More women in Harper cabinet, but still a one-man show
Times Colonist (Victoria)
November 7, 2008
Comment By: Janet Bagnall

It would be easier to work up enthusiasm for the record number of women in a Conservative cabinet if Prime Minister Stephen Harper had shown greater commitment to women's rights, or even issues, before making his grand gesture.

But he didn't. Quite the opposite: The first Harper government moved quickly to cut the operating budget of the Status of Women council, closing most of the federal agency's regional offices and crippling its ability to produce research on equality measures. It also dismantled the Court Challenges program, a kind of test-case fund that Canadian women could use to fight through the courts for equality rights supposedly guaranteed them under the Constitution.

…. With 11 women in his 38-member cabinet, he can now lay claim to having appointed the largest proportion of women to federal cabinet -- at 29 per cent -- in Canadian history. … -- we have come close to the magic 30-per-cent "critical mass" that United Nations' research has shown is necessary for women to affect policy decisions. Women tend to wield political power to different ends than men, choosing to concentrate on issues such as health, poverty and child care.

The operative word here is "choosing." Electing to concentrate on child care or anti-poverty measures implies some degree of autonomy. …This brings us to the main point: If the Harper government reflects the thinking of a single man, what difference does it make who is in his cabinet? It is all very well to applaud the presence of 11 women in a federal cabinet, but it has to mean something.

…But maybe gender isn't the point at all. Harper has behaved as a one-man government during his tenure as leader, exerting near-complete control over his caucus and cabinet.

A cabinet that is bigger and slightly more representative of the electorate and the population as a whole, but leaves all important decisions in the hands of a single individual, isn't an improvement over a smaller, less representative one….