PRESS RELEASES
June 14, 2004

Former women politicians fear fewer will follow in their footsteps

Toronto—Eight well-known former women politicians express their dismay and disappointment in an open letter to the leaders of Canada’s major political parties over their “failure to attract more women candidates for election to Parliament this year.”

The letter says that after several decades of slow but steady progress, the number of women being elected across Canada has started to decline and they fear that after this election, the number of women sitting in the House of Commons will be less than the 63 female MPs in the last Parliament

The letter is addressed to Paul Martin, Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe.

It is signed by: Monique Begin, former minister of National Health and Welfare; Kim Campbell, former prime minister of Canada; Sheila Copps, former deputy prime minister; Marion Dewar, former mayor of Ottawa and former MP for Hamilton; Judy Erola, former minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs and minister responsible for the Status of Women; Frances Lankin, former Ontario cabinet minister and MPP; Barbara Hall, former mayor of Toronto, and Flora MacDonald, former minister of Foreign Affairs for Canada.

For more information: Sheila Copps 613-995-2772, or media Newton Peres 290-0613 (c); Frances Lankin 416-359-2053, or 777-2001; Barbara Hall 416-967-4692; Flora MacDonald 613-238-1098.
About Equal Voice: Rosemary Speirs, chair 905-509-2777