Getting more women into office

OUR EDITORIAL: WHAT WE THINK Campaign’s aim to encourage women to run for municipal office in Alberta

Women hold the top political office in three Canadian provinces, including here in Alberta as well as in the largest province, Ontario. In addition, half of the federal cabinet positions are held by women.

Overall, though, women are underrepresented on the political scene in this country, and specifically, in this province.

An Alberta campaign called #ReadyForHer is hoping to improve those numbers by encouraging more women to seek political office at the municipal level.

The campaign includes a four-city tour by Stephanie McLean, Alberta’s Status of Women minister, which pays a visit to Lethbridge today. The stop will include a panel discussion from 5-7 p.m. at the University of Lethbridge Students Union Building featuring McLean as well as City of Lethbridge Councillor Liz Iwaskiw and Maryanne Sandberg, a councillor with the MD of Willow Creek.

The campaign’s goal is to see more women running in Alberta’s next municipal election. Presently, women account for just 26 per cent of municipal political positions in the province (490 of 1,874 positions) with the majority of them serving on town and village councils (32 and 31 per cent respectively). In Alberta cities, the percentage is just 18 per cent. Lethbridge, with two of nine council seats held by women, is just above that figure at 22 per cent, with plenty of room for improvement.

In announcing the #ReadyForHer campaign, McLean noted, “Alberta cities and towns need councillors that reflect their communities. Half of Alberta’s population is women, but men hold most of the positions. I want every woman to know Alberta is ready for her to run.”

A recent study called “Slow Progress: Women’s representation in municipal political office” shows that in the past three Alberta municipal elections, women have made up roughly onequarter of the candidates, including 27 per cent in 2013. When women do run for office, they’re successful more often than not, winning just under 60 per cent of the time, based on the last three elections. Male candidates won 62.4 per cent of the time.

Of course, a greater number of candidates will reduce the overall winning percentage, but it also stands to reason that if more women are seeking political office, there’s a greater possibility of more women being elected.

Attracting more women to political office isn’t just an Alberta goal; it’s also on the national radar. On Tuesday, Patty Hajdu, the federal Status of Women minister, announced funding for a threeyear national project to address systemic barriers that contribute to the underrepresentation of women in politics.

“Diversity in politics leads to innovative decision-making, which is good for all Canadians,” Hajdu said in a news release.

Women make up the same percentage of Parliamentarians — 26 per cent — as they do in municipal politics, so there’s certainly room for improvement toward gender parity.

Equal Voice, the organization that will undertake the federal project, conducted a 2009 poll which found that 85 per cent of Canadians surveyed want to see more women elected to office.

We can hope that in Alberta, the campaign to encourage more women to run for office will pay dividends and when Albertans go to the polls again in October 2017, the ballots will include the names of more women than has been the case in the past.

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