WHAT FOLLOWS IS DEFINITELY A PITCH for the women's vote, and I think that by the time I've outlined it you'll see how sane, sensible and simple it is.
Before I get into the details, however, I'm obliged to disclose an element of self-interest, which is that I am the father of three daughters and thus personally interested in issues of women's equality (as are they, and as was their much-loved late mother, my wonderful Shirley).
I also have to declare that in making a pitch for the women's vote I am not running for anything, I am not seeking elected office--but I am making a pitch on behalf of women's voting rights.
Oh, you might say, women have long had the vote, where have you been? And I say, sure, but has it brought them equality? In other words, there's more to it than just having a vote.
The pitch I am about to make shows the way to gender equality in electoral politics. Such equality does not now exist, though it is paid lip service. The deck is stacked against women when it comes to electing representatives to local, regional, provincial and national bodies. I also say the answer to the problem is so obvious that it's shocking to realize it has never been adopted.
I believe there remains truth in the old saying that "it's a man's world," in spite of decades of so-called advances in women's equality. The peculiar thing to me is that we keep hearing and reading about the "glass ceiling" in board rooms and in other areas of private business, finance and industry, as well as in politics, but we don't hear much about the solutions, other than that, well, some advances are being made, male leaders and those in power are showing more awareness, etc. etc. (Really? Sure, women now make up some 22 per cent of Canada's House of Commons, up 1.4 percentage points in a decade. Wow.)
Clearly, statistics on advances for women change slowly and women, though making up half and even marginally more of the population, remain significantly under-represented.
A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHAT MIGHT BE called a more advanced nation in the field of women's rights, Norway, has taken a significant step forward, but even it comes short of "going half-way." The Swiss-based writer and academic Ginka Toegel, points out that in 2008 Norway introduced "the requirement of 40 per cent women on boards." There was an initial outcry of criticism in the media and politicians, she notes, but it was found that there were easily enough qualified women for the jobs, and the results have been excellent.
The proposal I have to make does not relate to the private sector, and it is not based at all on what Norway may have done or not done. It is based on something I discovered about six years ago as a great idea that would deal with the gender equality issue pretty well at its roots: electoral equality of the sexes.
The system I endorse would make gender equality on all our publicly elected bodies not a matter of whim or chance, but would make it a sure thing, whatever the body up for election or whenever the vote might be held.
THE OUTCOME COULDN'T HELP BUT DELIVER equality for women in all segments of society. The system would work like this:
Electoral laws would be amended to ensure that in each and every riding, provincial or federal, in each and every seat available on any municipal or regional body, there would be a female representative and a male representative.
Voila! Gender equality in fact, in spirit, in every practical way--with all the consequent improvements to society that could not help but result. Because the woman's viewpoint today is, I believe most women will agree, vastly under-represented in our legislatures and national parliament. The guarantee of gender equality in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not doing the job.
I don't claim credit for the method of equal representation I am proposing. To the best of my knowledge, it, or some form of it, originated in first nations communities, and was proposed and voted on by referendum in some Arctic communities; unfortunately, it was voted down.
I could be wrong, but I suspect that dominant male influence--and perhaps larger male voting numbers--were factors preventing implementation of a built-in equal gender representation in the Arctic.
People with whom I have discussed this idea have questioned how it could be practically done. My answer is that in each provincial and federal riding there would be a ballot with a list of male candidates, and a ballot with a list of female candidates, and the person to top the poll would be an elected member--thus, one woman representative for the riding, and one male.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE EXPENSE? All those extra salaries, and related costs? These are the main questions people ask. My answer is that this could be worked out by perhaps some consolidation of constituency boundaries, so that the increase in number of MLAs and MPs would not be drastic. Or, heck, we could go to an actual doubling of representation. As to the expense, well, I would ask: "What price can you put on democracy?" And when half the population is greatly under-represented, then it's rather difficult to call that real democracy, don't you think?
I made a proposal to amend electoral law along these lines to the B.C. Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform of 2004, in a written submission. I received thanks for the submission from the assembly's office staff, but in its final report I could find nothing on the subject of electoral equality for women. This, despite the fact that in appointing the members of the commission, the provincial government had taken pains to ensure that half its membership was made up of men and half of women.
We have yet, by the way, to see any significant reforms arise from the commission's efforts. It devoted most of its attention to a choice between to the majority-plurality system of declaring a winner in any given seat and the proportional representation-single transferrable ballot system, with no inclusion of gender equality in its findings.
In a 2009 referendum on the choice, the single transferrable ballot system fell far short of the 60 per cent majority that was required for its adoption, so the majority-plurality system remains in effect.
Ladies, you've got to put the heat on those guys running our politics. Remember, true equality is the objective. And you haven't got it, because it really requires equal representation.
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