Women make up nearly 50% of the Canadian population, and yet are vastly underrepresented in Parliament. In the CBC article “50% Population 25% Representation. Why theParliamentary Gender Gap?”, the author talks about the overwhelming gender gap that is present in Canada. In the 2015 election, a record breaking 88 women were elected into Parliament, accounting for 25% of the seats in the House of Commons. This is up from 76 women in 2011. This poses the question of whether women are not being elected into Parliament, or if they are simply not running in the first place. In the 2015 election, women made up only 33% of candidates for the major political parties. So this issue must stem deeper, why aren’t women running for office? There are many different potential explanations why women are less inclined to run for office, and it is my belief that it is a combination of all of these that is the root cause for such a large gender gap in Canadian Parliament.
The first potential answer that is suggested here is that Canada is an “old democracy”, and old democracies are less inclined to extreme changes, special treatments, or any kind of quota system. Quota systems are also sometimes frowned upon because they are believed to put undeserving candidates in parliamentary positions, which might make them less respected. In “fast track countries” on the other hand (new democracies or places that have experienced recent conflict), women’s representation is growing at a much quicker rate. Surprisingly, even countries such as Rwanda, Bolivia, and Iraq are passing Canada in terms of Parliamentary gender equality.
In Canada, although there is certainly still some gender stereotyping occurring in the workplace, that doesn’t seem to be the case here. Canadian citizens seem to favour party loyalty over personal traits such as gender. Instead, one women suggests that this is a deeper rooted issue having to do with the difference between mainly male and mainly female attributes. Men tend to be more willing to sign up to run for office, where women tend to wait to be asked, and are surprised when they are asked to enter. Another women in the CBC article says that there is so much overt sexism in the house of commons, that women tend to stay away from politics all together. With occurrences of sexual assault high and non family-friendly work policies, women interested in politics might be more inclined to choose a different career path.
Presently, Canada has implemented grassroots initiatives to get more women into politics directly from University. Through different programs such as “She Will Run”, and internships offered at the House, they are hoping to see more young women immerse themselves in running for Canadian politics. But it is important to recognize that gender parity does not happen instantly. Instead it happens over time, and often with work. It seems to me that Canada is taking a step in the right direction to having women represented in parliament, but we still have quite a ways to go.
Articles mentioned: “50% Population, 25% Representation: Why the Parliamentary Gender Gap Persists.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/women-politics/.
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