Dear Ms. Speirs,

Thank you very much for your correspondence. I appreciate your having taken the time to write to me and share your concerns on this extremely important matter.  Thank you for sending me a copy of your e-mail to Mr. Easton.

Participation of women in the 2000 election was meagre at best. Within four of the five major federal parties, a decrease in the number of female candidates occurred. A trend has emerged during the past decade of fewer women actively involved in politics. The 1993 federal election represented the apex of women seeking office when 476 women ran for public office. This figure declined to 408 in 1997, and was lower again during the last election. These trends cause a great deal of concern for me and indeed for all Canadians, and I hope the efforts of individuals like you will help to reverse such trends and encourage more women to become involved in all levels of the political process.

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada is proud of its accomplishments in reaching out to female voters and candidates. We are especially proud that our party was the first national party to embrace a female leader, who became Canadaçs first female Prime Minister. The PC Party was third among parties for number of female candidates during the last election, but we are far from satisfied with this result. We believe that more must be done, and we continue to work hard to encourage women to become involved in federal politics.

Thank you again for your correspondence.