'A powerful group': How parties are courting the female factor
Vancouver Sun - Canwest News Service
By Shannon Proudfoot
October 05, 2008

Women - the target of campaign tactics from warm-and-fuzzy commercials aired on female-centric specialty channels to family focused promises - are centre stage in the election arena.

"…. Being 52 per cent of the population, we can be a very powerful group," says Jennifer Sweeney, president of the Canadian Women Voters Congress, which encourages women to participate in the political process. "However, I think people assume that women will vote for the same things, that we're all somewhat alike."

Women have more diversified voting habits than men and more of them gravitate to parties that focus on social and environmental issues, says Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Reid Public Affairs. Ipsos polls show women are more likely to support the Liberals, NDP and Greens than men, and for the NDP and Greens, that support is highest among female voters aged 18 to 34.

…. According to analysis by PunditsGuide.ca, women are the minority in just 42 of 308 federal ridings….

People never talk about "men's issues" as a niche interest in the same way they speak of women's issues, she says, and there's a mistaken perception that women don't care about topics such as the economy, budgets or crime.

Other issues such as education and childcare are treated as female-specific when they should be of importance to all voters who want strong communities, she adds.

"I don't have children but I care about the children in my neighbourhood and I want them to grow up happy and healthy," says Sweeney. "But I don't think that makes me any different from my husband."

Women are also participating as candidates in record numbers in this campaign. In all, there are 446 women running in this election, compared to 379 in 2006 and 377 in 2004.

According to PunditsGuide.ca, the Liberals have 113 female candidates comprising 37 per cent of their national slate, while the NDP has 105 women representing 34 per cent of its candidates. With 89 female candidates, the Green party has 29 per cent, while the Conservatives are fielding 63 women candidates or 21 per cent of their total. Twenty-one of the Bloc's 75 Quebec candidates are women, amounting to 28 per cent of the total.

But Canada currently ranks 51st internationally in terms of elected female representatives, below countries like Burundi and United Arab Emirates, says Francoise Gagnon, executive director of Equal Voice, which promotes the election of women….