Camille Labchuk

The list of candidates vying for a seat on the Green Party’s Federal Council is now available, and the consensus in the Green Party Women’s Caucus is that the low proportion of women in the race is a huge disappointment. Of 28 hopefuls, only eight are women. That’s barely over one quarter.

Worse, there is no guarantee that a single woman will be elected, while five men will definitely make it on to Council.

Nearly all provincial/territorial representatives will be men, as no women are running in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, PEI and Quebec. Only in Ontario, Nova Scotia and the Territories do Greens have a chance to select a woman representative, with one woman and one man running in each. (The British Columbia and Saskatchewan spots are not up for election, but are currently held by men. No one is running in Newfoundland & Labrador.)

Sixteen candidates are running for five councilor-at-large positions, and only five of these are women–less than one third. Of the five councilors-at-large who are not up for election, there is only one woman.

Just as the Green  Party supports equal representation of women and men in federal and provincial politics, we must also work for gender parity in internal governance. Although the current slate of council candidates is unbalanced, it’s not all bad news for Green women, as I’m very proud of the strides we have made in other areas. For instance, many women hold influential positions within the Party. Leader Elizabeth May, deputy leader Adriane Carr, political director Catharine Johannson, executive director Maureen Murphy and council chair Kate Storey are a few examples.

I was thrilled when the Green Party Women’s Caucus was formed at the BGM in Nova Scotia earlier this year. This body was long overdue (other parties have had similar groups for decades), and it’s now time that Green women across the country get down to business and make this caucus an influential force within our party.

I plan to write more on how the Women’s Caucus can provide a voice for women and encourage equal participation, but that’s for another day. For now, the best way Greens can promote equal representation in our own party is by supporting qualified women in the Council elections.  Although there may only be a few of us women running for Council, I’m blown away by the high quality of those on the ballot.

Please note, I’m not urging Greens not to vote for men – there qualified men in the race, many of whom I know quite well and would welcome the chance to work with on Council. This is merely a reminder that gender equity on Council needs major work, and a warning that Council will be seriously skewed toward one gender if we don’t act.