Our political system needs more women
Daily News-CanWest
May 7, 2009

…. Women comprise approximately 51% of the population of British Columbia. At dissolution, women held roughly 20% of the seats in the B.C. legislature.

Only the NDP comes close to proportional representation when looking at the number of candidates the party is fielding in Tuesday's election and, even then, the number of female candidates falls below the 50% mark.

Like men, women make career choices. Unfortunately, men seem more likely to choose senior-level politics as a career than women.

At the local level, women are more likely to enter the political arena. For example, five of the nine members of the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school board are women.

The fact that school board meetings are held in the community and board members don't have to spend hours, or days, away from their loved ones could be one of the reasons women choose that instead of provincial or federal office.

Women share many of the same concerns as men but because many of them still are the main caregivers for children -- and aging parents -- in British Columbia, they see that other concerns can be just as important as those issues men focus on. Child care, health care, seniors' care and lower post-secondary school tuitions are as important to female politicians as the economy, environment and crime are to their male counterparts.

Kathryn Barnwell, a former women's studies professor at Vancouver Island University, says she believes time spent away from home and family is a major reason more women don't seek office.

Salter adds that a lack of money plays a prominent role in discouraging some women.

… While women are not a minority in British Columbia, they are not the only identifiable group under-represented as candidates in this provincial election. There are few First Nations candidates seeking office.

…. Premier Gordon Campbell's condescending comment to Carole James that being premier "is a big job" demonstrates a cultural bias women seeking office must overcome….