50 percent women ministers in the Liberal-NDP coalition
Petition to equalize ministerial appointments in the upcoming Liberal-NDP coalition government
50 per cent of the ministerial appointments in the upcoming coalition cabinet should be allocated to experienced and capable women parliamentarians.
Petition to equalize ministerial appointments in the upcoming Liberal-NDP coalition government
50 per cent of the ministerial appointments in the upcoming coalition cabinet should be allocated to experienced and capable women parliamentarians.
In recent years, Canada has fallen behind in terms of advancing women's equality. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which tracks women's participation in governments globally, Canada ranks a paltry 43 out of 187 countries in terms of its representation of women in parliament.
Currently, only 22.4 percent of our House of Commons is female, which means that only 1 of every 5 federally elected representatives is a female.
These figures are an embarrassment.
(For a comparison, note that in 2005 Rwanda led the world with 48.8 % female representation in its parliament; Sweden was close behind at 45.3 %. Meanwhile, within their European parliamentary groups, Sweden and Luxembourg both meet or exceed 50 % female parliamentary representation.)
Due to the lack of gender-aware women's representation in Canada's parliament, recent governments--including the Conservative government(s) of Stephen Harper, as well as recent Liberal governments headed by Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien--have failed to push forward legislative agendas that would ensure a gender-balanced society, including:
- The ability of women to unquestionably own and control their bodies;
- The ability of women across the country (both rural and urban) to access high-quality health care services (including counselling services) related to their gynaecological and reproductive needs;
- The provision of affordable and safe birth control in all regions of the country;
- The provision of equal pay for equal work within non-unionized domains of the work force;
- The advancement of paternity rights for fathers, which liberates women who want to return to the workforce post-pregnancy;
- The election/appointment of women candidates to winnable federal, provincial and municipal ridings/wards during elections;
- The advancement of better work-place sexual harassment legislation;
- The launch of official inquiries into rape and other forms of sexual abuse that take place within government-funded institutions, including: long-term care facilities; penitentiaries; the Canadian military; and First Nations communities.
The upcoming coalition government proposed by the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois provides this country with a fruitful opportunity to rebalance its gender imbalance.
We the undersigned therefore believe that:
In order to balance Canada's political gender inequity 50 per cent of the ministerial appointments in the upcoming cabinet should be allocated to experienced and capable women parliamentarians.
Sincerely,
Josipa G Petrunic, and petition supporters
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Further reading
If you are interested in feminism, gender-studies, or analysis that demonstrates the economic effectiveness and productivity associated with increasing women's participation in government, you may want to consult the following studies:
The Politics of Women's Bodies: Sexuality, Appearance, and Behavior by Rose Weitz
Minorities within Minorities: Equality, Rights and Diversity by Avigail Eisenberg and Jeff Spinner-Halev
Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture by Yvonne Tasker and Diane Negra
Gendering Government: Feminist Engagement with the State in Australia and Canada by Louise Chappell
Online sources:
Equal Voice http://www.equalvoice.ca/
National Council of Women of Canada http://www.ncwc.ca/
Elections Canada%u2014representation of women in parliament (2008)
There should be more women in politics.
The Portuguese Government passed a law that requires political parties to have a minimum of 33% female candidates at any given election. The Canadian Government can make history by raising the standards of equality of access to the political power between men and women.
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