EV SPEAKS OUT

EQUAL VOICE TAKES A STEP FURTHER ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2010 WITH LAUNCH OF ‘BE HER OR SUPPORT HER’ CAMPAIGN

Mar 05, 2010

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA – On the eve of International Women’s Day, Equal Voice launches “Be Her or Support Her,” an action campaign created to galvanize women into seeking elected office or to support other women to do so.

The action campaign is intended to provide practical solutions to tackling the low number of women in elected office at all levels in Canada. 

Recent statistics indicate that Canada’s international rank with respect to the number of women in elected office has not improved significantly in the last decade.  According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Canada currently stands in 49^th place out of 189 parliamentary nations.

“This initiative strives to take Canadians one step further to achieving parity in elected legislatures across the country by providing women candidates and supporters with practical tools for getting elected,” says Donna Dasko, the National Chair of Equal Voice. 

“Canadians have made it clear they want to see more women in office and Equal Voice has developed this platform to help make that happen.”

Equal Voice has dedicated a new portal on its national website to highlight three key areas in which women can either seek to “be” the candidate or support another woman in the process.  These three areas include: individual action, community action, and party action.

“Equal Voice is launching ‘Be Her or Support Her’ on International Women’s Day to encourage Canadians to join us in building the momentum to elect more women to political office,” added Dasko.  “We know that, as a country, we can do better and this campaign is designed to ensure we make progress in the short and medium term.”

Established in 2001, Equal Voice is an organization dedicated to promoting the election of more women to political office in Canada.  For more on the initiative, please visit: www.equalvoice.ca/beherorsupporther.

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For more information, please contact:

Giovanna Mingarelli
Communications and Membership Liaison
gmingarelli@equalvoice.ca
Work: 613-523-5315 ext. 306