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VOTING BY PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION: WHO BENEFITS?

Feminists are frustrated because the Canadian public chooses to elect so few female Members of Parliament. For example, 65 female MP's out of a total of 308, were elected to Parliament in the June 2004 election. Feminists think a change in our present electoral system to Proportional Representation (PR) will be a useful device to increase the numbers of female MP's.

What is Proportional Representation (PR)?

The basis for PR is the view that all voters deserve representation and that all political groups in society deserve to be represented in our legislatures in proportion to their strength in the electorate. Our present "first past the post" system gives power to the party which receives the most votes in each riding, sometimes giving the ruling party great power with a relatively low popular vote. Some critics argue that this "winner take all" system produces more stable governments, whereas PR systems result in volatile governments with fringe parties given excessive power. This is because under PR, a number of the parties form coalitions; the largest party getting together with third, fourth, and even fifth parties - the latter of which then have a voice in the government. This means, however, that the second largest group of voters is disenfranchised, while fringe groups are empowered.

It is a fact, however, that Canadian voters, male and female, do not base their vote on the candidate's anatomy but on his or her political platform. Feminists, on the other hand, regard a candidate's gender as crucial in their gender wars. Officially, they claim they want equal numbers of men and women in legislatures, but their comments, at a recent feminist conference in Ottawa, indicate otherwise.

Feminist Conference on PR

An international conference on women and politics was held in June 2004 in Ottawa, entitled "Women and Westminster Compared". It was hosted by The Research Centre on Women and Politics at Ottawa University and its registration was made through www.femocracy.ca . Receptions for the event were hosted by the Senate of Canada on Parliament Hill with an opening address by feminist Liberal Senator Lucie Pepin, and also by the British High Commissioner to Canada, Mr. David Reddaway, at his elegant Ottawa residence called, "Earnscliffe".

Speakers came from universities in England, Australia, Scotland, Wales, Canada and the United States. They analyzed "women and politics" with a definite bias for the Sisterhood. President of the Law Commission of Canada, Nathalie Des Rosiers, gave a keynote address and Francesca Binda of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) www.idea.int/ , which tracks gender parity in Parliaments around the world, gave the closing address.

According to one of the speakers at this conference, in some countries under the PR system, quotas ranging from 30% to 50%, have been legislated to ensure that the correct proportion of women are nominated to run for office. The Election Committees in charge of gender parity "strike off the men" on the list of candidates and send it back until the agreed upon percentage of women is reached. Speakers at this feminist conference admitted, however, that legislated quotas and reserved seats for women are forms of discrimination. One speaker from New Zealand claimed, however, that nothing should prohibit "positive discrimination" in elections. The terms "state sponsored feminism" and "feminizing parliament" were used to describe the process. Labour unions and international socialist networks were recognized as helpful agents in this feminization of Parliament.

Changing to a new political system and constitutional reform provide a "golden opportunity to try to tie in gender parity," said an Australian speaker. With new democracies and regime changes "everything's up for grabs". IDEA's Francesca Binda gave an overview of countries using quotas and/or reserved seats, listed on their quota database at www.quotaproject.org. "Parties put up women because it is the law," Ms. Binda said. The UN Beijing Conference on Women set the target for women at 30%, she stated.

Not all PR systems have increased the number of women parliamentarians. What has increased the number of women in office are legislated quotas and reserved seats. This could be easily set up under the proportional representation system of voting, however, the "wrong group" may still gain control, according to PR proponents. In India, men have manipulated the system and used family connections to place women "proxies" in office, sometimes forcing female relatives to hold office, taking the "positions of power rightfully belonging to activists [feminists]" to the dismay of feminists who engineered the quota system to ensure their advantage. In Bangladesh, when women gained office through quotas, men refused to serve under them on committees; when women in power provided public funds to women candidates only, the men cried discrimination. Women who are elected through the traditional democratic system resent women who gain power through quota or list advantages. All, therefore, is not necessarily well in the world of gender parity.

The speakers at the conference were also concerned about backlash, especially from men, but attributed this to lack of public education and preparation for the changes, not to the fact that the system may be stacked against men. Some speakers made it clear that quotas were not a guarantee that "women's interests" would be represented. A Canadian speaker noted that women's views were as diverse as the women who held them; she predicted that Canada would get 50:50 gender representation, but it would be a qualified success in that this would include women who hold diverse views - definitely not welcome in the feminist world.

During the conference one speaker from the University of Ottawa candidly admitted that "electing male feminists is preferable to electing non-feminist women." A representative for Canada's National Council of Women asked, "How do we make sure the process [of PR] isn't perverted if the wrong group seizes control?"

REAL Women obviously has concerns about Proportional Representation, especially if it can be manipulated to fit the feminist agenda. It is noted that left wing feminist, activist Judy Rebick, is all for PR. Need we say more?

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