e-4006 (Parliament and politics)
- Keywords
- Equal opportunities
- Political parties
- Women
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the House of Commons
- Women represent 50% of Canada’s population yet only represent 30% of the legislators in the House of Commons;
- Canada will not meet the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal No. 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls), which calls for the equitable treatment of women in societies and institutions;
- Not all official parties of Canada have, underwritten in their constitutions, policies that that directly work to eliminate barriers to women’s participation in politics; and
- According to the Interparliamentary Union, Canada places 59th on the gender parity ranking against a host of other nations that have achieved far greater equity in their parliaments.
Response by the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities
Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): JENNIFER O’CONNELL
The Government of Canada is committed to improving and strengthening our democracy. Our electoral system (i.e., the fundamental rules determining how votes are translated into seats in the House of Commons) is one of the most foundational pieces of our democracy – at its core is a question of how we, as Canadians, govern ourselves. Women’s participation in our parliamentary institutions is essential to improving the representative nature of our democratic systems and more broadly to strengthening trust in our democracy.
Women candidates’ representation in federal general elections, as well as the percentage of women in the House of Commons, has continued to increase over the past decade. In the 2021 federal General Election, Canadians elected over 100 women to Parliament. This election marked the first time that women’s representation in the House of Commons surpassed 30%.
While it remains ultimately the prerogative of parties to select candidates and of Canadians to determine who represents them for public office as nominees, the Government has taken action to increase the number of women in the House of Commons and is proud of the progress made in the advancement of women in public life. Canada had its first gender-balanced federal Cabinet in 2015. This parity has continued since then and today 19 women hold a Cabinet position in the Government.
As of October 19, 2022, women occupied 45 of the 89 occupied seats in the Senate, representing 50.6% of senators currently in office. With the introduction of an independent Senate appointment process, the Government included merit-based criteria, one of which in considering candidates is achieving gender balance and ensuring representation of Indigenous peoples and linguistic, minority and ethnic communities. Both in the House of Commons and the Senate, women represent communities and constituents from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities all across our country.
The Government of Canada recognizes, however, that much more still needs to be done to ensure better representation of women, as well as racialized individuals, Indigenous peoples, and other groups in our public institutions.
In June 2019, the Government of Canada released the Towards Canada’s 2030 Agenda National Strategy, which recognizes, among others, commitments to gender equality, a healthy environment, peace, justice and human rights. This is an important commitment to ensure that we continue to build a more inclusive and resilient Canada.
- Open for signature
- May 20, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- September 17, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. (EDT)
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Elizabeth May
(Saanich—Gulf Islands)
October 5, 2022 (Petition No. 441-00736) - Government response tabled
- November 18, 2022