Heading into the May 29 Alberta election, much is being made of the fact that both party leaders vying to be premier are female. But these leaders are only the tip of the iceberg that’s hiding a more complicated story on gender parity.
“Although women make up virtually half of the Alberta NDP’s caucus, only a quarter of the UCP’s current MLAs are women,” said Shari Graydon, CEO of Informed Opinions. “Voters who believe their lived experience should be reflected in government decision-making might want to take note.”
While Canada may perceive itself as a leader on women’s rights, when it comes to gender parity in politics, the country is falling behind, now ranking 61st in the world.
“This is concerning news at a time when so many other headlines appear to be heralding a roll-back of women’s equality, from the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women and the rising rates of violence against women both in-person and online, to the exodus of women from jobs across sectors,” Graydon said.
“The fact that women hold less than a third of elected seats prevents us from developing policies and tabling budgets that reflect the needs of all citizens,” added Graydon.
Canadians have always recognized that representation is fundamental to democracy. Yet, while women represent half of the population, they only comprise 30.5 per cent of parliamentarians — an increase of a mere 10 per cent over the past 20 years. At that rate, it will be 2062 before gender parity is achieved.
According to Susan Franceschet, Professor of Political Science at University of Calgary, the slow pace towards parity is because politicians have not prioritized it.
“Many provincial and federal leaders have appointed gender balanced cabinets and there’s no reason they couldn’t tell their parties that they must do the same for candidates. If leaders were serious about it, they could get it done,” she said.
In 208 years, only one of Canada’s 23 Prime Ministers was a woman, Kim Campbell, who had an unelected six-month term in 1993.
This is perplexing because women leaders have unique skills; tend to make long-term decisions; are more willing to collaborate; and consider the impact policies have on the most vulnerable in their community rather than the most powerful.
Environmental, economic, and social challenges are addressed by prioritizing a collective future that creates more aggressive policies.
Research has proven that when women are involved in making decisions, equality advances, health care outcomes improve, research is more reliable, and economics are more stable.
Multiple systemic barriers prevent women from entering in to, and remaining in, politics. In response, over 100 countries have set minimum targets for women’s representation and are holding political parties accountable for meeting these goals.
In Iceland (47.6 per cent women) and New Zealand (49.2 per cent women), political parties incorporated voluntary gender quotas.
In Canada, federal parties already appoint 83 per cent of the candidates they run, yet only the NDP mandate gender diversity and inclusion.
“Our research into party policies found that the NDP has deliberately implemented measures designed to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion at every level of the party,” Graydon told rabble.ca. “This has allowed them to create a pipeline and identify potential candidates who better reflect the diversity of the population. These policies are, indeed, replicable. In fact, in countries where gender quotas are mandatory, all parties are incentivized to ensure that their candidate rosters are genuinely representative of the citizens they seek to serve.”
Graydon maintains it’s time for Canada to learn from other countries like Mexico, Spain, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Costa Rica. These countries have implemented measures that include gender quotas, parity laws, constitutional and electoral reforms, as well as financial penalties.
Franceschet agrees that quotas and policies are necessary.
“Simply waiting for parties and party leaders to get serious about gender balance hasn’t worked. The progress in Canada is glacial and every year we fall further and further behind other democracies,” explained Franceschet. “And, it’s not just the Scandinavian countries that we’re behind. We also lag behind the countries we like to compare ourselves to, like Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K.”
Research has shown that women who win are as qualified, or more, than men. In fact, when Sweden introduced a law requiring parties to alternate men and women on the ballot that raised the competence of elected officials.
Informed Opinions is a non-partisan non-profit organization that is spearheading the national Balance of Power campaign to narrow the gender gap and achieve gender parity by 2030.
Data gathered by Informed Opinions found that 60 per cent of the sources quoted most often by media outlets are politicians. That makes it virtually impossible for women’s voices to be equitably reflected in media as long as they are not present in parliament, legislatures, and city councils.
That lack of representation impacts public conversations, public policies, public spending, and ultimately undermines our democracy.
Franceschet says gender equity in politics is vital, “Because it sends powerful signals to the public about whose voices matter. Young women in particular need to see role models, women who are doing important jobs. From a policy perspective, decades of research shows that women bring different policy priorities to the table, policies that affect women, like sexual harassment, childcare, and workplace equality.”
Graydon launched her media tour to coincide with the Alberta election, which takes place on May 29. She is bringing attention to the lack for female and gender-diverse people at all levels of government and asking Canadians to demand change from their representatives by saying NO to the status quo.
Franceschet maintains that all efforts to educate and increase people’s understanding of politics and women’s representation are worthwhile. She believes that while Canadians know a lot about the various levels of government, they may not be as well informed about how Canada compares to other countries and that it’s actually not favourably.
“I believe voters – half of whom are women – want to see governments that reflect their experiences. If this campaign gives people a better sense of how to achieve that, then it has succeeded,” stated Franceschet.
Informed Opinions has been working to improve the portrayal and representation of women in the media and amplifying women’s voices through research, advocacy, and thought leadership for more than four decades. Founded in 1981 as MediaWatch, the organization has evolved with the times and remains the only national Canadian initiative addressing women’s engagement in public discourse, which the organization says has never been more critical.
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