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Alberta, P.E.I. and two stories about women in politics

Alberta, P.E.I. and two stories about women in politics

Provincial elections this week are telling two different stories about women in Canadian politics: one a story of disappointment and the other a reason to hope for those wanting to get more female elected representatives.

In Prince Edward Island Monday the number of women in the provincial legislature dropped by one — no small change for a legislature of 27 members. In the current Liberal majority, there are five female MLAs; four belong to the governing party and one to the Progressive Conservatives.

Contrast that with Alberta where history was made Tuesday night. Not only did the once Tory blue province turn on its head and elect an NDP majority government, the province is also expected to have elected more women than ever before.

Elections Alberta doesn’t have the final stats available yet, but at the outset the province’s next premier, Rachel Notley, suggested Tuesday was record-setting for the number of women elected to the province’s legislature.

More women running seems like a logical correlation to more women getting elected.

Fifty-two per cent of the NDP’s slate of candidates were women, which no doubt had a hand in the number of female MLAs. Of the 46 women the party fielded, about 23 were elected.

In P.E.I., there was a dip in the number of women running for seats as compared to the province’s last election in 2011. That year, 31 per cent of party candidates were women but this time around it was 29 per cent, according to the P.E.I. Coalition for Women in Government.

Dawn Wilson, the organization’s executive director, noted some disappointment in the final results on Monday. The current makeup of female MLAs sits at 18.5 per cent, whereas in 2011 it was at 22.2 per cent.

“Despite this decrease,” Wilson said in a press release, “women candidates received 24% of the popular vote.” She suggested Premier Wade MacLauchlan consider bringing those female Liberal MLAs to the cabinet table.

“We know that there are four excellent women among the candidates for cabinet and we believe having a diversity of voices there, including women, will help advise government policies and programs,” Wilson said.

Equal Voice executive direct Nancy Peckford called NDP leader Rachel Notley’s victory “remarkable” and an accomplishment most women are celebrating regardless of any party affiliation.

In an opinion piece for Ottawa publication the Hill Times, Peckford noted that the NDP governing caucus is nearly 45 per cent women, “the highest percentage of any in Canada’s history.”

Peckford added that Notley’s run to become premier wasn’t plagued with so much of what most female party leaders encounter.

“What this campaign wasn’t about was the fact that Alberta’s now premier-elect is a mother, with two teenaged sons, who worked outside of the home as a labour lawyer,” Peckford wrote.

“Refreshingly, Ms. Notley’s parental status wasn’t much of a campaign issue enabling her to stay focused on the fresh ideas they were proposing for Albertans. It’s a luxury not always afforded to female politicians.”

Peckford suggested the path for female premiers over the past few years has not been easy. Alison Redford in Alberta, Kathy Dunderdale in Newfoundland and Labrador and Pauline Marois in Quebec have all left politics, after heading the government in their respective provinces, for a number of reasons.

And their struggles haven’t likely served to get more women interested in throwing their hats into the ring. But Notley’s victory could change that, Peckford said.

“While there is no question that Ms. Notley’s honeymoon will end, her election and that of her 20 plus other female colleagues, ensuring near parity at the Cabinet table,” she wrote, “will give many women considering their political futures real hope that their foray into politics can truly leverage their talent, their time and their ideas.”