Challenges Facing Women Entering

Canadian Politics
Word Count: 5,494

Submitted: April 5th, 2017

CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 1

Table of Contents
Table of Contents 1

Introduction 2

Literature Review 5
Girls Just Wanna Not Run: The Gender Gap in Young Americans Political Ambition by Jennifer L.
Lawless and Richard L. Fox 5
Looks, Gender, and Ideas: Do these matter? by Bruce Anderson and David Coletto 6
Candidate Nomination in Canadas Political Parties by William Cross 8
Women in Politics: Still Searching for an Equal Voice by Ann Wicks and Raylene Lang-Dion 9

Research Method 10

Results 11
Question 1 12
Question 2 12
Question 3 12
Question 4 14
Question 5 14
Question 6 15
Questions 7 and 8 15
Question 9 16
Question 10 17

Discussion 18

Conclusion 20

Bibliography 21

Tables 24
Table 1 24
Table 2 24
Table 3 25
Table 4 25
Table 5 25
Table 6 26

Appendix 27
Appendix A 27
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 2

Introduction
The Canadian Parliament stands tall above Ottawa, a building representative of Canadian

federal political institutions: strong, established, and lacking womens bathrooms in Centre

Block until 1993 (Taber, 2012). The bathroom problem only arose when a female Members of

Parliament (MP) missed a vote while desperately searching around Centre Block for the facilities

(Taber, 2012); an event indicative of the huge divide in political representation between

Canadian women and men. Today, 26% of Canadian MPs are women (Inter-Parliamentary

Union, 2017). Although an improvement from the 18% in 1993 (Hantiuk, 2015), the number is

far from political gender parity and places Canada in 62nd place among national parliaments in

the world for female representation (Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2017). What are the challenges

that Canadian women face when entering politics in Canada?

In terms of general gender equality, Canada placed 35th out of 144 countries in the World

Economic Forums (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report, holding a score of 0.731 with 1.00 being

total gender parity (2016). The Global Gender Gap Report is based on a plethora of factors,

including labour force participation, wage equality for similar work, education, life expectancy,

length of parental leave, and health (WEF, 2016). Although Canada is first place for gender

parity in both literacy rate and secondary education and has 1.36 more female than male

professionals and technical workers, it is 43rd place for gender parity of legislators, senior

officials, and managers with a female/male ratio of 0.55; 25th for labour force participation with

a female/male ratio of 0.91; and 68th for wage equality for similar work, with a female/male

ratio of 0.65 (WEF, 2016). According to Statistics Canada (2017), 61.3% of Canadian women

70.3% of Canadian men participate in the labour force. Moreover, 57.5% of Canadian women
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 3

and 64.9% of Canadian men are employed (see Table 1) (Statistics Canada, 2017). Thus, Canada

can be described as a country that has made progress towards socioeconomic gender parity;

however, there remain disadvantages that Canadian women face.

In addition to understanding existing gender inequalities, comprehending the Canadian

political system is necessary to research the challenges women face when entering politics in

Canada. For this papers purposes, only women running for the federal level of Canadian

government for one of the House of Commons 338 seats will be studied (Elections Canada,

2015). MPs are those elected to the House of Commons from elections in an electoral district, or

riding. According to Elections Canada:

Canada's electoral system is referred to as a single-member plurality system (also

commonly called a first-past-the-post system). In every electoral district, the candidate

with the highest number of votes wins a seat in the House of Commons and represents

that electoral district as its member of Parliament. (Elections Canada, 2015)

The clear majority of the House of Commons consists of MPs who have a party affiliation, as

seen in Table 2. Each party has a nomination process to decide upon their candidate for each

riding, which is a process that William Cross, Political Science Professor at Carleton University,

describes in Candidate Nomination in Canadas Political Parties:

Political parties are left on their own to decide how they nominate their candidates. They

can choose to elect a candidate through a vote of their local membership or not; they can

allow their leader to unilaterally select candidates or not; and, if they decide to permit

contests, they determine all of the procedures including the timing, venue and the
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 4

eligibility requirements both for voting and for standing as a candidate for nomination.

(Cross, 2006, pg. 3)

The nomination process is an extra process for candidates, and has always nominated majority

male candidates, as seen in Table 3 (Funke, 2015), which reduces the number of women on the

ballot during the election. Although there are political financing regulations on elections

enforced by Elections Canada, there are no such regulations in the nomination process (Elections

Canada, 2015).

