Why are women not represented well in Canadian politics?

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Sarah89

To make an ''Iron Lady'' comparison it would have to be to a long serving, elected female prime minister though. Which Canada has never produced.

The fact that the United Kingdom elected a female Prime Minister in 1979 shows how much more progressive they were then Canada or the USA. USA almost had a female president. Canada is still stuck in the stone age when it comes to women in politics and I'm not afraid to say it.

You're going way overboard with the sole variable of national leader. You should look at the numbers of women in politics at all levels of government.

I suspect that you're really young and/or know nothing about UK politics, because putting the words "Thatcher" and "progressive" in the same sentence would only make sense as the punchline to a surrealist joke.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Sarah89

Kathleen Wynne was only in charge for like what? four years and never got re-elected. Kim was apparently a default PM and served a few months (from what I've read).

Wynne became Premier in 2013 when she won the OLP leadership and had a minority government. She and her party won a majority in 2014 and were defeated in the next election in 2018.

Campbell won the federal PC leadership in 1993 and was PM for about 5 months until her government was badly defeated later that year.

As to why we haven't had many female first ministers, I don't if there is one main reason but I'm quite sure that females aren't treated as fairly in leadership roles and especially in politics.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

You're going way overboard with the sole variable of national leader. You should look at the numbers of women in politics at all levels of government.

Actually, she looked at lower levels of government too, Premiers and Governors. We can see for example how progressive Alaska is from the fact they elected Sarah Palin, etc.

[itom 987]

Don't complain about the problem Sarah, be the solution! Run for government.

[Bishop2047]

Maybe the real question should be...

Why are women smart enough to stay away from Canadian politics?

No doubt some discrimination takes place, no doubt some find the idea of a woman in leadership difficult, but I think the reality is that fewer women have an interest in becoming an elected official, while plenty of men line up for the opportunity. Like most jobs that have a gender imbalance at the lower levels, there is also a gender imbalance at the higher levels.

[SignalHillHiker]

It's definitely been slow. St. John's didn't elect a female mayor until 1973, and the province only got its first female Premier in 2010.

Equal Voice and all of the other organizations here that encourage women to run for public office and support them as they do have all done surveys and the most common reasons women don't here, which I expect are pretty universal nationally, are:

1. The violent, sexual tone of their opposition (especially threats of rape on social media, and a focus on their appearance in traditional media).
2. The potential negative impact on their children and families (examples ranging from bullying at school to when Danny Williams' son was beaten up).
3. Workplace intimidation, bullying, or harassment.

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by rousseau

putting the words "Thatcher" and "progressive" in the same sentence would only make sense as the punchline to a surrealist joke.

Her friends called her TINA.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

It's definitely been slow. St. John's didn't elect a female mayor until 1973, and the province only got its first female Premier in 2010.

....

I don't think it was that slow, in 1973 Dorothy Wyatt was a very progressive mayor, the prog-iron lady of St. John's, she made up for the past 100 years before her. People loved her. "Progressive" Vancouver has never even had a female mayor.

[Sarah89]

Originally Posted by rousseau

You're going way overboard with the sole variable of national leader. You should look at the numbers of women in politics at all levels of government.

I suspect that you're really young and/or know nothing about UK politics, because putting the words "Thatcher" and "progressive" in the same sentence would only make sense as the punchline to a surrealist joke.

I know what ''Thatcher'' was. It's not that she was progressive, it was that her country was for the times to elect her. The U.K had more equal opportunity between the sexes for that to even occur.

Canada seems really far behind on gender equality. Even in the U.S things are changing faster than Canada. But why is Canada still lagging?

[niwell]

I suppose it's possible that the UK has a greater sense of gender equality, but I'd find it hard to believe it extends beyond a small social sphere. Gender is only one measure and equal opportunity in the UK is still not exactly far reaching...

While she was appointed Wynne did see the Liberals gain a majority in the 2014 election, so there's that. I have certainly heard snide comments about her sexuality both in and out of the political sphere and wouldn't deny gender could be a factor in her declining popularity but doubt it's the primary one.

Ironically I think in JTs equal Cabinet may prove to have done more harm than good on this front in the long run. It came off well at the time but seems increasingly pandering. Representation can be important but there are better ways to do it.

[logan5]

People sure didn’t treat old Maggie like a lady. So unpopular was she, that when she died, “Ding dong the witch is dead” was played on a continuous loop. It made it up to #1 in the Uk charts.

[Sarah89]

Originally Posted by logan5

People sure didn’t treat old Maggie like a lady. So unpopular was she, that when she died, “Ding dong the witch is dead” was played on a continuous loop. It made it up to #1 in the Uk charts.

She was hated so much she won three elections....

[jigglysquishy]

Thatcher was arguably the worst PM in British history. For all the talk of Reagan damaging the American economy (or Mulroney damaging Canada's) she is really in a league of her own.

The UK never recovered economically. Most of the country (i.e. the non London parts) have never recovered from a wage or employment standpoint. She is quite rightly treated as evil in northern England.

I also find it interesting that the UK has had two female PMs and they were both Tories. The Labour party has never had a (non-interim) female party leader. In Canada, Kim Campbell is the only female leader of the Tories or Liberals and she suffered the worst electoral defeat in Canadian history. Until 2016

Lots of us were clamouring for Rona Ambrose to be the Tory leader. She would likely be the PM now if she decided to run. Looks like she was smart enough to decline the position.

