Women in politics making a splash

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/02/2019 (2146 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you’re at all interested in watching women in politics, these past two weeks have been much like the Super Bowl, Grey Cup and Stanley Cup playoffs all rolled into one. It certainly has been, for a political junkie like me. And never before have I been so proud to see women taking centre stage as they have in both Canada and the United States, leading by example and demonstrating yet again that representation is important, and a woman’s place is in the House (of Commons, or of Representatives, in the Senate, or on council, or wherever politics happens).

It started, of course, last week with a wave of white, as U.S. congresswomen paid sartorial tribute to suffragists during the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., and it continued Tuesday with the bombshell resignation of former Canadian justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. Women in politics are certainly making a statement.

Also last week, I had the opportunity to attend a luncheon organized by former Winnipeg mayor Susan Thompson, which highlighted the inroads made by women in the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region. It was a historic opportunity to see women trailblazers from all walks of life meet and to talk about how important it is that women support each other as we face a federal election in the fall and a provincial election soon after.

The Winnipeg Metropolitan Region saw an impressive increase in the number of women leaders in the areas just outside of Winnipeg in the past municipal election. Women were elected mayor or reeve in nine municipalities surrounding Winnipeg: East St. Paul, West St. Paul, St. Clements, St. Andrews, Springfield, Teulon, Rosser, Woodlands and Victoria Beach. The number of women sitting on council seats in some of those municipalities also increased.

Organization, of course, is the key to a win, something Thompson underscored during the luncheon. Women need to not only run, but also support women who are running by volunteering to work on campaigns and providing support with campaign donations. More women running will hopefully translate into more women winning.

For the women in the Metropolitan Region, however, this wasn’t just a victory for representation, this was also a victory against what some of the women characterized as bullying. With their presence on council and new legislation being considered by the province, it’s hoped the situation will be improved for everyone by making the council workplace a safe place to be.

Which brings us to what’s happened this week with Wilson-Raybould. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been touted as the feminist prime minister, but is now dealing with a public-relations disaster after one of his best and brightest cabinet ministers suddenly resigned, ending weeks of speculation about what was behind a sudden and unexpected demotion at the beginning of the year.

Wilson-Raybould’s resignation letter spoke volumes, more by what it didn’t say. She stated simply that she was stepping down from cabinet as veterans affairs minister and had hired Thomas Cromwell, a former Supreme Court of Canada justice, as her lawyer. She thanked her staff. She thanked her constituents. She thanked her supporters. But what didn’t she say?

She didn’t say anything that would exonerate the prime minister from the mess of yet another fast-expanding Liberal scandal.

She didn’t thank the prime minister at all.

She did talk about how, when she took on the job, she had a “goal of implementing a positive and progressive vision of change on behalf of all Canadians and a different way of doing politics.”

The big story broke last week with a Globe and Mail report that the reason for Wilson-Raybould’s sudden demotion was that she would not be pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to intervene in the prosecution of Quebec-based engineering company SNC-Lavalin.

So, did Wilson-Raybould walk because of a strong sense of ethics? Her father certainly thinks so. In an interview with Maclean’s magazine just after the story broke, Bill Wilson, a Musgamagw hereditary chief living in Campbell River, B.C., said, “I’d like to see it all come out in the wash, because I don’t have any doubt that she’ll be one of the few standing clean.”

And this story is still being written, as the days unfold and scandals move on from soundbite to soundbite.

But in the midst of all this, an interesting study comes to mind for me, after watching the women in the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region dealing with such grace in the aftermath of some pretty bad behaviour and Wilson-Raybould being forced to stand tall when those around her have disappointed her.

In a study of 125 countries, it was determined when there are more women in politics, the rate of corruption is lower. The study by researchers Chandan Jha of Le Moyne College and Sudipta Sarangi of Virginia Tech, published last spring, doesn’t say that women are less corrupt than men. But it does say that when there are more women in positions of power, they make policy decisions that are more likely to focus on issues such as child care, education and social justice and lean away from policy issues that may be more likely to lead to corruption. The study also suggests that it’s through policy-making that women can make politics less corruptible.

Food for thought. And something to chew on, along with the popcorn, as we watch from the cheap seats as yet another scandal in the House of Commons unfolds.

Shannon Sampert is a political scientist at the University of Winnipeg.

s.sampert@uwinnipeg.ca

Twitter: @paulysigh