Why is it important for female representation in federal politics? Simply put, women

bring their own perspective to the table and know their situation best. Thus, they need to be

included in all levels of decision-making of which federal politics is not exempt. Goals such as

gender equality, democratic governance, and other gender concerns are unlikely to be addressed

when half the population is discouraged to join politics (Miranda, 2005). Furthermore, women in

politics can create role models and mentors for the next generation. In a Global Strategy Groups

study, 63% of American women in the workplace who had mentors said they had a female

mentor, while 72% of millennial women who had mentors stated they had a female mentor (The

Rockefeller Foundation, 2016). 82% of women aged 18 to 34 believed that it is highly important

for them to have a female role model in a leadership position when entering the workforce (The

Rockefeller Foundation, 2016).

All these topics will be further discussed within the literature review. Although there is

an existing library of research on women in politics globally, there is currently limited research

on the Canadian female political situation. Among this category of research, there are no

scholarly articles concerning the perspective of those who have already experienced Canadian
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 5

politics - MPs. Thus, my research method consists of interviews with female MPs to help

identify general challenges that they faced. These challenges can then be further explored in

future research and acted upon by governments and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

to push for more women in the House of Commons. This paper will first explore the existing

literature with regards to the challenges that women face, followed by a description of the

research method and its results. Finally, the results will be discussed in relation to the existing

data in the discussion section and then the papers topic will be summarized in the conclusion.

Literature Review
Of the limited studies on women in politics in the Canada, much of the existing literature

addresses either public opinion and gender gap in political opinion or the larger scale perspective

from the point of view of policy makers and NGOs. Included in this literature review are reports

which address women in politics; however, not all are limited to the Canadian context. Although

having solely a Canadian lens is preferred, there is a considerable amount of American research

that have been referenced by Canadian studies. According to Ed Grabb, a professor in the

University of British Columbias Department of Sociology, Canadian and American politics and

society are not identical but very similar (Waugh, 2011). Thus, it is useful to consider

American studies when understanding the gender gaps in political representation and ambition.

Girls Just Wanna Not Run: The Gender Gap in Young Americans
Political Ambition by Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox
Based on the results of a new survey of more than 2,100 American college students

between the ages of 18 and 25 which assessed the likelihood of running for public office in the
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 6

United States of America and the gender gap in ambition, Jennifer L. Lawless, Associate

Professor of Government at American University, and Richard L. Fox, Professor of Political

Science at Loyola Marymount University, discovered that men were twice as likely to report that

they definitely plan to run for office than women whereas women were 50% more likely to

indicate that they had absolutely no interest in a future candidacy, as seen in Table 4 (Lawless

& Fox, 2013, pg. 2). Afterwards, they assessed the factors which they hypothesized causes the

gender gap in political ambition. Lawless and Fox (2013) concluded with five reasons that

contribute to the gender gap: young men are more likely than young women to be socialized by

their parents to think about politics as a career path (pg. 6); young women tend to be exposed

to less political information and discussion than do young men (pg. 8); young men are more

likely than young women to have played organized sports and care about winning (pg. 10);

young women are less likely than young men to receive encouragement to run for office (pg.

12); and young women are less likely than young men to think they will be qualified to run for

office, even once they are established in their careers (pg. 13). Women were 11% less likely

than men to be encouraged by their parents to run for office, 5% more likely to report that their

parents wish that they pursue a non-political career, 12% less likely to visit news websites, and

are 20% more likely to say that they will not know enough to run for office in the future

(Lawless & Fox, 2013).

Looks, Gender, and Ideas: Do these matter? by Bruce Anderson and

David Coletto
Bruce Anderson, Chairman of Abacus Data, and David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data,

published the results of an online poll of 1,438 Canadians which assessed the probability of
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 7

Canadians voting for a candidate based only on the gender and appearance (Anderson & Coletto,

2014a, pg. 1). By using two pictures of a man and women, labelled Perry and Jane

respectively, they asked respondents whether or not they would consider either candidate solely

based on physical appearance. 91% responded that they would consider Jane, while 88% would

consider Perry (Anderson & Coletto, 2014a). Among those 60 or older, 89% would consider

Perry while 91% would consider Jane, indicating no generational bias (Anderson & Coletto,

2014a). When asked which candidate they would vote given only their picture, 67% voted for

Jane whereas 33% voted for Perry (Anderson & Coletto, 2014a). Although hypothetically the

two candidates should be tied, Jane did best across all demographics, indicating that tendencies

for Canadian voters to favour candidates based on gender are no longer true and may be the

opposite (Anderson & Coletto, 2014a). Anderson and Coletto (2014a) used a second picture of

both Jane and Perry, which resulted in similar results within the margin of error. However, when

asked about how each candidate would fare in certain situations, gender stereotyping was evident

(Anderson & Coletto, 2014a). 80% saw Jane as more likely than Perry to help those in need and

76% saw her as someone who would help the environment more than Perry (Anderson &

Coletto, 2014a). Janes margin narrowed when asked which one would be better in a crisis and

have better ideas for the economy, with 54% and 52% of Canadians, respectively, considering

Jane to more likely have those traits than Perry (Anderson & Coletto, 2014a). Anderson and

Coletto (2014a) conclude that, although Canadians are probably no longer basing their political

choices on gender alone, there continues to be gender stereotyping, with women perceived as

more caring and compassionate.

CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 8

Candidate Nomination in Canadas Political Parties by William Cross

William Cross discusses the party nomination process in Canadian democracy and its

shortcomings concerning accurate representation. Cross (2006) argues that the under regulation

of the nomination processes results in undemocratic behaviour in one of the most crucial stages

in deciding our representatives. According to Cross:

Research indicates that most often the identity and characteristics of the local candidates

play a minor, secondary role in vote choice. This means that the only opportunity voters

have to consider the type of person they would like to be their Member of Parliament,

and to influence this selection unencumbered with other considerations such as their

views of the parties leaders, is at the nomination stage. (Cross, 2006, pg. 4)

The nomination stage is also crucial because of the dominance of the major political parties;

thus, Cross (2006) states that women and visible minorities can only gain representation through

these processes. He proposes that a cause with the under representation of visible minorities and

women is their disproportionate nominations for party candidacy and their nomination in

constituencies in which they have little chance of electoral success, using data from the 2006

election as seen in Table 5 to support his point (Cross, 2006). While Liberals and Conservatives

fail to make substantial increases in female candidates, the New Democratic Party (NDP) have

adopted gender-parity within its party policy, aiming for a minimum of 60% of ridings where the

NDP has a reasonable chance of winning to have female candidates (Cross, 2006). Cross (2006)

also argues that one of the biggest factors working against an increase in the number of female

candidates in the Liberal and Conservatives parties is the guarantee of renomination for

incumbents (pg. 27), which results in the re-election of overwhelmingly male candidates. He
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 9

concludes that there must be government regulation of party nominations to ensure a more

democratic Canadian political system (Cross, 2006).

Women in Politics: Still Searching for an Equal Voice by Ann Wicks

and Raylene Lang-Dion
Ann Wicks, Executive Director of Equal Voice, and Raylene Lang-Dion, National Chair

of Equal Voice, study recent developments in Iceland and Sweden in terms of female political

representation vis--vis the prospects for more female MPs in the Canadian Parliament. Wicks

and Lang-Dion (2008) discuss the media's fixation on the appearance of female politicians

compared to the minimal attention paid to those of their men, citing multiple instances of

occurrence:

While at a conference, a female cabinet minister from Ontario was introduced by a male

cabinet colleague with the statement, Shes got better legs, what can I say? The Ottawa

Citizen recently reported that a female Member of Parliament looked stunning in a black

gown with a plunging neckline, while failing to mention the attire or appearance of other

politicians in attendance. (Wicks and Lang-Dion, 2008, pg. 34)

Wicks and Lang-Dion (2008) suggest that Swedens political will for gender parity combined

with their proportional representation electoral system are the driving factors behind their 47.3%

female representation in the Swedish Riksdag. Swedish political parties have pushed for gender

parity since the 1970s, and generally adhere to the 60/40 principle: neither sex is to have more

than 60 percent nor less than 40 percent of representation within party ranks (Wicks and

Lang-Dion, 2008, pg. 36). The principle is not formally legislated; rather, it is expected from

political parties by the public and thus essential for a partys electoral success (Wicks and
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 10

Lang-Dion, 2008). In Iceland, the Althingi created a multi-party committee alongside womens

organizations to increase representation of women. The committee launched an awareness

campaign in 1997 which Wicks and Lang-Dion (2008) describe as a well funded, five year

awareness campaign which included: a humorous, attention-getting advertising program, training

courses, education, communications networks, public meetings, and mentoring programs

(Wicks and Lang-Dion, 2008, pg. 36). Within one year of the campaign, female representation

increased from 25% to 35% (Wicks and Lang-Dion, 2008). Wicks and Lang-Dion (2008)

suggest that Canadian political parties nominate more women so that Canada can reach the

30-35% female representation threshold recommended by the United Nations for womens

priorities to be reflected in legislatures and changes in management style, group dynamic and

organization culture take place (Wicks and Lang-Dion, 2008, pg. 37).

Research Method
Members of Parliament are those who have gone through the election process and have

experienced the inner workings of Parliament firsthand. The goal of this research paper is not to

give definite statistics and solutions on the challenges women face; rather, it is to identify the

challenges and provide potential areas of research for future studies. Therefore, the qualitative

interview approach by interviewing female MPs is a logical approach, since overarching themes

can be determined among the personal challenges expressed. Female MPs were interviewed in a

structured interview format in either Canadian official language (Official Languages Act, 1985);

however, there were occasionally off-script questions if the interviewer wished for the

interviewee to elaborate on a point (see Appendix A for full interview guide). Participants signed
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 11

consent forms and engaged in either a 15-20 minutes phone or in-person interview. Although

they were aware of the topic, they did not know the questions beforehand. Due to the research

time frame, ten MPs were interviewed from mostly Liberal and NDP parties as seen in Table 6.

