15th
Not what I’d call a breakthrough
by Vicky Smallman
Well, it’s 3:30am and I am finally putting aside my spreadsheet for the night. I’ve been tracking the numbers of women elected and here’s the scoop:
68 women total - 22%. A whopping percentage point up from last year. Not what I’d call a breakthrough, although this is the first time we have moved up from the 21% we’d been stuck at for some time.
Ironically, the Conservatives are the only party to have elected more women in 2008. They are up to 23 women - an increase of 9. Nevertheless, at 16% their caucus still has less women than the national average.
The New Democrats held their total of 12 women, but lost two women MPs, Peggy Nash and Catherine Bell. Since their caucus is larger, they are down to 38% women from the previous high of 41% - still the best representation within a caucus in this Parliament.
Not so much good news for the Liberals. Despite the fact that they ran more women than the other parties, they only elected 18, down 3 from the last election.
As for the Bloc, they too are down, although their 15 women MPs make up 30% of their new caucus.
Not a rosy picture overall. More women, but less voices for women’s equality. We have our work cut out for us, sisters.
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