SOCIAL PROBLEM RESOLVED?
In 1929, women were finally considered “persons” and in 1921, Agnes Macphail became the first woman in Canada’s Parliament. Since then, the numbers of women in Canadian Parliament have increased but they have remained around 20%. Many countries have done many things to fix under-representation of women in parliament including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which Canada is part of. However, Canada has not reached the benchmark of 30%[1] women in parliament.
Compared to other countries, Canada isn’t even in the top ten countries in the Representation of Women and there are many reasons why. First of all, women have to elect themselves and women have been brought up viewing politics as an unsuitable or undesirable job, especially minority women such as Aboriginals. A study shows that women are more than twice as likely as men to believe they are not qualified to run for office. Women are also under-represented in areas such as law and business. Political parties look for high-profile professional reputations but women are under-represented in these professions. Women also have a greater share of family responsibilities and it is hard for them to manage both raising kids and other jobs. Many women also do not like the competitiveness of politics.
Another reason why there is still under-representation of women in parliament might be because of the electoral system. Canada’s electoral system is First-Past-The-Post. This means that in every election district, the candidate with the most votes wins a seat in the House of Commons. Voters only get one vote however so First-Past-The-Post is often causes few or no female representatives and is seen as one of the least favourable electoral systems for women. In other countries, electoral systems such as Proportional Representation, which includes the List System and Mixed Member System, are used and these countries have more than 30% of women in parliament. The Proportional Representation System or PR, means that parties get the same number of seats as votes which is more fair. A type of PR system is the List System which each party has a list of candidates and voters choose a party. Seats are then given according to shares in the vote. Another type of PR systems is the Mixed Member System where voters have two votes. This also helps with the under-representation of women in parliament.[2]
[1] According to United Nations
[2] For more information on types of Electoral Systems, go to http://www.forumsec.org.fj/resources/uploads/attachments/documents/REPORT_2_A_Woman_s_Place_is_in_the_House_-_the_House_of_Parliament-51.pdf
Compared to other countries, Canada isn’t even in the top ten countries in the Representation of Women and there are many reasons why. First of all, women have to elect themselves and women have been brought up viewing politics as an unsuitable or undesirable job, especially minority women such as Aboriginals. A study shows that women are more than twice as likely as men to believe they are not qualified to run for office. Women are also under-represented in areas such as law and business. Political parties look for high-profile professional reputations but women are under-represented in these professions. Women also have a greater share of family responsibilities and it is hard for them to manage both raising kids and other jobs. Many women also do not like the competitiveness of politics.
Another reason why there is still under-representation of women in parliament might be because of the electoral system. Canada’s electoral system is First-Past-The-Post. This means that in every election district, the candidate with the most votes wins a seat in the House of Commons. Voters only get one vote however so First-Past-The-Post is often causes few or no female representatives and is seen as one of the least favourable electoral systems for women. In other countries, electoral systems such as Proportional Representation, which includes the List System and Mixed Member System, are used and these countries have more than 30% of women in parliament. The Proportional Representation System or PR, means that parties get the same number of seats as votes which is more fair. A type of PR system is the List System which each party has a list of candidates and voters choose a party. Seats are then given according to shares in the vote. Another type of PR systems is the Mixed Member System where voters have two votes. This also helps with the under-representation of women in parliament.[2]
[1] According to United Nations
[2] For more information on types of Electoral Systems, go to http://www.forumsec.org.fj/resources/uploads/attachments/documents/REPORT_2_A_Woman_s_Place_is_in_the_House_-_the_House_of_Parliament-51.pdf
Female Premiers of Canada
However, the electoral system is not to blame. Right now in Canada, even with a First-Past-The-Post electoral system, six of the premiers are women. In Ontario, the premier is Kathleen Wynne, the 25th premier of Ontario and the first female premier. In Nunavut, Eva Aariak is the second premier. The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is Kathy Dunderdale, the tenth premier and first female premier. Alison Redford is also the first female premier in Alberta and the fourteenth premier overall. Christy Clark is the second female premier of British Columbia and the thirty-fifth overall. And lastly, Pauline Marois of Quebec was the first female in any political party and the first female premier. All of these women have shown that women are just as capable as men in politics and are great influences to other women. But, even though right now in Canada there are many female premiers, the issue under-representation of women in Parliament has not been solved.