Results
Before discussing the results, there are limitations to this study that must be

acknowledged. In addition to being a small sample size, the MPs interviewed do not accurately

represent the Canadian regional and political diversity: five MPs are Liberal, four are NDP and

only one is Conservative, and five MPs are from Ontario, two from British Columbia, one from

Quebec, one from New Brunswick, and one from Alberta. Their region and political affiliation

could influence their individual experience with Canadian politics; however, their experiences

should be relatively similar due to Elections Canada national regulations and their similar

workplace when on Parliament Hill. Due to the qualitative nature of an interview, there is

potential for subjectivity on the part of the interviewer when interpreting the points conveyed by

interviewees. However, this is minimized by a standardized interview guide. Furthermore, phone

quality during phone interviews as well as the interviewers French language fluency may have

affected the interpretation of responses.

Canadian women in Canadian politics face major challenges due to their gender, and their

problems are clearly reflected in the results of the interviews. See Appendix A for each specific

question asked.
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 12

Question 1
When asked to name general challenges that they faced in either their nomination or

campaign in Question 1, the most common response was the nomination process itself, with five

MPs recalling it as one of their election hurdles. Four MPs responded with finances, whether it

be difficulty fundraising or having to taking leave without pay. There were two responses

indicating for each of the following challenges: organizing a campaign for the first time; personal

attacks and emotional exhaustion, referred to by MP Anita Vandenbeld as requiring a tough

skin; the energy required; and the doubt from friends, family, and mentors towards the prospect

of a political career. Finally, MP Carol Hughes also mentioned the physical size of her riding as

a major challenge, while MP Rachel Blaney stated the problem of adapting to her role as a public

figure.

Question 2
In response to the Question 2, six MPs responded with an affirmative response while four

MPs said that their parents did not talk to them often about politics. Of those four MPs, two said

that they were still regularly involved in the community when growing up and were exposed to

politics through other activities.

Question 3
When answering Question 3, every MP affirmed that there continue to be gender

stereotypes and sexist attitudes in Canadian society. Each could name examples of such

stereotypes or sexism; however, five MPs considered the sexism to be more overt whereas the
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 13

other five thought that it was more systematic. Examples of the former would be Kamal Khera

recalling the initial reaction of friends when she announced her intention to enter politics:

When I decided to run, and went out and talked to people about why I wanted to do this,

and a lot of responses I got were: You are young, and I was a registered nurse, so you

are a young registered nurse with a good job, you should get married and have kids. Like,

why are you getting into politics?

Another example would be Carol Hughes remembering one of her election opponents

comments: One of the candidates I was running against said that there was no way I could drive

in the riding, and surely I would be too scared to drive during wintertime. Contrarily, the other

five MPs considered more subtle forms of sexism. Rachel Blaney spoke of the frequent remarks

about her clothing during the campaign as well as the disproportionate concern for her family as

she would be, as a MP, away from home for long periods of time. She described people asking,

how can you leave your children?, and how some individuals felt that she was abandoning her

family as a mother. Meanwhile, Anita Vandenbeld described the wording used to describe her in

the media and the fixation on her appearance:

I remember, during the campaign, I was running against John Baird, who was less than

two years older than me, and he was always referred to as Senior Cabinet Minister and I

was referred to as young woman politician or young woman candidate. I know that

one of the first things that started happening to me, that surprised me, was the focus on

my appearance, how many people, including women, would be critical and, oh, heres a

coupon to my hair salon, let me do something to your hair, it needs to be longer, it needs

to be shorter, everything down to the fact that I couldnt wear open-toed shoes unless I
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 14

had a pedicure. I was like, I really dont think any male opponent of mine has been told

he cant run for office unless he has a pedicure.

Although MPs considered this form of sexism as unintentional, they still saw it a great challenge

to overcome.

Question 4
In response to Question 4, all MPs also had consensus on the perception of Parliament

and politics being an old boys club and its deterrence of female engagement with politics.

Five mentioned specifically the stereotype of a politician being an older, white, male lawyer. MP

Sheila Malcolmson said, If people see an actual reflection of society in politics, theyll feel

more secure in joining.

