Media Releases
September 10, 2008
“I am pleased to be carrying on the proud Liberal tradition of advancing women’s equality by ensuring that women’s representation in federal elections is increased,” he said. “I am very happy to report that we have surpassed our commitment and have 106 dynamic women nominated so far to carry the Liberal banner this election.
“In 2008, we want more women in a new Liberal government and more women in positions of power,” he said.
Mr. Dion said that when women do make it to the top of the political heap, they still face many challenges, and pointed to the decision to exclude Green Party Leader Elizabeth May from the televised leaders’ debates.
“Since Sunday morning, we have heard Mr. Harper say that this campaign is about leadership. But leadership is the exact opposite of what we have witnessed from him,” said Mr. Dion. “Two days ago, behind closed doors Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe blocked the participation of Elizabeth May in the leaders’ debate. They went so far as to threaten to boycott any debate that included Ms. May.
“I felt that was wrong. I argued she should be on the podium with us. That is why I am calling on the network consortium to publicly explain who opposed Ms. May’s participation in the debates. This is too important a matter to settle behind closed doors. Particularly when Mr. Harper, Mr. Layton and Mr. Duceppe say different things depending upon who is watching.”
Mr. Dion said the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has turned the clock back on gender equality and women’s representation. He eliminated the national child care agreements, cancelled the Court Challenges program, removed the word ‘equality’ from the mandate of Status of Women Canada and cut funding which forced 12 of 16 regional Status of Women Canada offices to close.
“Mr. Harper’s actions are in contrast to the promise he made during the dying days of the last election when he wrote a letter committing that a Conservative government would respect women’s human rights,” he said. “Once in power he worked to silence women. It is no surprise that the number of women in federal cabinet is at its lowest level in over a decade.”
Mr. Dion also reiterated the commitment he made last spring to create an independent Commissioner for Gender Equality, reporting to Parliament, to ensure that legislation and policies of the Government of Canada are examined with an equality lens.
The number of women elected to federal office has been stalled at about 21 per cent for more than a decade. Canada ranks 47th out of 65 countries for the number of women in the national Parliament.
Mr. Dion’s commitment to have one-third women candidates is in keeping with the spirit of the Liberal Party approach. Since establishing Status of Women Canada in the early 1970’s, Liberal governments have demonstrated their commitment to women’s equality by:
Dion surpassed commitment to have one-third women candidates
MISSISSAUGA – While Prime Minister Stephen Harper works to turn the clock back on gender equality, the Liberal Party of Canada has surpassed its commitment of having a third of all women candidates, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said today.“I am pleased to be carrying on the proud Liberal tradition of advancing women’s equality by ensuring that women’s representation in federal elections is increased,” he said. “I am very happy to report that we have surpassed our commitment and have 106 dynamic women nominated so far to carry the Liberal banner this election.
“In 2008, we want more women in a new Liberal government and more women in positions of power,” he said.
Mr. Dion said that when women do make it to the top of the political heap, they still face many challenges, and pointed to the decision to exclude Green Party Leader Elizabeth May from the televised leaders’ debates.
“Since Sunday morning, we have heard Mr. Harper say that this campaign is about leadership. But leadership is the exact opposite of what we have witnessed from him,” said Mr. Dion. “Two days ago, behind closed doors Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe blocked the participation of Elizabeth May in the leaders’ debate. They went so far as to threaten to boycott any debate that included Ms. May.
“I felt that was wrong. I argued she should be on the podium with us. That is why I am calling on the network consortium to publicly explain who opposed Ms. May’s participation in the debates. This is too important a matter to settle behind closed doors. Particularly when Mr. Harper, Mr. Layton and Mr. Duceppe say different things depending upon who is watching.”
Mr. Dion said the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has turned the clock back on gender equality and women’s representation. He eliminated the national child care agreements, cancelled the Court Challenges program, removed the word ‘equality’ from the mandate of Status of Women Canada and cut funding which forced 12 of 16 regional Status of Women Canada offices to close.
“Mr. Harper’s actions are in contrast to the promise he made during the dying days of the last election when he wrote a letter committing that a Conservative government would respect women’s human rights,” he said. “Once in power he worked to silence women. It is no surprise that the number of women in federal cabinet is at its lowest level in over a decade.”
Mr. Dion also reiterated the commitment he made last spring to create an independent Commissioner for Gender Equality, reporting to Parliament, to ensure that legislation and policies of the Government of Canada are examined with an equality lens.
The number of women elected to federal office has been stalled at about 21 per cent for more than a decade. Canada ranks 47th out of 65 countries for the number of women in the national Parliament.
Mr. Dion’s commitment to have one-third women candidates is in keeping with the spirit of the Liberal Party approach. Since establishing Status of Women Canada in the early 1970’s, Liberal governments have demonstrated their commitment to women’s equality by:
- extending parental benefits from six months to one year to help women balance work and family;
- adding trafficking in persons as an offence to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Bill C-49);
- increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors by $2.7 billion to help low-income seniors, many of whom are women; and
- establishing the Standing Committee on the Status of Women in September 2004 to ensure women’s issues received the proper attention.
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