Ottawa

Politics from Mars

Hannah Cooper considers the lack of women in our politics.

It’s difficult for me to imagine that 51 per cent of any population would be so homogeneous about their choice of issues and interests. As a young professional woman I am naturally concerned about taxation and economic matters. Unbalanced budgets make me nervous. Though affordable daycare may be of concern to me in the future, for now I’d rather focus on the economy.

This brings me to my second point: perhaps the reason that women aren’t interested in politics is that there are no women in politics. Though this seems like an overstatement, Canada currently ranks 49th of all countries worldwide in the percentage of women in the lower or single House of Representatives. We’re behind Rwanda, South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Argentina, New Zealand, Germany, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates to name a few.

An extended discussion ensues, including a cameo from Martha Hall Findlay.

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