Equal voice: electing more women in Canada.

• Author: Wicks, Ann

Canada's international ranking on the Inter-Parliamentary Union, "List of Women in National Parliaments," has recently slipped to 47th in the world. Despite enjoying economic prosperity and political stability, Canada now has fewer women in parliament than many less developed countries such as Mauritania, Uganda, Rwanda, Afghanistan and Iraq. How long will it take for Canada to catch up--thirty years, perhaps forty years? This article aims to unravel the causes of Canada's under-representation of women in politics and outlines Equal Voice's action plan to address this inequality.

The under-representation of women in the Canadian political system has been well documented by academics, parliament and the media. (1) Despite a 2004 poll conducted by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada, stating that 90 per cent of Canadians want more women elected, (2) the representation of women in the House of Commons has reached a plateau of 20.8 per cent with only 64 women sitting as Members of Parliaments. (3) Similarly, the glass ceiling for women in municipal (4) and provincial governments hovers around 21 per cent. (5) Equal Voice is a non-profit organization which aims to change the face of Canadian politics by facilitating the election of more women at all levels of government.

Former journalist Rosemary Speirs and a small group of like-minded women, such as pollster Donna Dasko and Canadian feminist icon Dorothy Anderson, formed Equal Voice in 2001. The mission was to create a national, multi-partisan, volunteer based organization with the goal of increasing awareness of the under-representation of women in Canadian politics. It would be the first multi-partisan action group to bring together women and men of all political stripes to pressure political parties into electing more women. Equal Voice's Advisory Board includes many women who have played a prominent role on Canada's political scene such as: former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Kim Campbell, former Liberal Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps, and former New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough.

Equal Voice continues its advocacy work today by interacting with the media, political parties, Members of Parliament, and Senators to encourage the nomination of more women candidates and to facilitate the participation of women at all levels of political activity. With over 1100 members nation wide, Equal Voice has grown from a small group of men and women in Ontario, to a national, non-profit organization with chapters being developed in every province and territory.

Why only Twenty Percent of Women?

In Canada, women comprise over 52 per cent of the population and yet, only 20.8 per cent of our Members of Parliament are women. Why is this fact important and why must we elect more women in Canada? First, the lack of significant numbers of women represented in positions of public authority generates a "democratic deficit" (6) violating basic principles of fairness required for a truly representative democracy. Secondly, Canada's international ranking in terms of women's representation, continues to slip. As a vast number of countries surpass Canada and become more successful in electing women, Canada risks falling further behind.

The under-representation of women in Canada creates a...