| EQUALITY-BASED ELECTORAL
REFORM
Men as well as women do not need
political rights in order that they may govern, but in order that
they may not be misgoverned.
INTRODUCTION
Equal Voice submits this paper for consideration by the Law Commission
of Canada in its review of electoral reform. We want to ensure that
gender based analysis plays a part in any findings and recommendations
that the Commission may decide to make, once its study of Canada’s
electoral system is concluded.
Equal Voice presents the case for immediate amendments
to The Canada Elections Act as an indispensable component of a plan
for reforms to our political institutions predicated on gender equity
in the House of Commons and in our parliamentary system at large.
In 1997, when it first started its work, the Law Commission of Canada
defined its mission as a commitment to engaging Canadians in the
renewal of the law to ensure that it is relevant, responsive, effective,
equally accessible to all, and just. Equal Voice members share the
value placed on rights by the president of the Commission, Nathalie
Des Rosiers, when she said:
Rights matter. At the symbolic level, they represent
statements about the direction in which a society wants to take,
about its values and its identity. It makes us feel good. International
human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom
of religion, the right to equality, to security of person, to
be informed of one's rights upon arrest, to be free from cruel
and unusual treatment, to be protected against unreasonable searches
or seizures. All these statements impress upon our collective
psyches what is good about humankind and what it ought to strive
for.
It is our widely shared commitment to securing women's
human rights in Canada through fair and effective representation
of women in our political institutions that is the foundation for
Equal Voice.
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