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MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
Equal Voice Meets with Ontario Attorney-General Michael Bryant, August 19, 2004 Equal Voice representatives met yesterday with Ontario Attorney-General Michael Bryant, the minister responsible for democratic renewal. Rosemary Speirs presented him with a short description of Equal Voice, and four recommendations for what we'd like to see when the province begins hearings on electoral reform. It was presented by Rosemary, and by Equal Voice Steering Committee members Janet Ecker, the former Ontario finance minister, Peggy Nash, who was an NDP candidate in the election and Kim Donaldson, past executive vice-president of the Ontario Liberal party. Rosemary did the theory, and Janet, Peggy and Kim provided practical experience as women who've either run or been closely associated with nominating women. Mr. Bryant gave us a positive reception. The Ontario government will be announcing how the electoral reform process will proceed sometime in November. You can view the document in its entirety below Document on Equal Voice and Electoral Reform Equal Voice is a three-year-old voluntary multi-partisan advocacy group fighting for the election of more women at all levels of government in Canada. We have grown to more than 350 members, men and women, many of them politically active, representing all political parties, in every province of the country. In our formal presentations, we operate in English and French and maintain a bilingual website. Just to illustrate from a Queen¡s Park perspective: Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky is an Equal Voice member; Janet Ecker, the former finance minister is active on our Steering Committee, and so is Frances Lankin, the former NDP cabinet minister here. Your party¡s former leader Lyn McLeod is an Equal Voice member, and†just to show this isn¡t just a Àwomen¡s issue” so is another former leader and former finance minister, Bob Nixon. Active Equal voice members include Toronto councilor Olivia Chow, federal cabinet minister Carolyn Bennett, former Prime Minister Kim Campbell, deputy B.C. premier Christy Clark, and so on. The point is that we have a politically active, influential membership at the municipal, provincial and federal level. We see ourselves as a ginger group, stirring the pot, at a time when the women¡s movement is largely inactive, discouraged by the long years waiting outside the doors of a political system which is rightly called a Àmen¡s club”. Further, we have reached out to other groups across the country, and now lead the Women¡s Political ConneXion, a network of 44 organizations and prominent individuals, including first nations¡ groups and multicultural groups. We all want to reach one goal: many more women elected to help run their own country. WHY? I don¡t think I need to belabor the point about why Equal Voice believes electing more women now is crucial. Men by majorities of 80 per cent run all the governments in this country, and women, supposedly their partners in society are relegated to a one-fifth token representation. We call ourselves a representative democracy, but half the population is barely represented. It is true at every level of government†including Ontario†and unfortunately the trend is down, not up. While women in other countries†Scotland, Wales, Belgium, Spain†are making exciting breakthroughs into politics, in Canada fewer women have been elected municipally and provincially in the last couple of years, and the number of female MPs has stagnated at the present 65. This is despite repeated verbal assurances from party leaders†including from premier Dalton McGuinty and Prime Minister Paul Martin that they¡d do their darndest to nominate and elect more women. In Ontario, 22 women were elected last year, or 21 per cent. At the current rate, it will take another four or five generations before your daughter¡s granddaughters might achieve what is supposed to be a Charter right†political equality. MYTHS: I¡m not going to waste time on all that stuff about how women are put off by the rough game of politics, or too tied up by childbearing. The women who do get elected†sometimes even as single mothers of young children†demonstrate the shallowness of such excuses. The women-can¡t-hack-it myth blames women for failing to run, when the truth is they face many barriers to entry into politics. Money for one, and the presumption by local riding associations that men make more winnable candidates. Male winnability is the first myth: The Toronto Star did a helpful analysis on federal election night in June†a breakdown I haven¡t seen before†showing that, in fact, female candidates had a statistical advantage over male candidates in the June, 2004 election. The electorate, and we know this from major polling, is ready to elect women, where they get that choice. The problem is women don¡t get nominated. The second myth is that women don¡t support women†suggesting women voters are just as happy to be represented by men, so there is no problem. Donna Dasko, vice-president of Environics Research (and vice-chair of Equal Voice), provided us on polling on the big gender gap in the federal election, which I know was also a finding of internal Liberal party polling. The Liberals benefited strongly from women¡s votes†four per cent more women voted Liberal than men-- while the Conservatives lost women voters. But where the Liberal party ran women candidates, the gap was even biggert†11 per cent more women than men voted for Jean Augustine, for example. Dr. Dasko concludes that women candidates for the Liberals helped them get more women¡s votes. So you see, it is in the self-interest of the Liberal party to introduce electoral reforms that would help more women run. It is in society¡s interest too. We are all concerned about voter apathy and declining voter turnouts. You are probably aware of the work by political scientist Lisa Young on the low turnout by young voters†well, she says voter turnout is even lower among young women than young men. In that context, please see the article I¡ve included in the package about the finding of the British Electoral Commission that women voters are more likely to be involved, and satisfied with their political representation, if their MP is a woman. WE ARE ASKING: One: That your government declare the election of more women a priority for Àdemocratic renewal”, and write that priority into the terms of reference of whatever processes are set in motion. Two: That you consider an Ontario version of the new federal electoral financing act, which bans union and corporate donations and limits individual donations to $5000. We haven¡t yet seen the effect of these limits, but we believe getting the big money out of politics will not only make for a cleaner system, it will be easier for those with lesser means†women-- to run. Quebec has such limits and has the highest number of women†30 per cent†in its Assembly. Three: You give favorable consideration to the recommendations of the Law Commission of Canada for adding Àan element of proportionality” to the Canadian electoral system. The report recommends a mixed system. Two-thirds of seats would continue to be elected on the present constituency basis. But one third would be elected from regional party lists under Proportional Representation, which is designed to better reflect the makeup of the population and the popular vote. The Commission also recommended affirmative action measures by political parties to promote the equal representation of women. Four: A broad and open consultative process that would educate the public to the issues involved. The Citizen¡s Assembly process in British Columbia appears to have stirred great public interest and the avid participation of the citizen members. Rosemary Speirs, Steering Committee members: |