Question 5
Question 5 resulted in a split in opinion, with four MPs considering their gender a barrier

when deciding to enter politics while the other six did not think of their gender as a barrier before

entering politics. Those who did reply Yes indicated that they were asked repeatedly to run by

somebody else or had to gain more experience before building up the confidence to run. MP

Rachael Harder stated that in her youth she believed that politics was a world controlled by

men, and I didnt see room for me there, and Sheila Malcolmson remembered that she had to be

asked over twenty times before running, citing her age and the possible strain on her marriage

as reasons for doubt. On the contrary, the other six MPs did not consider their gender before

entering. MP Alaina Lockhart, the first female MP for the riding of Fundy Royal, simply said the
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 15

fact isnt something that plays high on my radar, and Anita Vandenbeld recalled that she

naively thought that those things happened only elsewhere.

Question 6
When asked whether their gender and gender stereotypes affected the way they

campaigned, seven MPs responded yes while three responded no. While MPs Kate Young,

Rachael Harder and Sonia Sidhu did not believe that gender affected the way they campaigned,

citing a proper support network and the gruelling efforts needed in a campaign for all genders,

the other seven believed that being a woman requires more effort, and especially to prove their

credibility. Rachel Blaney described their situation as: women need to work twice as hard to be

half as recognized. Furthermore, MPs Anne Minh-Thu Quach and Kamal Khera described the

intersectionality of their issues as young women of colour and how they needed to work even

harder to prove themselves to their constituents. Anne Minh-Thu Quach, who represents the rural

Quebec riding of Salaberry-Surot, described her challenges during her campaign:

[Translated from French] As I am Vietnamese, a lot of people believed that I could not

speak French and that I wasnt from around here so I had to double my efforts to make

people realize that I could speak French and that I was from the region. [...] Then, there

were some people who thought I was very young, and wondered if I had the experience

to be a candidate and why we should trust someone so young.

Questions 7 and 8
These two questions, addressing potential sexist behaviour on Parliament Hill, had six

MPs answer that they personally experienced a difference in treatment towards men and women
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 16

on the Hill, whereas Rachael Harder, Sheila Malcolmson, Kate Young, and Sonia Sidhu

responded that they had not personally experienced sexism. However, Sheila Malcolmson,

Rachael Harder and Kate Young recognized that there was either direct or potential for sexism

towards other MPs, with Kate Young specifically citing her older age as a reason why she

experienced less sexism than her younger colleagues. There were a variety of experiences that

other MPs deemed sexist: the fixation on appearance, which Anne Minh-Thu Quach describes as

we never tell guys oh, youre dressed well today instead of starting with work, but we always

tell women that; gender-specific aggressive behaviour, which Kamal Khera defined as

malecolleagues becoming more aggressive towards female colleagues in committees through

actions such as heckling; the crediting of an idea going towards a male MP instead of a female

MP who also brought it forward, which Anita Vandenbeld recalled occurring occasionally during

committee; and overt comments related to gender, such as Carol Hughes memory of a question

period where a Conservative MP remarked to the Green MP I dont know where this MP is

coming from with her soap box. Rachael Harder mentioned later in her response to Question 8

that she has probably experienced potentially sexist remarks, such as when someone said oh,

put beauty at the front during a photo; however, she said that the words of others only have

weight if I give them weight. Rachael Harder and Sonia Sidhu explicitly stated that they have

been met with respect from all colleagues, both male and female.

Question 9
This open-ended question resulted in a few general themes proposed by multiple MPs

with regards to the underrepresentation of women: family obligations, and especially the social

pressure for women to stay at home and take care of children or the elderly, which was
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 17

mentioned by seven MPs; the lack of existing female role models and mentors, which was also

mentioned by seven MPs; the party nomination process, which was mentioned by two MPs; and,

finally, various social expectations for women, which were mentioned by all MPs with examples

of such including women not being asked enough to run and, in general, according to Kate

Young, Rachael Harder, Sheila Malcolmson, and Anita Vandenbeld, not having as much

confidence.

Question 10
In response to Question 10, no MP openly supported a political quota for either female

candidates or MPs. Many provided other alternatives to improve female representation, such as

having Elections Canada regulate the party nomination process, making Parliament more family

friendly, changing societal norms, or providing financial incentives to political parties. The NDP

MPs all mentioned their support of the NDPs gender parity party policy and the defeated Private

Members Bill C-237 proposed by NDP MP Kennedy Stewart, which would have reduced the

reimbursement parties receive for their election expenses if there was more than a 10% gender

gap on the partys list of candidates for a general election (An Act to amend the Canada

Elections Act (gender equity), 2016). Alaina Lockhart and Rachael Harder explicitly mentioned

that they wished instead for an organic change to occur for women to earn their seats at the table

rather than a policy such as a gender quota or Bill C-237. Liberal MPs all strongly supported

Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus gender balanced cabinet.

CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 18

Discussion
The responses MPs gave can be related to the challenges that women face when entering

politics in two key themes: the party nomination process and the socialization of women.

