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PRESS RELEASES
January 23, 2003
Media Release
Equal Voice, a national advocacy group for the election of more women, is seeking the help of the Chief Electoral Officer, to defuse what threatens to become a false debate over the cost to the taxpayer of electoral financing reform.
The Liberal government will be tabling legislation soon, which we°ve heard will include: a ban on corporate and union donations; an exemption from the ban for local businesses donating up to $1,000 to riding associations; upfront public financing for parties at election time based on $1.50 per vote cast for them in the last election; and new limits on leadership races and nomination contests, and full disclosure of all donations.
These changes are a small step on the way to the more thoroughgoing reformsÜfuller public financing and some form of proportional representationÜadvocated by Equal Voice. But we still think these limited reforms will encourage more women to run. The high cost of candidacy, particularly at the entry level, is often cited by political scientists as a major barrier to women°s participation.
But, even before introduction, critics are saying the public should not have to bear the cost of public financing of elections. The naysayers quoted in the media have included Liberal backbenchers, which makes us fear the reforms may not pass. So we°ve asked the Chief Electoral Officer for a realistic assessment of the true costs to the public purse, bearing in mind that the taxpayer already pays, post elections, in the form of tax credits to donors and reimbursements to parties and candidates.
¿We wish the Prime Minister would go further with his financing reforms so more women could afford to play the political game,°° said Equal Voice chair Rosemary Speirs. ¿Still, we think his proposals an important step forward, and we don°t want to see the reforms lost amid phoney arguments.°°
The financing reform issue arises at the start of a year which presents extra challenges to women in politics. The political class in Canada is changing, with three federal leadership races underway, but little sign that the female half of the population will be more fairly represented.
¿We°re losing ground in electing women,°° says Speirs. ¿A decade ago, Canada had two women national party leaders and bright prospects for electing a woman premier. Now, we face the possibility that no woman will lead a federal party, or a province, in the near future. There°s an obvious need for reform of a political system that works to exclude women.°°
Out of six candidates, the New Democrats have one woman, Bev Meslo. No women are being touted so far to replace Joe Clark as Tory leader. And Paul Martin is judged to be so far out in front of the Liberal race, that the media are already declaring him the winner. Sheila Copps may be his major challenger, if she judges she has a realistic chance against Martin°s machine.
Equal Voice is asking the leadership candidates for each party what they will do to elect more women. Only 23 per cent of Parliamentarians now are women, and fewer stood as candidates in the last election.
Paul Martin and Sheila Copps have both been quoted as saying they wish to increase the female contingent in Parliament to 50 per cent , but without saying how. We°ll be asking the Liberal candidates what concrete measures they°d adopt to ensure women get an equal voice in Parliament. ¿We want to hear more than good intentions,°° said Speirs.
New Democratic candidates, in answer to questions from Equal Voice, have sent us written replies endorsing proportional representation as a key electoral reform that would increase the representation of women.
Proportional representation, the electoral system used by most advanced democracies, normally requires parties to publicize lists of those candidates they°d like to electÜand public scrutiny of those lists means no party dares publish an unbalanced roster. Sweden, which alternates male and female candidates at the top of the lists, has elected 45 per cent women legislators and tops the United Nations° listing of countries by the number of women in their national parliaments. Canada ranks 30th .
We haven°t yet heard from NDP leadership candidate Bill Blaikie, but the other five candidatesÜLorne Nystrom, Jack Layton, Joe Comartin, Bev Meslo and Pierre Ducasse, all support proportional representation. The NDP candidates also want strict spending limits on nominations and elections and campaign finance reform. (To see more on the NDP candidates° positions on electing women, visit our website www.equalvoice.ca)
Equal Voice will be putting similar questions to the Liberal and Conservative candidates, once they declare. ¿We hope they°ll back their fine sentiments about electing more women by proposing concrete reforms, as the New Democrat candidates have done,°° said Speirs.
The advocacy group is multi-partisan, representing elected politicians and backroom activists from different parties, as well as academics, bureaucrats and students.
For more information contact:
Rosemary Speirs 905-509-2777;
Elizabeth Burnham 415-368-0600;
Frances Lankin 416-777-200;
Sylvia Bashevkin 416-946-3066; or
Patricia Dumas 416-515-0897.
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