As we celebrate International Women’s Day this year, many Canadians are wondering how they can contribute to creating a gender-equal world. Well, a good place to start would be here at home by increasing women’s representation in our nation’s democracy.
Women won 103 of the 338 seats in the House of Commons last federal election, marking the first time women’s representation reached 30%. Despite the slight increase since 2019, Canada actually sank from 55th to 61st place in the global ranking of the number of women in national parliaments, placing just below Equatorial Guinea (31%) and miles behind Finland (45.5%), Sweden (46.4%) and New Zealand (50%).
That Canada’s global ranking decreased while more women were elected to parliament is a sign our country is lagging when it comes to achieving equal representation for women. Even more so when you consider the 2021 federal election featured the highest percentage of female candidates in our nation’s history. What could be holding us back?
While increasing the number of women running for office might help, the lack of gender parity in parliament points more to a structural issue: that of our voting system, First Past the Post.
In a 2020 report, RepresentWomen analyzed the impact of electoral systems on women’s representation. In the countries that placed in the top 50, 74% used either a proportional representation or mixed system, while only 22% used a winner-take-all system like First Past the Post.
So why do countries with PR have higher rates of women’s representation? One of the secrets to their success is the use of multi-member districts which encourage parties to put forward a diversified slate of candidates to reach a wider range of voters. The use of party lists to fill seats in some systems of PR also helps as parties are motivated to create gender-balanced lists from which voters can select candidates. This ensures a level playing field for women competing for seats at the decision-making table.
That the representation of women in Canada’s House of Commons continues to lag behind many of our democratic peers is an embarrassment. It should be abundantly clear that First Past the Post is a barrier to achieving gender parity in parliament and should be replaced with Proportional Representation in order to facilitate true political equality for women in our nation’s democracy.
Réal Lavergne on ‘Rules of the Game’ Podcast
Réal Lavergne appeared on the ‘Rules of the Game’ podcast last month to share the frustrations and problems that come with the first-past-the-post electoral system and how Fair Vote Canada tries to bring change to the balance of power.
FVC National Board Elections
Fair Vote Canada needs six passionate and energetic individuals to join our national board of directors!
Are you good at teamwork and establishing relationships with allies? Do you have time and energy to devote to overseeing the organization that has advocated for fair, proportional elections in Canada for more than 20 years? This is your chance to influence our direction, set priorities and build the movement. It can be very rewarding!
If you are a member of FVC and are interested in taking your support for PR to the next level, then this opportunity is for you!
Democratic Reform in the News
Electoral reform continues to make the news across Canada and around the world. Here is a sample of what is being said:
- It’s Time To Talk About Electoral Reform
- Americans Deserve a House of Representatives That Better Represents Them
- Citizens Assemblies let everyday people make important city decisions
Fair Vote Canada supporters were at the rally at Queen’s Park a couple of weeks ago holding signs, sharing memes, and having discussions about electoral reform. We’ll be at more events this summer so be sure to get involved in the next one!