Freeland is effectively the PM in waiting at this point.

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by rousseau

putting the words "Thatcher" and "progressive" in the same sentence would only make sense as the punchline to a surrealist joke.

Yep.

I don't really know what her attitude on social issues were but her economic policies were anathema to progressive types and the entire left wing of the political spectrum just about danced on here grave when she died.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Is there a blind spot I am missing here? Assuming you are referring to non-francophones, what makes non-francophone women less likely to be bilingual than non-francophone men?

So here's my reasoning:

It's tough to be truly bilingual unless you're from one of a handful of regions where people grow up being fluent in both languages. The overwhelming majority of these people by numbers would come from Greater Montreal, but there are of course other areas. However, all these areas tend to be Liberal strongholds, and the Liberals have been a little behind in enabling women to become party leaders at the Federal level.

The Conservatives and, frankly, all other parties have done much better. Of course the Bloc will have female MPs from Montreal who are fluently bilingual, but the Bloc will never form government.

If you're from outside of those areas, you have to be really committed to learning French (or English, for that matter), which means that you have aspired to attain a senior role in Federal politics since you were young. Stephen Harper was one of those people, but there aren't many people who have that kind of, um, ambition.

Hence, to get a female prime minister who is fluently bilingual, the burden is on the LPC to get a woman into a leadership position who hails from one of their bilingual ridings.

Chrystia Freeland is probably the closest that comes to mind, although her French (from what I've heard) is kind of weak. I once listened to her speak in French and my conclusion was that, since she made the same word choices I would have made and spoke at about the same speed, her French was probably better - but not much better - than my own (which is to say poor). I feel that if Celine Galipeau or whoever is the Rosemary Barton of the SRC prodded her in a 20 minute interview, that she'd come up pretty short.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Hence, to get a female prime minister who is fluently bilingual, the burden is on the LPC to get a woman into a leadership position who hails from one of their bilingual ridings.

So Melanie Joly, then.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by JHikka

So Melanie Joly, then.

She would be the female JT...…..

The anointed one is clearly Chrystia Freeland.

[jigglysquishy]

Freeland checks a lot of boxes.

She would be the first LPC leader from Alberta.
First elected female PM.
Trilingual (she is fluent in Ukrainian and English, I will leave the French competency to forumers who speak it)
The finance minister portfolio is the most prestigious one in cabinet
Highly respected amongst her peers, staffers, and in international relations


We have only had two PMs born in western Canada (Campbell and Clark). For her to actually serve a mandate means she is the first real Canadian PM born west of Ontario.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

So here's my reasoning:

It's tough to be truly bilingual unless you're from one of a handful of regions where people grow up being fluent in both languages. The overwhelming majority of these people by numbers would come from Greater Montreal, but there are of course other areas. However, all these areas tend to be Liberal strongholds, and the Liberals have been a little behind in enabling women to become party leaders at the Federal level.

The Conservatives and, frankly, all other parties have done much better. Of course the Bloc will have female MPs from Montreal who are fluently bilingual, but the Bloc will never form government.

If you're from outside of those areas, you have to be really committed to learning French (or English, for that matter), which means that you have aspired to attain a senior role in Federal politics since you were young. Stephen Harper was one of those people, but there aren't many people who have that kind of, um, ambition.

Hence, to get a female prime minister who is fluently bilingual, the burden is on the LPC to get a woman into a leadership position who hails from one of their bilingual ridings.

Chrystia Freeland is probably the closest that comes to mind, although her French (from what I've heard) is kind of weak. I once listened to her speak in French and my conclusion was that, since she made the same word choices I would have made and spoke at about the same speed, her French was probably better - but not much better - than my own (which is to say poor). I feel that if Celine Galipeau or whoever is the Rosemary Barton of the SRC prodded her in a 20 minute interview, that she'd come up pretty short.

Chrystia Freeland's French is actually pretty good. Especially for someone who's never lived or worked in a francophone environment.

Here she is in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVjz3mg2ZQM

Of course someone like her can probably learn anything if she sets her mind to it. I think she might be the smartest person in Canadian politics at the moment.

Other anglophone women who speak French in the Liberal Cabinet include Catherine McKenna and Carolyn Bennett. Ex-Minister Jane Philpott also spoke French.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Chrystia Freeland is probably the closest that comes to mind, although her French (from what I've heard) is kind of weak.

Her French is better than Stephen Harper's, and I believe above the lower threshold for Francophones to hold it against her.

My thoughts on this bilingualism issue are mixed. On the one hand I do think it is somewhat unfair to expect bilingualism out of each individual, and it favours certain regions. On the other I think people often seriously overestimate the bilingualism bar. We have had PMs who I would not describe as bilingual, and who have a level of rehearsed French that should not really be that hard to attain for the sort of person who could become prime minister. I don't think that Francophone voters in Canada generally penalize anybody who can't pass as Francophone.

Jagmeet Singh is another good example. His French sounds really weird and is not very good, but I'd guess it's good enough to not be a major handicap. I doubt that Jagmeet Singh had a special leg up in learning French.