PREMIER INSPIRING AT WOMEN IN POLITICS EVENT
If you’re going to have an afternoon dedicated to discussing women in politics — or, more aptly, not enough women in politics — then who better to give the keynote address than the first female, gay, grandma premier of the province?
And Premier Kathleen Wynne didn’t disappoint, arguing that more women in politics changes the policy discussion.
In a keynote address Thursday evening to a standing-room only crowd at the University of Ottawa, Wynne described how her government decided to give certain support workers a raise in last year’s budget, despite the province’s financial difficulties.
She didn’t put it exactly like that, of course. What she actually said was, “We looked at sectors where there had been basically no increase: developmental support workers, personal support workers and early childhood educators — largely women. And we made a conscious decision that we were going to put more money into those specific areas for this very reason.”
The inference is clearly that that’s the kind of policy change you get when women are in charge. In fact, it was more than inference: Wynne explicitly said the decision would “not have been made necessarily around another cabinet table.”
And on the eve of the Liberal government’s release of a new sexual assault and sexual harassment action plan, Wynne said she’s “outraged” that government hasn’t done enough to combat sexual assault and other violence against women.
Women do politics differently, we’re told. And there are studies that indicate that when at least 30 per cent of elected officials are women, politics becomes more collaborative.
Of course, the argument that women change the tenor of politics would be a tad more convincing if the province’s chief electoral officer hadn’t recently found Wynne government insiders had not been in “apparent contravention” of Ontario’s elections law by apparently offering a job to a would-be candidate in the recent Sudbury byelection. Or if the same folks weren’t under investigation by the OPP for the alleged offer.
So maybe men and women aren’t so different on all fronts. And Wynne knows this, being careful to say that “good ideas are not the monopoly of women.” She pointed out that past governments had also taken action on what she calls “mistakenly labelled” women’s issues, while also reminding the audience that these weren’t the sole issues on which her government was focused.
Wynne recognized that one of the biggest factors that stops women from entering public life or taking other demanding leadership roles — raising a family — is an issue for men, too.
“When we take time off to raise our kids, that puts a limit on our ambitions,” said Wynne. “Our society just doesn’t know how to value the five- or 10- or 15-year gap in a resumé that’s called parenting. “It doesn’t receive any value.” Still, women still have it somewhat harder than men when it comes to clearing those barriers to leadership. It was eye-opening but still entertaining to hear Wynne describing a neighbour’s amazement at her becoming premier because she was “just a mom.”
After a dramatic pause, Wynne said lightly, “Just a mom,” to laughter from the parents in the crowd.
Of course, she went on to describe how being a mother of three prepared her for a life in politics — juggling priorities, developing empathy, learning the importance of “supportive environments.”
All this talk was fairly uplifting. No matter what you think of Wynne’s politics or policies, she’s an engaging speaker with a compelling personal narrative that saw the former heterosexual mom, educator, mediator, community activist and school-board trustee advance to become the province’s first female gay premier.
Even Kevin Page, former parliamentary budget officer and host of Thursday’s event, said, “I feel inspired ... and I’m a guy.”
He wasn’t alone. For an event about women in politics, the audience was pretty mixed between men and women, which may have been the most encouraging sign of future change, where all genders and orientations and races will have an equal voice.
“And maybe one day,” said Wynne, “we won’t need these events.”