Hurdles in the way

ReWonder women Dec. 4. Your article suggests that smart, powerful women are opting out of elected politics. This is rather like blaming the victim; the message being that deep down women don’t really want to share in running the country. If you want to get to the bottom of why only 21 per cent of our lawmakers are women you need to look at the barriers. Money is one. Most women have fewer resources than men and standing for nomination or running in an election can be very expensive. Demands of family are another. Few women have spouses willing to run the home in their absence. The understandable fear of different treatment by the media is a growing concern.

Worst, the electoral system itself, ( in which local riding associations decide who will run — and overwhelmingly decide to nominate men), works to exclude women at the very entry point to politics.

Evidence that, once barriers are lowered, lots of women will run for political office can be found in other countries. The Welsh assembly is 50 per cent female; Rwanda’s, 48.8 per cent; Sweden’s, 45.3 per cent. In France, after the parity law was introduced, the number of municipal councillors who are female climbed from about 27 per cent to 42.5 per cent in one election. Breakthroughs for women that are happening elsewhere suggest the problem is not Canadian women’s reluctance, but the considerable hurdles in their way. Next time you do this story, don’t interview well- known women at random but ask women actually engaged in political activism whether they have been asked to run. We know from at least one study that, like Farah Mohamed in your article, women political activists are much less likely to be asked than men. The problem lies with the political parties. Rosemary Speirs, National Chair, Equal Voice, For the Election of More Women, Toronto