Is Wynne so hated because she’s a woman?
Here’s a quick question: How many women have served as a provincial premier in Canada?
Now here’s a harder question: How many of them have been re-elected as premier? Give up? The answer to the first question is eight. The answer to the second is just one, and she and her re-elected minority government lasted barely one month before losing a non-confidence vote and being tossed out of power.
All of the former female premiers were well-liked and respected when they first took office. But all were hugely unpopular when they were forced out as premier a few years — and in some cases just months — later. Is there a pattern here? Is it sexism? These are serious questions facing Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne as she tries to buck the trend and win re-election in the province’s June 7 election. In Wynne’s case, she is one of the most disliked premiers in history, with her popularity rating below 20 per cent for the better part of three years.
Wynne’s election in 2014 as Ontario’s first female premier, and as the first openly gay premier, was hailed as a major breakthrough for women in politics.
Now, though, Wynne and her Liberals seem doomed to lose the coming election by a wide margin to the Conservatives.
Clearly, voters have lots of reasons to be unhappy with Wynne’s performance, such as her decision to sell off a big chunk of Ontario Hydro, high electricity rates and special deals with teacher unions.
At the same time, though, Wynne has launched some of the most popular and progressive programs in the country, such as free tuition for thousands of post-secondary students, a higher minimum wage and free pharmacare for anyone under 25.
Still, she has been criticized and treated in ways unimaginable to male premiers. The abuse is sexist, vulgar and steady, a pattern encountered by many other female politicians.
Given such abuse, it’s easy to argue that misogyny is a large reason for Wynne’s low popularity ratings.
Indeed, Wynne has been disrespected like no other Ontario premier in recent history. It’s similar to the attacks Hillary Clinton faced in her 2016 run for the U.S. presidency against Donald Trump, with rants of “Hang the Bitch.”
For many voters, when things are going well they don’t care if the premier is a woman. But if times get tough, the criticism and dislike for a female leader grows tremendously, with some of the attacks focused on her gender, and in Wynne’s case her sexual orientation.
“If Kathleen Wynne were a man, she wouldn’t be facing any of this stuff,” former Ontario cabinet minister Glen Murray told Steve Paikin, host of The Agenda on TVO, last year. “It’s sexism, plain and simple.”
All seven other women who have sat in a premier’s office have faced similar issues as Wynne is now confronting.
The first provincial woman premier was Rita Johnson, who was named interim B.C. Social Credit leader and thus premier in 1991 after Bill Vander Zalm resigned, but the party lost power in a general election 217 days later.
Catherine Callbeck led the P.E.I. Liberals to victory in 1993, but she resigned before the next election after falling sharply in polls.
Kathy Dunderdale led the Newfoundland Liberals to victory in 2011, but quit after a steep drop in the polls before the next election.
Alison Redford led the Alberta Tories to victory in 2012, but quit two years later after scandals resulted in a major drop in her popularity.
Pauline Marois led the Parti Québécois to power in 2012 but was trounced in the 2014 election.
Christy Clark led the B.C. Liberals to victory in 2013, but in 2017 she managed to win only a minority government and almost immediately lost a confidence vote. She resigned and quit politics.
Rachel Notley led the Alberta NDP to a stunning victory in 2015, but now trails the new United Conservatives, led by Jason Kenney, by a huge margin and likely will be defeated in 2019.
And don’t forget Kim Campbell, who spent 132 days as Canada’s only female prime minister. Under her leadership, the Progressive Conservatives won just two seats in the 1993 election.
If Wynne can defy this disturbing trend and win the June election, then she will have managed a breakthrough for women in politics as significant, if not more, than she did in 2014 when she was first elected premier.
For many voters, when things are going well they don’t care if the premier is a woman. But if times get tough, the criticism and dislike for a female leader grows tremendously