By Chris Lackner
Throughout Alexa McDonough’s 25-year political career, she has faced one consistent criticism.
“I have the hair from hell,” she laughs. “As a woman I’ve probably gotten more calls to my office about my hair than any other issues. But that’s just the reflection of an image-conscious society.”
The former federal leader of the New Democratic Party says female politicians still receive greater scrutiny for their appearance.
But for women contemplating a political career, image is only one of many obstacles. The structure of Parliament itself may be working against them.
For Canadian women contemplating a political career, motherhood is far from the only obstacle.
When Agnes Macphail was elected to Parliament in 1921, she was the sole woman in the House of Commons. More than eight decades later, women hold only 56 of 308 federal seats — an 18 per cent share of the power.
Very little has changed since the Beijing Declaration was signed 10 years ago. For more than 15 years, Canadian women have consistently hovered around a 20-per-cent political participation rate — placing the country 36th among the world’s democracies, according to Equal Voice, a Canadian women’s advocacy group.
“The culture and structure of the House of Commons is man made — it’s not family-friendly or female-friendly,” says Marion Dewar, former mayor of Ottawa and a Hamilton MP from 1987 to 1988.
Dewar is one of a growing number of analysts and female politicians who feel that only electoral reform will put more women into office.They believe that Canada should incorporate some form of proportional representation (PR) into its electoral system.
In some countries with this system like Sweden, New Zealand and Wales, female politicians enjoy a far greater rate of success.
Under PR, a fixed number of electoral seats are awarded to each party according to their share of the popular vote. Candidate lists compiled by each party fill the seats.
While proponents believe the system would elect more women, its impact would still depend on parties creating a gender-balanced slate of candidates.
Five Canadian provinces are currently considering PR. In their upcoming provincial election, British Columbians will vote on a proposal to move to a form of PR. The federal government has also promised to look at the issue.
Patricia Marsden-Doyle, regional representative for Fair Vote, which advocates the implementation of PR, says such a system will not only help women, but minority candidates and parties as well.
Beyond electoral reform, Dewar says the political culture needs to change.
Politicians’ working hours need to be reformed to better suit not only women, but also men with young families.
She says parliamentary breaks should overlap public school breaks, and House sessions and committee meetings should be held and finish earlier in the day.
Dewar says parties also need to be more pro-active in seeking out and nominating female candidates.
In the 2004 election, 31 per cent of the NDP’s candidates were women, followed by the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois at 25 per cent each. The Conservatives were last with 11 per cent.
Feminist author and former journalist Doris Anderson says men also have an unfair advantage within party riding associations and nomination battles.
“Women often don’t have the same money and the connections that allow for backroom dealing — it’s not an atmos
phere that women thrive in,” she says.
Even if a woman does win a nomination, she often receives less campaign support from her party than male candidates in other ridings, Anderson says. In addition, parties often nominate or place female candidates in non-winnable ridings.
“Parties want to look good and say ‘Look, we ran so many women,’ ” she says. “I’ve been asked to run again and again by all three parties, but I was never
offered a seat I could win.”
But woman face fewer obstacles when entering municipal politics, says Marlene Catterall, the Liberal MP in Ottawa West-Nepean since 1988. Before entering the federal arena, she served as an Ottawa city councillor for nine years.
She also ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor in 1985. She says women often build their local reputations through municipal politics — whether as part of a community organization or as a school board trustee. Travel and time commitments
are also not as heavy at the local level.
“Many women use the experience as a platform to make future inroads federally,” she says. “You’re given a chance to cut your teeth at the city level and build up a profile in the community. It gives you a record to run on.”
But Catterall says she paid a price for her political success. With nine successful election campaigns behind her, the political veteran faced a roadblock familiar to many women — her three young children.
“In retrospect, I probably gave too much to my job and took too much from my family,” she says. “In terms of finding a balance, I don’t think I did very well at all.”
Non-governmental organizations (NG0s) continue to campaign for more women in Parliament, says Nikki Macdonald, chair of Equal Voice for the National
Capital Region. She says that, beyond electoral reform, parties need to apply affirmative action at the riding level.
“Parties need to approach recruitment differently — instead of business and law, they need to look to social agencies and NGOs,” she says.
“These are places where many women have experience and high profiles.”
When McDonough was elected to Nova Scotia’s provincial legislature in 1980, she became Canada’s first female leader of a political party — and the only female among 51 seats.
She went on to lead the federal NDP from 1995 to 2003. But the Halifax MP says political leadership is often only handed to women if their party’s fortunes are slipping.
“Either it’s a situation where there aren’t a lot of serious male contenders or a party’s
prospects are on thin ice and they decide to take a chance. When you look at parties who are either in power — or on the cusp of power — there are almost no examples where women have been appointed leaders.”
Dewar says the dearth of female leadership is unlikely to change in the near future. The leaders of Canada’s four major federal parties are all male — and prospective female contenders are scarce.
“There are no heirs and no heirs being trained.” Dewar says.
But she remains optimistic. She says Canada is going through a transition phase before younger women — currently between the ages of 25 and 30 — begin to enter the political arena.
Marlene Catterall, the MP, is hosting a forum for female high school students from her riding on March 21 at Parliament Hill.
She says young women need to be encouraged to become politically active — whether as candidates, voters or party supporters.
Catterall says she has also spoken to Prime Minister Paul Martin about filling the 15 current Senate vacancies with women, which bring women to an equal number in the 105-member Upper House.
“If you were to fill all those seats with women, wouldn’t that be a legacy to leave?”