QUESTION PERIOD — Democratic Institutions
Gender Parity in the House of Commons
February 26, 2020
Honourable senators, my question is directed to the Government Representative in the Senate.
A century after gaining the right to hold federal public office, women in Canada remain significantly under-represented in the House of Commons, holding only 29% of the seats after the 2019 federal election compared to women representing just over 50% of our population.
Back in 1981, Canada proudly ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Article 7 of the convention commits Canada to ensuring that women have equality in political life, meaning equal representation in results, not just participation. Article 4 of the convention authorizes measures, including numerical goals and timetables, to achieve this.
The United Nations committee that oversees the convention known as CEDAW has pressed Canada from the very beginning to bridge the persistent representation gap to achieve equality. Canada is now due to file its tenth periodic report to CEDAW this fall.
My question is as follows: When will the federal government proceed with legislated, enforceable numerical goals and timetables to achieve equality between men and women elected to the House of Commons?
Senator, thank you for your question. It’s hard not to be struck by the difference between representation of women in the other place and here in the Senate, where we benefit from not only an appointment process but a commitment to achieve gender parity and diversity in this chamber.
Our current electoral system in the House of Commons, which is first-past-the-post and otherwise an open democratic process, does not and cannot guarantee any particular result, either partisan or in terms of social or gender diversity. To the best of my knowledge, the current government does not have plans to change the electoral system to so prescribe.