The responses mentioning the nomination process closely correlates to the previous

research done. MP Anita Vandenbeld said:

The thing is the actual candidates, looking at who do I trust, whose values do I

support, whos qualified, and were not putting that gender bias, but we think that

other people do, so when we ask the question, do you think that women are as likely to

get elected?, about 80% or 85% of Canadians say no. So, what happens is the

nomination. [...] If youre a party member choosing who you want to represent your

party, youre looking at who you think will win. If you already have a bias that says that

you think that other people wont go for women, or you have a bias towards whos won

before, whos winnable, well the only people whove won before are middle-aged men,

and youre going to be looking for that, youre going to be looking for those qualities.

And so instead of asking the question who do I trust?, youre asking the question who

do I think other people will vote for?. And thats where the biases and stereotypes come

in.

MPs who did mention the nomination process also mentioned the challenge of running against

male candidates. Rachael Harder faced three older men in her nomination campaign, and she

recalled being nicknamed little girl by an opponent. As William Cross (2006) mentioned, the

federal Liberal and Conservative Parties have experienced a lack of female candidates, while the
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 19

NDPs gender parity nomination policy has made substantial increases in female nominations.

Furthermore, financial stability and resources were also a main challenge that female MPs

mentioned, and the current economic disparity between men and women according to StatsCan

(2016) and WEF (2016) likely contributes to the smaller pool of female candidates.

All MPs mentioned the socialization of women in some form, including but not limited to

the willingness to consider politics as a career and the social pressure towards ones family. In

Anderson and Colettos (2014b) paper Politics Anyone? they found that there was a 13% gender

gap in political ambition between Canadian men and women. Many female MPs mentioned their

uncertainty towards entering politics, and some said that they had to be asked multiple times by

someone else to finally decide to make a bid for the nomination. Moreover, most MPs had

spoken to parents about politics and received encouragement growing up, which correlates with

Lawless and Foxs (2013) research that found that 50% of college students whose mothers

regularly suggested they run for office and 46% of students whose fathers suggested they run for

office reported that they would definitely run for office in the future. However, women in the

study were 10% less likely to be encouraged to run by their parents than men, with only 23% of

female college students who reported that they were encouraged (Lawless and Fox, 2013). This

matches the MPs responses with regards to the lack of encouragement women face and their

increased likelihood to dismiss politics as a career. Additionally, MPs also had consensus that

women are socially expected to care for families and therefore have more doubt towards an

occupation such as a MP, which demands unpredictable hours and long periods away from

home. Research conducted by Pew Research Centre concluded that:

CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 20

Among working women with children under age 18, fully half (51%) say being a

working parent has made it harder for them to advance in their job or career. By

comparison, only 16% of men with children under age 18 say being a working parent has

made it harder for them to advance at work (Pew Research Centre, 2013, pars. 6)

These results that women continue to bear the brunt of raising a family, and thus are deterred

from participating in a demanding job such as politics unless, as many MPs mentioned,

Parliament Hill becomes family-friendly.

Conclusion
Canadian women continue to progress slowly towards equal representation. According to

Equal Voice researcher Grace Lore, At the current rate of change, its going to be another 90

[years] before we see an equal number of men and women (Aiello, 2017). Researching the

perspective of female Members of Parliament has correlated existing research and confirmed

clear challenges facing Canadian women trying to enter politics today, including, but not limited

to, social expectations and the current nomination system. These mark areas for deeper research

and where initiatives from both governments and NGOs can be targeted to help improve female

representation in the House of Commons. Be it exploring advertisement campaigns as seen in

Iceland (Wicks and Lang-Dion, 2008) to encourage more female participation or providing

support for mothers in politics, the research results strongly support programs targeting the

challenges identified. As Alaina Lockhart said, we need to show women theres a place for

them on the Hill.

CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 21

Bibliography
Aiello, R. (2017, March 6). It could take 20 election cycles, or 90 years, before House reaches

gender parity, says Equal Voice. Retrieved April 5, 2017, from

https://www.hilltimes.com/2017/03/06/take-20-election-cycles-parliament-gender-parity-

current-rate-equal-voice/98754

An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act (gender equity), Private Members Bills (2016,

C-237). Retrieved from Parliament of Canada website:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocI

d=8125430

Anderson, B., & Coletto, D. (2014a, January 6). Looks, Gender, and Ideas: Do these matter?

(pp. 1-7, Rep.). Ottawa, ON: Abacus Data.

Anderson, B., & Coletto, D. (2014b, December 9). Politics Anyone? (pp. 1-7, Rep.). Ottawa,

ON: Abacus Data.

