50 percent women ministers in the Liberal-NDP coalition

We the undersigned believe that:

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.)

We the undersigned also believe that:

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)

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/lists/PartyStandings.aspx?Language=E&Section=03d93c58-f843-49b3-9653-84275c23f3fb&Gender=F