IN THE NEWS
June 14, 2004

Open letter to federal political leaders:

Paul Martin, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada,
Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada,
Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party,
Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois


Dear Sirs:
We, the undersigned, are writing to you as former women politicians, to express our dismay and disappointment at your failure to attract more women candidates for election to Parliament this year.

We believe that when we were elected we made an important difference and we are concerned that even fewer women may follow in our footsteps to carry on our tradition.
Of course, women politicians, like their male counterparts, seek office to represent the population as a whole, and to act and vote in the general interest.

But elected women also provide vitally important voices for the female half of the population which is so poorly represented in Canada’s political life, and have an extra sensitivity, born of our life experience, when speaking for the programs and policies so important to women and children.

We need fair representation of both genders in the governing of this land if we are to have an equitable, efficient democracy that takes the needs of all the population into account when laws are being made and programs designed.

This open letter is being addressed to you by a former prime minister, a former deputy prime minister, former federal and provincial cabinet ministers, and two former mayors.
This is the first time in more than a decade when we would be writing to all male leaders – the first time since 1993 when no women heads a federal political party.

After decades of slow but steady upward progress, the number of women being elected across the country has started to fall. We fear that, after this election, there will be even fewer women than the 63 now entitled to sit in the House of Commons. We regard this as a crisis point for Canadian women.

At the time of writing, only 225 women have been nominated to run for the four federal parties which traditionally succeed in electing Members to the House of Commons. Some parties have done much better than others in nominating women. New Democrats have a candidate slate that is 31 per cent female; Liberals 25 per cent, Bloc Quebecois 25 per cent and Conservatives 11 per cent. Overall, women make up only 23 per cent of candidates. It is hugely unfair to Canadian women who want the opportunity to participate fully in the life of their country.

And it is an international embarrassment when you consider that the United Nations recently urged Canada to do better at electing women. We are a shameful 36th in the world rankings of women in national legislatures.

We intend this letter as a call to action by all party leaders. To ensure the best possible result, we are asking you to put your parties’ resources behind the small contingent of women who are running. They need headquarters strategists, canvassers, encouragement – and public backing by their party leaders.

We are deeply disappointed that this election will not produce the “critical mass” of about one third of the House which we believe we need to make sure women’s point of view is heard in cabinet, and caucus.

We believe that this should be the last Canadian election in which women constitute such a minority of candidates. We urge you, as federal party leaders, to start taking action against the no-doubt unintentional discrimination which is turning off potential women candidates and disenchanting female voters.

Signed:
Monique Begin, University of Ottawa, former Minister of National Health and Welfare.

Kim Campbell, Secretary General of the Club of Madrid, former Prime Minister of Canada.

Sheila Copps, former Deputy Prime Minister.

Marion Dewar, former Mayor of Ottawa and former New Democrat MP for Hamilton MP.

Judith Erola, P.C., former Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

Frances Lankin, former Ontario cabinet minister and former Member of the Provincial Parliament.

Barbara Hall, former mayor of Toronto

Flora MacDonald, P.C, C.C, former Foreign Minister of Canada.