Political parties will need to do more to entice female candidates to run federally

OTTAWA—While Parliament did indeed rise for the summer, most federal MPs did not stop working. With a federal election just over a year away, MPs with the intention to run again were busy meeting their respective parties’ nomination requirements, and ensuring that their efforts as government or opposition MPs were well understood among constituents. The Conservative Party was the last of the major three parties to hold their biennial policy convention, convening more than 3,000 members in Halifax in late August. Conservative Deputy Leader Lisa Raitt had a strong presence throughout the convention, as both MC and heavyweight in Atlantic Canada, where the Conservatives lost many seats in 2015. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also renewed and refreshed his senior leadership team, changing up his cabinet and parliamentary secretaries in preparation for the months ahead. The federal New Democrats are under the stewardship of new leader Jagmeet Singh who has yet, it appears, to really find his groove in his new political home. Elizabeth May will, barring an unforeseen development, remain the leader of the Green Party. In this environment, party leaders and their machines will be further consolidating their brands with Canadians, and testing out each other’s vulnerabilities and strengths. Pending legislation will also continue to make its way through the House and Senate. Notably, with the establishment of the sizeable Independent Senators Group and the composition of the Senate being nearly half women, the Upper Chamber may have some surprises in store. But it’s really behind the scenes where much of the fun will be had. All parties will see a flurry of new candidate nominations for currently unheld seats in ridings across the country. At the same time, incumbents too will be gearing up for vigorous election campaigns. At Equal Voice, our first question is how many female Parliamentarians plan to run again (we expect most will), and, secondly, where and how many non-incumbent female candidates will be fielded among the major five parties. A gender-parity federal cabinet, and strong performances in several provinces and territories in terms of women’s representation has underscored to many senior female leaders throughout the country that one’s talents can be fully leveraged in politics. The recent provincial elections in British Columbia and Ontario saw among the highest percentages of women on the ballot than ever before in Canada’s history. For those viable female candidates who weren’t successful the first time (or who, alternately lost their seats), the opportunity to pursue office federally could be very interesting. There’s no doubt that the diversity among women who have run and served at multiple levels of government in recent years (whatever the party) is more evident than it has ever been. This should inspire others to step up. But it’s not always the case that they do. To refresh one’s memory, only 32 per cent of federal candidates in the last election were women. In 2015, there were 97 ridings where there was no woman on the ballot for the major three parties; that’s nearly one-third. With so many male incumbents likely running again, gains by new female candidates will be made from seats that are overturned. Equally important will be that female incumbent MPs hold onto their seats. Both groups will need to be well supported by their parties. Their engagement rests on viewing the federal political arena as one that is both sustainable and desirable as a workplace. Not surprisingly, ongoing harassment and bullying issues, gruelling travel schedules and an inflexible parliamentary schedule that is yet to fully accommodate MPs with young children or who have critical elder care responsibilities are very challenging for the human beings in these roles. While the federal government has made some valiant efforts in this regard, and individual parties offer valuable accommodations to their own MPs, modifying our 150-year-old antiquated political institution is no small task. Currently, only 27 per cent of our current crop of MPs are women, so there’s lots of room for progress. But improvement will only come with many more women on the ballot in what are understood to be winnable ridings, however parties deem them so. While money doesn’t dominate federal elections, unlike our counterparts in the U.S., federal election spending limits for candidates will nonetheless increase notably this time around. This is because the formula is derived from candidate expenditures in the previous election. Owing to an unusually long election campaign in 2015, candidates will be able to spend more on their re-election or inaugural bids for office during a shorter period. The minimum length of an election campaign is 36 days. Finally, this fall, Quebec and New Brunswick have provincial elections of their own, and voters in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador are on schedule for the spring and fall, respectively, of 2019. To add fuel to the fire, Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, the Yukon, and parts of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are in the throes of municipal elections already. Collectively, thousands of local candidates are in the midst of councillor and mayoral races in hundreds of hamlets, towns and cities. All of which is to say that, regardless of the fate of Toronto City’s Council—and no matter where you stand on this issue— grassroots democracy is alive and well in much of this country.We It will only get more interesting in the weeks and months ahead. Our guess is that more women than ever before will seize the day. Nancy Peckford is the executive director for Equal Voice. She’s also running to be mayor of North Grenville, Ont.

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Political parties will need to do more to entice female candidates to run federally

There’s no doubt that the diversity among women who have run and served at multiple levels of government in recent years is more evident than it has ever been. This should inspire others to step up.

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