IN THE NEWS
February 27, 2004

Women’s Political Connection

To: Jack Layton,
Leader of the New Democratic Party,
1001-75 Albert Street,
Ottawa, Ontario,
K1P 5E7

Dear Mr. Layton:
We are seeking your assurances that the New Democratic Party of Canada will put forward a strong contingent of women candidates in the 2004 federal election.

We realize that the NDP's record for nominating women, if not electing them, is the best among the federal parties. We applaud the NDP policy of of freezing nominations until riding associations prove a genuine search has been made or women or other candidates from under-represented groups. We are heartened by your party's commitment, but believe more needs to be done.

Our concern is that, without stronger efforts 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. We 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.

We urge you to appoint a well-known woman to head up a special team to recruit women nominees. We ask you to get personally involved in encouraging women to run, since we know that women are too often asked in a perfunctory fashion, insufficient to overcome their concerns that the present political environment is hostile to women. 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.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Sincerely,
Rosemary Speirs, chair, Equal Voice

Doris Anderson, president, Fair Vote Canada
Lan 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, 1815 Altona Road, Pickering, Ontario, L1V 1M6, 905-509-2777, or info@equalvoice.ca