Canada 50th in participation by women in politics

Toronto Star
Olivia Ward
 

Suddenly, they're everywhere. Fighting earthquakes in Chile, backlash in Ukraine, meltdown in Iceland.

High-profile female politicians have seldom been so visible on the international stage. They've seldom had so much to contend with at one time, as economic crises, natural disasters and political tensions coincide

But, as of Monday, International Women's Day, female politicians still have a long climb to reach the United Nations minimum goal of 30 per cent participation in their countries' electoral systems.

"While we have seen advances in the past 15 years, we have not seen enough," UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told the Commission on the Status of Women. "We need to move from commitment to action."

In Canada, which boasts of its social values, political parity is woefully lagging at the end of the 21st century's first decade.

"The outlook is depressingly bleak," admits Linda Trimble of University of Alberta, author of Still Counting: Women and Politics Across Canada.

"Every time we check our position on the international rankings, we go down. We've been stuck for 13 years."

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