Women’s issues are notably absent from the federal campaign so far, a coalition is warning, and priorities like gender equality will become “invisible” in this election unless there’s a national discussion.

However, an attempt to organize an all-party federal leaders’ debate on women’s issues appears to have stalled, after Up for Debate, the group behind the proposal, couldn’t secure commitments from all five main parties.

The coalition of over 175 groups, which claims to represent four million Canadians, has been working for months to organize the debate.

It would be only the second such debate in Canadian history, after the never-repeated women’s issues debate between Brian Mulroney, Ed Broadbent and John Turner in 1984.

This time around the Liberals, Bloc Québécois and Green Party are all on board, according to Up for Debate. The New Democrats had said last year that leader Thomas Mulcair would take part but the party has since declared he won’t participate in any debates at which Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is absent.

A source with the Conservative campaign confirmed to the Star that Harper wouldn’t participate in a women’s issues debate.

Asked by the Star why, Conservative Party spokesperson Stephen Lecce replied in an email: “We are doing more debates than ever. We look forward to sharing with Canadians our plan to keep Canada safe and our economy strong.”

The NDP issued a statement to the Star asserting that the party “has a long, proud history of fighting for women’s equality and we will continue to fight to improve the lives of Canadian women and girls in government.”

Party spokesperson Anne McGrath confirmed that Mulcair won’t attend the Up for Debate event as long as Harper stays away.

The loss of the two main party leaders is a blow for Up for Debate, which warns that without a national discussion focused exclusively on the needs of women and girls, these issues will become “invisible” in this campaign.

According to the coalition, the word “women” was mentioned just four times when the leaders met earlier this month for the only debate of the campaign so far.

“We still have the wage gap. Rates of violence against women, they’re not going down,” said Jackie Hansen, a women’s rights campaigner for Amnesty International and a spokesperson for Up for Debate. “We need a stand-alone debate because it’s clear that in the mainstream debates these discussions aren’t happening.”

Up For Debate has highlighted three main “themes” it wants addressed: ending violence against women, eliminating gender-based pay inequality, and support for women in leadership roles.

Hansen said the coalition is non-partisan, and those three themes were chosen because there’s “empirical evidence showing that there is a problem” in those areas.

But Sylvia Bashevkin, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said that in the world of partisan politics, there’s no consensus on what constitutes a “women’s issue.”

“The phrase ‘women’s issues’ is one which political parties … have defined for their own purposes in each election campaign,” Bashevkin told the Star.

While the Liberals, Greens and NDP would likely use a women’s debate to propose expanded social programs, Bashevkin is not surprised that the Conservative Party apparently feels it has nothing to gain.

She suspects the party is wary that a public discussion about violence against women would renew calls for a national public inquiry on missing and murdered aboriginal women, something Harper has already rejected because he argues that a law-and-order approach, rather than further study, would be more effective in preventing the crimes.

The Conservative Party, which is much more popular among male voters than female, according to Forum polls conducted this month, might also see no benefit in discussing pay equity.

“This Conservative party is not comfortable with notions of equality as a public priority … They’re not interested in what they’d call social levelling or social engineering,” said Bashevkin, recalling that in 2006 the Conservative government controversially removed language about equality from the mandate of Status of Women Canada.

That’s not to say Canadian women aren’t on the Conservatives’ radar. But as defined by the party, women’s issues centre on notions of justice, security and entrepreneurship.

In an emailed statement to the Star, Kellie Leitch, who served as minister of status of women in the most recent government, said the Conservatives benefited Canadian women by passing legislation “to keep dangerous criminals … away from our kids and families” and by setting up programs to foster women-owned businesses.

Citing the country’s involvement in the campaign against Islamic State, “a genocidal terrorist cult” that forces “young women into sex slavery,” Leitch said that Canada, under Harper, has been “a leader on the world stage when it comes to defending women’s rights.”

Barring an about-face by the NDP and the Conservatives, there little chance of the women’s debate happening. The Green Party’s Elizabeth May, however, says she hopes it goes ahead, with or without Harper and Mulcair.

“I don’t care what leaders are showing up,” said May, the only female federal party leader. “I’m more than eager … to debate the other party leaders on issues that are most critical for half of the population.”

By the numbers

59.6: per cent of Canadian women who voted in 2011 federal election, compared to 57.3 per cent of men

36: per cent of Canadian men who support the Conservatives, compared to 24 per cent of women

35: per cent of Canadian women who support the NDP, compared to 17 per cent of men

74 cents: how much a Canadian woman working full-time earns for every dollar earned by a man

25: percentage of Canadian MPs who are women

50: place Canada ranks out of 189 countries in number of women elected to national government, behind Rwanda, Iraq and Afghanistan

Sources: Elections Canada, Pay Equity Commission, Forum Poll (Aug. 21), Equal Voice

Party Platforms

The Star asked each party how it would improve the lives of Canadian women if it forms the next government. Here’s how they responded:

NDP

Women nominated: 119/281 candidates = 42 per cent

Create one million new child care spaces, costing no more than $15 a day

Call an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women within 100 days of taking office

Draft a national action plan to end violence against women

Ensure equal access to safe, fully funded reproductive health services for all women

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Chose women for half of government appointments

Green Party

Women nominated: 55/173 candidates = 32 per cent

Pass equity legislation as recommended by the Pay Equity Task Force, and immediately implement pay equity for women working in the federal sector

Call an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women

Pass amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act to explicitly protect people from discrimination based on gender identity or expression

Re-establish funding for organizations advocating for women’s rights

Apply equal opportunity criteria to government appointments

Create job re-entry programs for mothers returning to work

Create a universal child care program and provide tax incentives for employers to create more child care spaces

Conservative Party

Women nominated: 58/315 candidates = 18 per cent

Keep taxes low for Canadian families

Enforce laws to protect families and children from dangerous criminals

Continue implementation of the Action Plan for Women Entrepreneurs, which includes a $700-million fund for women to access capital to grow their businesses

Encourage gender diversity on corporate boards

Protect women’s rights abroad by fighting groups like Islamic State

Liberal Party

Women nominated: 97/315 candidates = 31 per cent

Increase the tax-free child benefit payment, to up to $533 per child per month

Appoint an equal number of men and women to cabinet

Commit to gender parity in government appointments

Call an “immediate” inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women

Ensure all Liberal MPs support abortion rights

Create more flexible employment benefits for people caring for sick family members

All nomination figures were as of the parties’ websites Aug. 21.