IN THE NEWS
March 27, 2004

To: Stephen Harper,
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, March 24, 2004

Dear Mr. Harper:

Congratulations on your election as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

We are taking this opportunity to seek your assurances as its new leader that the Conservative Party will put forward a strong contingent of women candidates in the 2004 federal election.

We wrote earlier to interim leaders of your party, without receiving a reply, perhaps due to the uncertainty about the leadership, and now we are writing to you in your new capacity.

From what we have read, and seen so far, your new party has no particular policy for recruiting more women for nomination, although there may be quiet efforts behind the scenes of which we are unaware. We have heard you and other party leaders say that you want to reach out to all Canadians, and to present a more diverse choice to Canadian voters. We are heartened by these commitments to greater openness, and hope that applies to the slate of Conservative candidates who will seek the support of voters this Spring.

Our concern is that, without a strong effort by all parties to recruit women candidates, the next Parliament will be a reversion to the old status quo, in which male MPs hold nearly 80 per cent of seats. The under-signed members of the Women’s Political ConneXion represent many Canadians, from all parts of the country and all backgrounds, who deplore women's under-representation in political life, and particularly in our federal Parliament. There are many issues on which men cannot speak for the female 52 per cent of the population: our life experiences simply are too different.

We are calling on federal party leaders to intervene personally in the nomination process now under way to ensure a better result than in the past. We would like to see many more women Members of Parliament than the present 63, or 21 per cent.

As the Official Opposition, the Conservative Party has a key role to play in making a difference for women in politics.

In the present House of Commons, the Conservative Party is represented by only 8 women MPs, about 10 per cent. Sincere efforts to reach out to potential women candidates must be made over the coming months to improve this record, which we know you must wish to do.

Could you clarify whether there are any policies in place to recruit and encourage women candidates in the new party's nomination process now underway? Did the party's Interim Council provided riding associations with directives or guidelines for improving representation by women?

We urge you to appoint a well-known woman to head up a special team to recruit women nominees. We ask you to use your powers as Leader to require riding associations to prove a sincere search has been made for women candidates before you agree to sign nomination papers. Your goal should not just be numbers of women, but qualified women seeking election under your party's banner in as many as possible of the winnable ridings coming open at this time.

Women in other countries are making exciting progress towards political equality. Canada, embarrassingly, perpetuates a political status quo that relegates women to minority status. We now rank 36th in terms of the number of women in our national Parliament, behind countries that have reformed their electoral systems, or introduced pro-active measures, to ensure women get an equal chance at elected office.

It is an issue of extreme importance. Whether intended or not, the systemic discrimination in politics is damaging to women's prospects--and is a major reason why women too often hesitate to put themselves forward.

Because yours is a new party, you are in a position to start out right, and make a real difference for women. We believe many more women in your elected ranks would be good for the Conservative Party of Canada, for Parliament and the country.

Sincerely,

Rosemary Speirs, chair Equal Voice

Doris Anderson, president, Fair Vote CanadaLan Gien, president, and Anu Bose, executive director, National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada.

Gloria Wilkinson, chair Winning Women, Calgary

Mercedez Roberge, president, le Mouvement democratie nouvelle

Lisa Young, associate professor of political science, University of Calgary

Elaine Teofilovici, chief executive officer, YMCA of/du Canada

Jackie Steele, doctoral candidate, political science, University of Ottawa

Kirstin Lund, chairperson, Prince Edward Island Advisory Council on the Status of Women

Doreen Paris, chair, Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women

Jennifer Dickson, executive director, Pauktuutit Women’s Association

Chi Nguyen, steering committee, Young Women Vote, 2004

Patti Knight, president, Canadian Association of Women Executives and Entrepreneurs

Wendy Robbins, chair, Policy, Action and Research List

Jeannie Lea, Every Vote Counts, Prince Edward Island

Charles Coffey, executive vice-president, government and community affairs, Royal Bank of Canada

Bonnie Diamond, executive direction, National Association Women and the Law

Please reply to: Rosemary Speirs, Women’s Political ConneXion, 1815 Altona Road, Pickering, L1V 1M6