| October 7, 2003
To Equal Voice Members and Supporters:
From Rosemary Speirs, chair Equal Voice www.equalvoice.ca
Hi!
We are forging ahead with our campaign for a third of the seats
in Parliament after the next federal election.
If you have any doubts about why we need more women so fast, just
consider:
* Paul Martin and 10 male premiers getting together to talk about
health care at the Grey Cup game last weekend .
*Five male party leaders in Parliament, dominating Question Period
in a House that is 79 per cent men.
* Barbara Hall's sudden plummet to defeat in her race against four
men for the Toronto mayoralty. Some 90 per cent of Canada's mayors
are men.
Can all these men really claim to represent the female half
of the population so well that it doesn't matter women themselves
have little to say in running the country?
We think the 2004 election is the opportunity for change. We want
women to win 104 seats, which, after riding re-distribution, will
be roughly a third of the House of Commons, and a big jump from
the present 63 female MPs.
But even this modest goal won't be easy.
We know we are up against a huge incumbency factor of male MPs who
aren't about to hand over their seats. Much depends on Paul Martin's
willingness to force change upon his Liberal party-- if he is to
deliver on his promise of "the largest number of women candidates
in Liberal riding history" (Globe, Nov. 14).
We know that we can count on Jack Layton's NDP to nominate a third
or more women candidates, and on the Bloc Quebecois to have a strong
contingent of female nominees--but whether their seats will prove
winnable is another matter.
And there is a real danger that if the Tory/Alliance merger succeeds,
the proposed Conservative Party of Canada will fail to nominate
enough women to permit us to reach our goal. Part of our job will
be convincing a new party that it must be more woman-friendly to
win.
104 in 2004
We'll keep up the pressure on Liberal party leaders to nominate
at least a third women, and preferably more, for the 2004 election.
We think we can pat ourselves on the back for helping build awareness
at the recent Liberal leadership convention that the "old boys
club'' has to go. With the help of Liberal women, we got an Equal
Voice pamphlet about our "104 in 2004" campaign into every
Liberal delegate's kit. We wrote to Mr. Martin pressing our case,
and he wrote back (his letter is on the website).
But the real credit has to go to Liberal women such as Anita Neville,
chair of the Liberal Women's caucus, and its past chair Carolyn
Bennett, who've been pushing internally for more seats for women
in cabinet, on the party executive, and in nominations next year.
(Both MPs are Equal Voice members by the way). The caucus staged
a "Women in Red'' event at the convention, and delegates sported
their red buttons. Mr. Martin promised to make sure Parliament represents
the 52 per cent of the population which is female.
Now the task is make sure Mr. Martin honors his fine words. He's
warned his incumbent MPs not to count on automatic renomination.
Women MPs worry that their seats will be the most hotly contested,
if nominations are thrown open. We need to be watching what's happening
on the ground as nominations proceed.
I hope all Equal Voice members will help keep us informed of what
transpires in their areas. It would be great if some of you could
take the time to write your local Liberal association urging its
officers to make a real effort to find women candidates.
WATCHING THE PC/ALLIANCE VOTES
We wrote to Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay, reminding
him his party selected Canada's first woman prime minister Kim Campbell,
and expressing our concern that a merger with the Alliance will
be a setback for the cause of electing women. Alliance spokesmen
reject "gender politics" and say no special measures are
needed to help women run and win. (Mr. MacKay's encouraging but
vague reply is on the website. )
In December, after members of both parties vote, we'll know whether
the merger is a go, and the new Conservative Party of Canada will
be the official opposition. Much will depend on who becomes the
new leader, and what policies are adopted. The new party will start
with only 8 women MPs, out of 78. Nominations have been frozen,
pending the votes. I'm aware of at least three Equal Voice supporters
who may run for a new Conservative party, but not that many winnable
seats are still available, unless the new leader orders a fresh
start.
TAKE A LOOK AT THE WEBSITE
The website has been updated. Please take a look at tell us what
you like, or what you'd like to see there.
We're also updating our membership list, to be sure you are still
with us.
CREATING A NEW NETWORK
We are linking together a network of like-minded groups across the
country, in hopes we can learn from one another and consider joint
action. So far, 14 organizations and invididuals devoted to getting
more women into politics have agreed to join a network. We're hoping
to attract many more.
RWANDA TOPS THE LIST
Rwanda, rebuilding after genocide, has included provisions in its
Constitution requiring women's representation, and as a result has
become Number One with a lower house that is 48.8 per cent female.
For years, Sweden topped the InterParliamentary Union's ranking
of women in national parliaments. But with 45.3 per cent, Sweden
now ranks second.
(I've told you about Wales' breakthrough by electing 50 per cent
women to its assembly this year--but Wales is not officially a nation
and so is left out of the rankings).
When Rwanda moved up, Canada dropped to 37th among world democracies.
The United Nations has urged Canada to take action to increase its
number of elected women.
Thank you all for your support. We now have 220 plus members in
every province in the country. Please help sign up your friends
by referring them to the website.
Rosemary Speirs, chair, rspeirs@equalvoice.ca
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