNICEF's 2007 State of the World's Children report calls for additional support for women and their children. That means “no pay-equity legislation, no Canada-wide child-care program and [women] can forget about equality” ^[20]. Saskatchewan's provincial conservative counterpart, the Saskatchewan Party, also shows the low priority women have to the party. The Saskatchewan Party was having an $8,000/ticket fund raiser at the Augusta National Golf Club, which bars women from membership ^[21]. Actions like this appear as though they were done to intentionally discourage women from entering into the realm of Conservative politics.

section 7[edit]

As shown by the party statistics about how much of their caucus is women, the more action a party takes, in the form of affirmative action and gender specific funding, the greater the representation of women they have in their caucus.

section 8[edit]

One of the factors that affects women's decisions to enter politics is their commitment to their family. Saskatoon city councilor Tiffany Paulson agrees, “It is really difficult when you've got kids at home to be participating in government, particularly if you have to travel to Regina four days a week, or to Ottawa four days a week [...] it's not really conducive to having a family and spending quality time with your kids” ^[22]. This is a serious issue. Many women wait until their children have grown up and are no longer reliant on family life to enter politics or you have single young women with no families entering into politics ^[23]. This of course significantly reduces the representation of young families in government. The barriers of travelling while you have a family do play a big factor in women representation in government. “Municipal and school board elections do a little bit better on women representatives because they are local. You don't have to go to Ottawa or Regina to represent your constituency. You can come home at night.” ^[24]. The solution to the problem of frequent travel is used daily by the private sector. Internet conferencing has great potential to reshape the way people do government. Instead of having to travel to Ottawa, the member can stay in the constituency and participate via any available Internet connection. This could even take place in their own home, while they look after their children, or get ready to hold more meetings with constituents due to having more time since less time will be spent sourcing flights and making hotel reservations. This would save thousands of tax dollars spent on air fares, car hire and accommodation ^[25]. A reduction in travel also has positive environmental implications as less fuel would be consumed during their terms in office. This could also restore some more stately conduct to our House of Commons. By removing a physical person from the floor, and replacing it with someone on a screen miles away, it would be less personal, and members could focus more on issues than on personal conflict which frequently intimidates women, and prevents them from becoming involved in politics.

section 9[edit]

This isn't to say women can not compete in the world with men. The private sector does offer many opportunities for women. In fact, the 6th richest person in the world in 2002 was Alice Walton, with a net worth of 20.5 billion dollars ^[26]. There are many women in the role of CEO, such as Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay^[27]. The allure of more money, and advancement can be a driving force that propels women professionals into the private sector instead of public service. When the highest paid position of Prime Minister is $282,000^[28] a year there isn't much incentive to enter politics when you can earn more as a CEO. There is also the matter of expenses. In the private sector, a business will generally pay for accommodation and other expenses incurred in the name of doing a job. In the public sector a member must purchase a home in or near their riding, then they must also pay for where they stay while in Ottawa. These personal expenses significantly reduce the real pay of a member, and drop the incentive for professional women to enter into politics.

section 10[edit]

Another option available to increase women representation in government is the ratio system. Rwanda’s Lower House of Parliament reached 48.8% women. This percentage is even higher than progressive countries like Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. ^[29] This is a reflection of concerted efforts of government initiatives to bring more women into public office. According to Elizabeth Powley, who has studied Rwandan women's political rise, "There's a widespread perception in Rwanda that women are better at reconciliation and forgiveness. Giving them such prominence is partly an effort at conflict prevention"^[30]. When their constitution was being redrafted, they had designated seats in both houses to women. Their representation extends beyond just in the houses. There is a female chief justice of the Supreme Court, several female cabinet members, a female head of the influential National Unity and Reconciliation Commission and a female deputy police chief^[31]. There are criticisms of legislating a number of seats to be for women only, particularly in Rawanda. These critics claim that women are still not as influential as men, and debates are often dominated by male members. Although it is true, women playing in the political field is quite a new thing in that country, and it will take some time for women to adapt to being key players in policy. That is not to say they do not have any say at all, as recently they had liberalized the rules restricting inheritance for women, which were a major force in keeping women poor and they also played a key role in toughening penalties for child sexual predators^[32]. A ratio system is a strong policy option to ensure representation of women in the political process.

conclusion[edit]

Women can achieve equal representation as men in political process. It will take reforms to the way many political parties and the media operate, as well as stronger supports for women in government, by government. Contrary to Yolande Cohen, many budding democracies such as Afghanistan and Rwanda now have women involved, and will perhaps grow into a more inclusive society much sooner than Canada because of the role women are playing in rebuilding these countries.

References[edit]