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Jun 15, 2006
WOMEN'S REPRESENTATION IN PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENT
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REPRÉSENTATION DES FEMMES
AU PARLEMENT PROVINCIAL
Hon. James J. Bradley (Minister of Tourism, minister responsible
for seniors, Government House Leader): Mr. Speaker, I believe
we have unanimous consent
for each party to speak for up to five minutes on the issue of
greater representation of women in the provincial Legislature.
The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Mr. Bradley has asked for
unanimous consent for each party to speak for up to five minutes
on the issue ofgreater women's representation in Parliament. Would
that be correct? On the issue of greater representation of women
in the provincial Legislature. Agreed?Agreed.
Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation):
I rise today to speak on the importance of increasing the representation
of women in this Legislature. As I do so, I'm reminded of something
that Margaret Thatcher once said. She said, "If you want anything
said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman." The
quote is appropriate in today's context because, while I and the
leaders opposite will talk today about the tremendous contribution
women can make in political life, the fact is we have, on all sides
of this House, women who are making that tremendous contribution
right now, right here. I want to take this opportunity, on behalf
of all Ontarians, to thank them for their continuing contribution.
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Le travail qu'elles accomplissent en cette Chambre et la diffÈrence
qu'elles font au sein de leurs collectivitÈs font d'elles
bien plus que de simples dÈputÈs. Cela en fait des
leaders.
Ici, au sein de cette AssemblÈe, nous avons encore besoin
de plus de leaders de ce type.
The work that women do in this chamber, the difference they make
in their communities, makes them more than members. These things
make them leaders. What we need is more leaders like them here
in this assembly. Women, of course,are succeeding in many walks
of life. They're running businesses, they're contributing to the
professions and trades, they're volunteering in their community
and they're raising their children.
The remarkable thing, for those of us who find multi-tasking somewhat
challenging, is that thousands and thousands of Ontario women are
doing many, if not all, of these things at the same time in spite
of the heavy responsibilities they already bear. All of us need
to ask women to do onemore
thing, and it's this: Consider choosing political life. Yes, it's
challenging and yes, the cynics have done their best to tarnish
the work we politicians do, but we in this assembly can tell you
there are few places where you can serve so many, so often. A teacher
works magic when she ignites the imaginations of her students,
but we in this place, working with teachers, parents and students,
can invigorate education itself. A physician with a caring heart
and a healing hand can comfort a patient, but we in this place,
working with physicians, nurses and other health care providers,
can help improve health care itself. An entrepreneur with a keen
eye and the courage to take risks can start a business, but we
in this place, working with entrepreneurs in all sectors, can help
build the investment climate that allows an enterprise to survive
and the workforce that will ensure it thrives.
This is what we get to do here, and this place matters. It matters
that we encourage more women to share in this work, because we
work best when we truly represent Ontario, not just its regions
but its people in all their diversity, and both male and female,
because it helps us understand Ontarians, their experiences and
aspirations.
Nous avons donc joint des groupes tels que Equal Voice, qui est
reprÈsentÈ ici aujourd'hui et qui croÓt dans
le service public de mÍme que dans l'importance d'un rÙle
accru des femmes dans ce secteur.
Speaker, I was saying that we join groups like Equal Voice, which
is represented here today, who believe in public service and the
importance of a growing role for women in it. The party I lead,
the Ontario Liberal Party, a party that is proud to have had Lyn
McLeod as its leader, a party that is proud to have my colleague
the member for London North Centre as its president, is committed
to attracting and welcoming more women candidates. The percentage
of women in our caucus has risen from 6% in 1985, to 13% in 1995,
to 24% today. What's more, almost one third of our cabinet ministers
are women. So we've made progress, but we have much work left to
do. To that end, our party is striving to seek out and nominate
capable women in half of the ridings that we do not currently represent
in this Legislature. It's just one more step, but it's a step forward.
I often say that if Ontario is to succeed, we need every Ontarian
at his or her best. It's equally true that if we are to succeed
in this chamber, we need the best of Ontarians, male and female,
working together. Let this be a goal that we all share and work
towards.
Mr. John Tory (Leader of the Opposition): On behalf of the Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party, I want to express the strong support
of all of us who believe as deeply as all of us do in this House
in the process in this place to take tangible and practical steps
to increase the participation of women in politics, to increase
the number of women who stand as candidates for election to the
Legislature and to see more women sitting in the Legislature after
October 4, 2007.
C'est une prioritÈ trËs importante pour moi et pour
notre Parti progressiste- conservateur.
Since my becoming leader some 20 months ago, our party has held
seminars for women interested in seeking public office where they
can come to better understand the good and not so good, and whatever
else we might convey to them about the life we have all chosen.
Two weeks ago, more than 200 women attended a fundraising event
in support of Women in Nomination, an organization that we have
which supports women who want to seek nominations for the Progressive
Conservative Party.
I'm proud to say that in the five by-elections that have taken
place in the life of this Parliament, the PC Party has nominated
women in all five. Wewere delighted to see elected this spring
two women to our caucus, the member for Whitby-Ajax, who is sitting
here beside me, and the member for Nepean-Carleton, to add to our
ranks and to add to the number of women in this Legislature.
