Equal Voice , a group which seeks to increase the political presence of women and women elected to all levels of political office in Canada, released a survey today which concludes that both Conservatives and Liberals, despite commitments to do otherwise, still do not have enough women set to run in the next general election:
With 60 percent of their candidates in place, the Conservative Party has nominated 39 women, just 21 percent of their candidates to date. The Liberals, with over half of their candidates chosen, have nominated 55 women, or 32 percent of their candidates to date. “In June of this year, all of Canada’s political parties pledged to do better in their efforts to nominate more women for their parties in the next election. To date, the results from the two major parties show that they have yet to achieve better than the status quo,” said Vicky Smallman, lead elections researcher for Equal Voice. Only the Green Party, with 46 percent of their nominations completed, appears to be on track to exceed its previous record, with 49 women nominated, representing 35 percent of its candidates. With fewer than 40 percent of their candidates chosen, there are too few candidates to suggest a trend for the Bloc Quebecois and New Democratic Party in the number of female candidates.