Cross, W. (2006). Candidate Nomination in Canadas Political Parties (Doctoral dissertation,

Carleton University, 2006) (pp. 1-32). Toronto, ON: Dundurn Press.

Ditchburn, J. (2015, November 06). Women no longer a 'curiosity' in cabinet. Retrieved March

29, 2017, from

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-trudeau-liberal-government-cabinet-1.3304590

Elections Canada. (2015, November 16). The Electoral System of Canada. Retrieved March 26,

2017, from

http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=ces&document=part1&lang=e
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 22

Equal Voice. (2008). Milestones for Canadian Women in Politics [Pamphlet]. Ottawa, ON:

Equal Voice.

Funke, A. (2015, October 19). Election Results by Party. Retrieved March 26, 2017, from

http://www.punditsguide.ca/parties.php

Hantiuk, P. (2015, October 15). 50% population, 25% representation. Retrieved December 14,

2016, from http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/women-politics/

Inter-Parliamentary Union. (2017, January 1). Women in national parliaments. Retrieved March

19, 2017, from http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

Lawless, J. L., & Fox, R. L. (2013). Girls Just Wanna Not Run (pp. 1-23, Rep.). Washington,

DC: Women & Politics Institute.

Library of Parliament. (2017). Our Country, Our Parliament: Canada's System of Government.

Retrieved March 26, 2017, from

http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/Education/ourcountryourparliament/section2

-e.aspx

Library of Parliament. (2014, March 31). Women's Right to Vote in Canada. Retrieved March

27, 2017, from

http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/Compilations/ProvinceTerritory/ProvincialWomenRig

htToVote.aspx

Miranda, R. L. T. (2005). Impact of womens participation and leadership on outcomes (pp.

1-11, Rep.). Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: United Nations.

Official Languages Act, Revised Statutes of Canada (1985, c. 31). Retrieved from the Justice

Laws website: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/O-3.01/

CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 23

Parliament of Canada. (2016). Members of Parliament. Retrieved March 26, 2017, from

http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parliamentarians/en/members?view=ListtOnly=true

Pew Research Centre. (2013, December 10). On Pay Gap, Millennial Women Near Parity For

Now. Retrieved April 05, 2017, from

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/12/11/on-pay-gap-millennial-women-near-parity-f

or-now/

Statistics Canada. (2017, January 06). Labour force, employment and unemployment, levels and

rates, by province (Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia,

New Brunswick). Retrieved March 26, 2017, from

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labor07a-eng.htm

Statistics Canada. (2016, September 28). Population by sex and age group. Retrieved March 24,

2017, from

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo10a-eng.htm

Taber, J. (2012, September 6). Re-paving the way for women on the Hill ...yet again. Retrieved

March 19, 2017, from

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/re-paving-the-way-for-women-on-the-hill

-yet-again/article546621/

The Rockefeller Foundation. (2016). Women in Leadership: Why It Matters [Brochure]. New

York, NY: Author.

United Nations Development Programme. (2015). Human Development Reports. Retrieved

March 25, 2017, from http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/HDI

CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 24

Waugh, B. (2011, July 07). Canadians and Americans are more similar than assumed. Retrieved

March 27, 2017, from

http://news.ubc.ca/2011/07/07/canadians-and-americans-are-more-similar-than-assumed/

Wicks, A., & Lang-Dion, R. (2008). Women in Politics: Still Searching for an Equal Voice (Vol.

31, Canadian Parliamentary Review, pp. 34-37, Rep. No. 1). Toronto, ON: Canadian

Parliamentary Review.

World Economic Forum. (2016). Global Gender Gap Report 2016. Retrieved March 26, 2017,

from http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2016/

Tables

Table 1
National labour force, employment and unemployment rates in 2016
Participation Rate Unemployment Rate Employment Rate

Both Sexes 65.7% 7.0% 61.1%

Men 70.3% 7.7% 64.9%

Women 61.3% 6.2% 57.5%

Note. Reprinted from Labour force, employment and unemployment, levels and rates, by province, by Statistics Canada, retrieved from
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labor07a-eng.htm
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 25

Table 2
Current MPs in the 42nd Parliament by Political Affiliation and Sex
Political Affiliation Total: Both Sexes # of Male # of Female

Liberal 180 130 50

Conservative 97 80 17

NDP 44 26 18

Bloc Quebcois 10 8 2

Independent (no affiliation) 1 1 0

Green Party 1 0 1
Note. Adapted from Current Members of Parliament, by Parliament of Canada, retrieved from
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parliamentarians/en/members?view=List&currentOnly=true&caucusId=4

Table 3
42nd General Election Candidates by Sex and Political Affiliation among Major Political
Parties
Political Affiliation Total: Both Sexes # of Male # of Female

Liberal 338 233 (68.9%) 105 (31.1%)