Our candidate search rules have made very clear my own determination
that we simply have to do better, for our own part as a party and,
I believe, on an all- party basis as well. Why is it important?
In speaking to the women at the Women in Nomination event the other
day, I cited a number of reasons. It's not the complete list but
I think it's a list of some of the important considerations.
First, I don't think we can really say that we have achieved what
we set out to do with important laws like the Charter of Rights
and other human rights legislation when the body which makes laws
in Ontario so under represents women. The same comment could be
made in respect of a number of other groups, but that is an issue
to be discussed another day.
Secondly, I believe that women bring a different perspective to
bear on many issues. They often look at issues, policies and politics
in a different way: not better, not worse, but just different.
How can we really ensure that we're making the best decisions,
with those different points of view taken into account, if women
are not equitably represented on the floor of this Legislature,
in committees and at the cabinet table?
Thirdly, I have a very genuine concern, which I've expressed many
times,about what I believe to be the increasing dysfunction of
the Legislature itself. Some of it -- not all of it, but some of
it -- stems from and is illustrated by the lack of civility and
decorum that we often see in the Parliament itself. While I believe
that having more women here won't, in and of itself, solve that
problem -- I will avoid making any comment about the proficiency
of some of the champion hecklers here and their gender; that is
in reference to no particular person -- I do believe it will help.
My wife, Barbara, is a very straight talker, and she has a way
of summing these things up which often works quite well. She says
the place may well be just too testosterone-injected, and I think
she might well be right about that.
I think we're going to have work hard not just to get the candidates
but to get them elected, because I think it will make a fundamental
difference to the legitimacy of this place. It will make a fundamental
difference to the quality of the laws that we pass. It will ensure
that one of the two biggest groups in all of society is represented
more equitably here. I think it will lead to a better Parliament.
I think it will lead to a higher level of confidence in us and
in what we do here. I think it will be a place where we can work
better together in the public interest and it will serve the interests
of the political process as whole. Thank you.
Mr. Howard Hampton (Kenora-Rainy River): Despite the gains that
have been made by women in electoral politics, there is a great
distance still to go before true equality is realized for women
in the field.
On the world stage, of 85 countries studied, 22 have women as their
leaders or monarchs. The past few years recorded some historic
firsts for women in politics: Angela Merkel was elected Chancellor
of Germany; Michelle Bachelet was voted President of Chile in 2006,
and her cabinet is 50% women; Portia Simpson Miller won as Prime
Minister of Jamaica in 2006.
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In Canada, women make up more than one half of our population,
but occupy little more than one fifth of elected positions at all
levels of government combined. It's an interesting scenario, and
it's not just in government. One of the things I discovered when
I was in the office of the Attorney General of the province was
that very often, when vacancies came open for judges, women lawyers
didn't apply. When I asked, "Why don't they apply?" no
one had a answer. So I wrote a letter to every woman lawyer in
the province who had practised for 10 years and was eligible to
become a judge, and we were inundated with applications. In fact,
I received a lot of letters from women
lawyers saying, "We never felt we were invited or welcome
before." As a result, we were able to appoint more women as
judges than ever before. Simply opening the door and saying, "You're
welcome here. This place is for you too," makes a big difference.
Too few women hear the message that they are welcome in politics.
Too many obstacles are placed in the paths of women in politics.
New Democrats have recognized that, and we've taken some steps
to try to address it. In the political realm, New Democrats are
committed to ensuring that women are not only encouraged to run,
but are helped to run. We direct special attention to ensuring
that women are approached and recruited to be candidates by all
riding associations across Ontario. We set targets and always
try to better our best efforts and get more women elected.
We are proud that Agnes McPhail, for example, who was elected
as the MP for York East in 1921, was a member of the CCF, now
the
NDP. She was the first and only woman in the House of Commons
for 14 years. We're proud that in November 1989, Audrey McLaughlin
became the first woman leader of a national
political party in North America. We're very pleased that, with
the result of the last federal election, 42% of the federal
NDP caucus are women, many of them elected for the first time.
We
have decided we must have a formal policy of freezing nominations
until
there is a member of an affirmative action community, i.e.,
women, seeking the nomination. We also decided to provide financial
support to all our women candidates, through the Agnes McPhail
fund. This
fund helps defray the expenses associated with the campaign.
Sometimes it's used for child care, sometimes it's used for
transportation
costs, but it's generally used to help cover those unexpected
costs
that arise during election campaigns. We recognize that women
often face added hurdles in running for office. We recognize
that, and
so we recognize we must do something about it.
We know that we can do something here, and today we've heard
three speeches about what's been done, about what needs to
be done. I
want to put forward apractical suggestion for Ontario, though.
When we look around the world, we notice that those jurisdictions
that have proportional representation elect far more women.
It doesn't matter if you look at Europe, Australia or New
Zealand, where you have proportional representation you have
more women
elected.
Maybe we can take heart that Ontario's minister for democratic
renewal is a woman. We urge her to make sure that proportional
representation becomes part of Ontario's electoral framework
so that we will have more women.
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