The 44th Canadian Parliament includes a record number of female Members of Parliament, with 103 women elected to the 338-member House of Commons of Canada (30.5%) in the 2021 election.[1] Of those 103 women, 22 were elected for the first time in the 2021 election. This represents a gain of five seats over the previous record of 98 women elected at the beginning of the 43rd Canadian Parliament, and a gain of three seats from the record high of 100 women during the previous parliamentary session following by-elections.[2]
By contrast, the 117th United States Congress had 119 elected women sitting in the 435-seat United States House of Representatives (27.3%).[3]
The 2021 election represented the highest proportion of women ever on the ballot.[4]
Party standings
edit| Party | Total women candidates in the 2021 election | % women of total candidates in the 2021 election | Total women elected in the 2021 election | % women elected of total female candidates in the 2021 election | % women elected of total elected in the 2021 election | Total current female members of the House of Commons | % women of current members in the House of Commons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 147 (of 338) | 43% | 57 (of 160[a]) | 38.8% | 35.6% | 57 (of 338) | 16.9% |
| Conservative | 111 (of 337) | 33% | 22 (of 119) | 19.8% | 18.5% | 21 (of 338) | 6.2% |
| Bloc Québécois | 37 (of 78) | 47% | 12 (of 32) | 32.4% | 37.5% | 12 (of 338) | 3.6% |
| New Democrats | 175 (of 338) | 52% | 11 (of 25) | 6.3% | 44.0% | 12 (of 338) | 3.6% |
| Green | 112 (of 252) | 44% | 1 (of 2) | 0.9% | 50.0% | 1 (of 338) | 0.3% |
| Total | 103 (of 338) | 30.5% | 103 (of 338) | 30.5% | |||
| Table source:[5] | Table source:[1] and List of House members of the 44th Parliament of Canada | ||||||
Female members
edit- † denotes women who were newly elected in the 2021 election and are serving their first term in office.
- †† denotes women who were newly elected in by-elections following the 2021 election.
Accessibility to office and equal representation
editThe Canadian Parliament has seen a dramatic increase in the number of women and racialized people that sit in the House of Commons in the last decade. However, the representation of women in the House has not always been key to the government's success. In 1921, the first federal election where the majority of women could vote took place.[6] This was also the year that the very first woman was elected to sit in the House. Although four women ran, only one was elected: Agnes Campbell Macphail.[6]
The 2021 Canadian election once again set a record for the proportion of women candidates; 582 women or gender diverse candidates ran in that year's election, accounting for 43% of all nominees across the five major parties.[4]
One of the largest reasons why there is not a higher percentage of female candidates is because of the barriers to entry that they face. According to the Library of the Canadian Parliament, there are seven key factors that contribute to the barriers to entry that women face: gender stereotypes and discrimination, lack of confidence in their abilities, insufficient efforts to recruit female candidates, difficulties in financing their campaigns, absence of family-friendly and gender-sensitive workplaces, gender-based violence and harassment, and gender-biased media treatment.[7] These seven reasons, identified by the Government of Canada, are the issues that must be addressed if equality is to be achieved in representation. Newman et al. noted similar barriers to entry for women into the political landscape in Canada.[8]
Female representation in Canada compared to international and provincial representation
editThe number of women in the Canadian Parliament has been slowly but steadily increasing since the 1980s[9] and has reached its highest point following the 2021 Canadian federal election where women made up 30.5%[10] of the Canadian House of Commons, higher than the global average of 25.7%[11] and surpassing the 1995 United Nations goal of 30% female representation in government.[12] In terms of gender representation in government, Canada outperforms a country like the United States in which the House of Representatives is made up of 27.4% women.[10] However, in a country where women make up a slim majority of the population at 50.4% as of 2010,[13] the 43rd Canadian Parliament still falls short when it comes to achieving gender parity in government. Canada also currently ranks 53rd in the world in gender representation in government which is behind the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Rwanda.[10] However, with prominent Canadian political parties like the Liberal Party pledging to include more female representation in government[14] as well as parties like the New Democratic Party putting forward a slate made up of 52% women or gender diverse candidates in the 2021 election,[4] there is significant political pressure to increase the number of women representatives in government.
Canadian provinces and territories come much closer to achieving gender parity in their Legislative Assemblies than their federal counterparts. Similar to the rest of Canada in the province of Ontario women make up a little over half of the population at 50.7%[15] but unlike the rest of Canada 35.5% of Ontario Members of the Legislative Assembly are women.[16] In Quebec, a province where women make up 50.4%[15] of the population, gender parity is even closer to being achieved with women making up 42.4% of the National Assembly.[17] The Northwest Territory has come the closest to achieving gender parity with women making up 48.3%[15] of the population and 47.3% of the Legislative Assembly.[18] Caroline Cochrane served as Northwest Territory premiere until December 8, 2023. Alberta is currently the only province or territory in Canada that has a female Premier, Danielle Smith.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Includes Kevin Vuong, who was on the ballot as a Liberal but was disavowed by the party during the campaign. He sits as an independent.
References
edit- ^ a b "Current Members of Parliament". House of Commons of Canada. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ Staff, HuffPost Canada (October 31, 2020). "Canada Has Hit A Historic Milestone In Female Political Representation". HuffPost Canada. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ "Women Serving in the 117th Congress 2021-22". Center for American Women and Politics. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ a b c Dunham, Jackie (September 2, 2021). "Highest percentage ever of female and gender-diverse candidates running in this election". CTV News. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ "Women Candidates in General Elections". Library of Parliament. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- ^ a b "Women in the Parliament of Canada". HillNotes. January 23, 2020.
- ^ Vecchio, Karen (2019). "Elect Her: A Roadmap for Improving the Representation of Women in Canadian Politics" (PDF). House of Commons of Canada.
- ^ Newman, Jacquetta (2012). Women, politics, and public policy: the political struggles of Canadian women. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195432497.
- ^ Griffiths, Nathan (October 25, 2019). "Record 98 women were elected in Canada's 43rd Parliament". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Monthly ranking of women in national parliaments". Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- ^ "Global and regional averages of women in national parliaments". Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- ^ "Women politicians 'making gains'". BBC News. February 28, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- ^ "Female Population". Statistics Canada. November 30, 2015.
- ^ "Add Women. Change Politics". Liberal Party of Canada. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Population, by province and territory, Canada, 2010". Statistics Canada. November 30, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ "Ontario Ranks First in Canada for Women's Representation... but Canada now has just one female Premier". Equal Voice. June 8, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ "Right of Québec women to vote and to stand for office". Elections Quebec. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ "Record number of women elected in Northwest Territories". CBC News. October 2, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2021.