| IN THE NEWS
June 30, 2004
65 Women Heading to Commons
Two more elected than in the last federal election
But they still represent just 21 per cent of MPs
Two more women will sit in the House of Commons after the vote. But the marginal increase to 65 female MPs still represents just 21.1 per cent of Parliament — a number far short of the modest 33 per-cent representation many women wanted."People may think: `Oh, 21 per cent women. Not bad,'" said Rosemary Speirs, chair of Equal Voice, a national advocacy group working to get more women elected to Parliament."But don't forget, it's going to be nearly 80 per cent men in Parliament again. Men are still running the country, the provinces and the large municipalities in this country." Women make up 52 per cent of the population. Despite their dismal showing on the Hill, women candidates in all the major parties except the NDP fared better than their male counterparts. A Star analysis of the results yesterday shows that Conservative, Liberal and Bloc female candidates were statistically better at getting elected than the men who ran for those parties.Speirs said the only reason women didn't do as well in the NDP is that the sample of elected MPs was so small."We've known for a while, particularly when ethics are an issue, that women are perceived to be more honest. At a time when integrity is an issue with the electorate, women are more attractive candidates.""We've known all along that the problem isn't with the voters," she said, adding that it's the parties who aren't nominating enough women to run in the first place.Early results Monday painted a bleak picture for women when it looked like just 56 across the country would be elected. But yesterday, as the last polls were tallied, a handful of tight races broke in favour of women. Most of Parliament's high-profile women MPs such as Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and former NDP leader Alexa McDonough — were re-elected.But this Parliament will be short of well-known female MPs like Conservative, Deborah Grey and Liberals Sheila Copps and Elinor Caplan who weren't on the ballot this time, added Speirs, a former Toronto Star Ottawa bureau chief.While there is some relief women's representation hasn't fallen, there is little cheering. The .2 per cent increase means that despite a concerted effort to get the four major political parties to nominate female candidates in winnable ridings, parliamentary representation for women hasn't changed in the past three elections."It's like pushing a rock up a hill," said feminist Doris Anderson, president of Fair Vote, which is trying to bring proportional representation to Canada. "Until we change the electoral system and get more of a level playing field for women, I can't see how it's going to get any better for women and minorities in this country."Anderson and Speirs are happy that NDP Leader Jack Layton, in his victory speech, vowed to force the Liberals to consider proportional representation.
LAURIE MONSEBRAATEN
Toronto Star
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