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Youth in politics
Sidebar: Women in Politics
Emily Goucher
Belinda Stronach, Rona Ambrose, and Libby Davies; what do these three women have in common? All three are among the small group of female members of parliament. Women are grossly under represented in Canadian politics, so why aren't more women considering running for parliament.
Jill Vickers, a political science professor at Carleton University says that women and men enter politics for different reasons. While men for the most part become involved in politics as a career option, women are much more likely to be motivated by issues.
Vickers says the way women are treated, by the media in particular, may also deter some women from seeking office. The recent headlines on Belinda Stronanch's love life illustrate that women in politics are viewed differently than men.
"There are still profound differences in treatment, it's not that young women aren’t ambitious, the increase in the number of female judges, lawyers and doctors, illustrates that women are successful at entering traditionally male dominated occupations," Vickers says."Women are by nature security motivated and politics is not very secure nor family friendly."
Kristin Baldwin currently special assistant in charge of Parliamentary Affairs for Minister of International Co-Operation Josee Verner says she has been interested politics from a young age yet would never consider running for a seat in the House of Commons.
Baldwin who has a degree in political science and statistics from Carleton, has worked on several Conservative election campaigns and while she enjoys politics she is not anxious to have her name on the ballot.
"I'm a back room girl, " Baldwin says."Polictical organization and strategy are what interests me, the candidate is a piece of meat, you sell the meat. "That's not something I'm interested in."
Unlike Baldwin, Justine Villeneuve, special assistant to Liberal MP Mark Holland, has not ruled out running for politics and but worries that some female politicians portray the wrong image to Canadians.
“I think if I were to run I think I’d run at the municipal level, it’s more tangible, when you are working on improving transit, you can see your results,” Villeneuve says. “Martha Hall Findley to me represents a woman in politics, she doesn’t tart herself up or play dumb like some female politicians. I think she handles herself very professionally.”
While Belinda Stronach seems to attract the most media attention, she is not the norm in terms of female MP’s. As Vickers suggests most women who run for office do so later in life after having gathered life experience.
Carli Staub, members assistant to NDP MP Penny Priddy, also worries about the way female politicians are portrayed in the media. While she sees herself as a life time political activist, Staub says she is unsure whether she’d ever run for office.
“I feel good MP’s are those who have had some life experience before seeking office,” Staub says. “My boss was a nurse before becoming an MP and she brings her knowledge of the Canadian health care system to Parliament.”
With talk of Belinda’s love life popping up regularly in the headlines and female MP’s fashion choices making the news more than their policy suggestions it’s little wonder why Baldwin, Villeneuve and Staub aren’t jumping at the chance to replace their bosses as MP’s.
Vickers says the key is to help young women see that they can make a difference in politics.
“Why would you go into politics unless you had some burning issue that really motivates you?”
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