Conservative 338 272 (80.5%) 66 (19.5%)

NDP 338 192 (56.8%) 146 (43.2%)

Bloc Quebcois 78 56 (71.8%) 22 (28.2%)

Green Party 336 201 (59.8%) 135 (40.2%)

Note. Adapted from Pundits Guide: 42nd General Election by Alice Funke, retrieved from http://www.punditsguide.ca/parties.php
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 26

Table 4
Responses to: Have You Ever Thought That, When Youre Older, You Might Want To Run For
Political Office?
Response Male Female

Thought about it many 20% 10%

times

Has crossed my mind 37% 27%

Never thought about it 43% 63%

Note. Reprinted from Girls Just Wanna Not Run: The Gender Gap in Young Americans Political Ambition by Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L.
Fox, retrieved from https://www.american.edu/spa/wpi/upload/Girls-Just-Wanna-Not-Run_Policy-Report.pdf

Table 5
Nominated and Successful Female Candidates in the 2004 and 2006 Elections by Party (as a
percentage of all candidates in party)
Political 2004 Nominated 2004 2006 Nominated 2006
Affiliation Elected Elected

Liberal 24% 25% 26% 20%

NDP 31% 26% 35% 41%

Bloc Quebcois 24% 26% 31% 33%

PC/Conservative 12% 11% 12% 11%

Note. Adapted from Candidate Nomination in Canadas Political Parties by William Cross, retrieved from
http://paperroom.ipsa.org/paphttp://paperroom.ipsa.org/papers/paper_5470.pdfers/paper_5470.pdf
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 27

Table 6
MPs Interviewed by Name and Party
Name (Riding) Party Affiliation

Alaina Lockhart (Fundy Royal) Liberal

Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West-Nepean) Liberal

Anne Minh-Thu Quach (Salaberry-Surot) NDP

Carol Hughes NDP

(Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing)

Kamal Khera (Brampton West) Liberal

Kate Young (London West) Liberal

Rachael Harder (Lethbridge) Conservative

Rachel Blaney (North Island-Powell River) NDP

Sheila Malcolmson (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) NDP

Sonia Sidhu (Brampton South) Liberal

Appendix

Appendix A
Standardized Interview Questions
Q1: What were general challenges for you, as an MP, in terms of campaigning and
running for office?
Quels ont t les dfis gnrals, comme dput, pendant votre campagne et quand
vous vous prsentez aux lections?

Q2: Would you say you were brought up in a political environment? For example, did you
parents encourage you to keep up with politics and current affairs? Did they talk to you about
politics?
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 28

Direz-vous que vous avez agrandi dans une environnement politique? Par exemple,
est-ce que vos parents vous avez encourag dapprendre propos la politique et les
nouvelles? Est-ce quils vous ont parl propos les politiques?

Q3: Do you think that some people have different perceptions of the roles different
genders should have in society, e.g. do gender stereotypes still exist? If yes, what do you
consider to be examples of these perceptions? If not, why?
Pensez-vous que des gens ont des perceptions diffrents des rles que des sexes
diffrents devraient avoir dans la socit, i.e. -til des strotypes des sexes? Si oui, que
considrez-vous des exemples de ces perceptions? Si non, pourquoi?

Q4: How do you think gender role perceptions/stereotypes affect the perception of politics?
Comment pensez-vous que les perceptions des rles ou strotypes des sexes
affectent la perception de la politique?

Q5: Did your gender affect your decision to enter politics?

Est-ce que votre sexe a affect votre dcision dentrer la politique?

Q6: Do you think gender and gender role perceptions/stereotypes affect the way
candidates campaign?
Pensez-vous que la sexe et la perception des rles/strotypes des sexes affect la
faon que les candidats campagne?

Q7: In your political experience, would you say there is a difference in the way different
genders are treated in politics? If so, what would be an example of this difference? If not,
what would be an example of similar treatment?
Pendant votre exprience dans les politiques, direz-vous que la manire quon utilise
envers les different sexes soit diffrent? Si oui, que serait un exemple de cette diffrence? Si
non, que serait un exemple de la traitement similaire?

Q8: Do you think there were times where you were treated differently, whether when
campaigning or on the Hill, because of your gender?
Pensez-vous quil y avait des temps o vous avez t trait diffremment, soit
pendant votre campagne soit dans la parliament, cause de votre sexe?

Q9: What would you say accounts for the fact that only 26% of MPs are women?
CHALLENGES FACING WOMEN ENTERING CANADIAN POLITICS 29

Que pensez-vous est la cause de la fait que seulement 26% des dputs sont des
femmes?

Q10: Do you think a gender quota would help fight gender role perceptions?
Pensez-vous quun quota de sexe pourra aider combattre les perceptions des rles
des genres?