OTTAWA—Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet promises to make history.

If the prime minister-designate makes good on his vow, his cabinet to be unveiled on Nov. 4 will be the first ever to have an equal number of men and women.

Women have made inroads in Parliament, slowly at times, but never has a cabinet truly reflected the gender makeup of Canada — until now.

“It’s an important signal to the country, to women in his caucus that he understands and appreciates the varying life perspectives, talents, expertise that women . . . are bringing to the table,” said Nancy Peckford, a spokesperson for Equal Voice, an organization dedicated to electing more women.

The commitment was made even before the election campaign got underway when Trudeau unveiled the Liberal platform for a “fair and open government” in June. Among its many pledges was a vow that a Liberal cabinet would have an equal number of men and women.

Trudeau highlighted the promise on the campaign trail, at one point tweeting in September, “I’ll make sure my cabinet reflects Canada.”

The reaction that sparked on social media wasn’t entirely positive as some accused the Liberal leader of putting gender ahead of talent as the primary consideration for a cabinet post.

“Here's a crazy idea — pick the best candidates for the job, regardless of gender,” said one Twitter user.

“@JustinTrudeau gender, race, colour shouldn't be a factor, what happened to skills and experience #notsmart,” said another.

“So instead of the best candidates you'll place them by gender? Not what we need. No thank you.”

But with 50 women elected to the Liberal benches Monday, Trudeau’s pledge of parity doesn’t have to come at the expense of skill, Peckford said.

Indeed, with women making up 27 per cent of his 184-member caucus, Trudeau has the most women of any governing party ever, an “abundance of riches,” she said.

Among the ranks of the female Liberal MPs are experienced politicians from across all levels of government, former cabinet ministers, medical professionals, lawyers, a geoscientist, an air force commander and small business owners.

“The tragedy up to now is the very diverse life experiences, talents, backgrounds that women are bringing to the table haven’t been fully leveraged. So we have just been short changing ourselves,” Peckford said.

Outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper has 26 cabinet ministers and an additional 12 ministers of state, or junior posts. Women hold 12 of those portfolios, including transport, environment, public works and labour. Trudeau has said his cabinet will be smaller.

The path to gender parity in cabinet can be traced back to the 1921 election of Agnes Macphail, a 31-year-old school teacher, as the first woman to sit in the House of Commons.

More than three decades would pass before a woman was granted a seat at the cabinet table. Serving under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, Ellen Fairclough was named to the cabinet in 1957 and held the portfolios including postmaster general and secretary of state of Canada.

Pierre Trudeau had three women serve in the cabinet of his government that was elected in 1968. Brian Mulroney had 11 women serve in his cabinet during his time in office. Jean Chrétien had 16 female ministers.

Yet decades of good intentions have so far failed to achieve gender parity in cabinet in Ottawa. Experts say it’s perhaps time for a firm target to finally kick open the cabinet room door and enable women to take their place in numbers that reflect Canadian society.

“I think it’s a great way to show some leadership on closing the gender gap on women’s representation,” said Kate McInturff, a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Monday’s vote elected 88 female MPs, a record number, but equalling only 26 per cent of all MPs. That’s up just 1 per cent over the previous Parliament, according to Equal Voice.

That’s why the Liberal commitment to gender balance in cabinet is a good one, McInturff said. “Karma doesn’t do it. What does it are these kind of proactive commitments,” she said.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a strict quota but I think it shows the symbolic aspect of this, showing the public face of the cabinet as one where women’s leadership is respected as important,” McInturff said.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Indeed, putting a priority on gender representation in cabinet is no different than the other quotas which, by convention, have long existed for picking ministers, said Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant, an associate professor at Queen’s University, who has written on issues of gender, elections voting behaviour.

These considerations include regional interests, bilingualism, multiculturalism, and balancing long-serving incumbents with spots for newcomers.

“We already have lots of quotas for cabinet in Canada,” she said. “Prime Minister Trudeau is adding one and one that probably should have been added a long time ago.”

Some provincial cabinets have already achieved this milestone. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has a gender balanced cabinet — six men and six women. In 2007, Jean Charest’s 18-member Quebec cabinet was evenly split between men and women. When he won a majority government in 2008, Charest enlarged his cabinet to 26 members but retained gender parity.

The fact that women have had trouble breaking into cabinet is a function of “lots of different forces,” Goodyear-Grant said.

For starters, until the last few decades, there haven’t been large number of women in caucus to choose for cabinet, she noted. There were just 14 women elected in the 1980 election; of those, just 10 sat on the Liberal government benches. That improved to 39 women MPs elected in the 1988 election and 53 in 1993.

Peckford said in the absence of a gender balanced Commons, it’s even more important to strive for gender equity in the most powerful and influential positions within government.

“Quite frankly, I think it will inspire other ambitious women watching from the outside to fully appreciate how they too could make a contribution,” she said.

While gender parity is an important step, Goodyear-Grant says she will be watching to see who fills the key posts, such as defence, foreign affairs, finance, justice and trade.

“I’m really curious to see whether he tries to strike, as far as he can, a kind of balance across the hierarchy of seats across cabinet,” she said.

But she said one thing is certain. Once gender parity in cabinet is achieved, it will be hard to reverse. “It sets a precedent and it creates expectations. . . I don’t see how anyone goes back,” Goodyear-Grant said.

Milestones for women in federal politics

1919 — Most Canadian women over age 21 get the right to vote in federal elections though it would be four more decades before First Nations women would get the same right.

1921 — Agnes Macphail is elected in the Ontario riding of Southeast Grey, making her the first woman MP in the House of Commons.

1957 — Ellen Fairclough becomes the first woman cabinet minister, appointed by prime minister John Diefenbaker.

1984 — Jeanne Sauvé, a former Liberal cabinet minister who had served as the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons is appointed Governor-General, the first woman to hold the post.

1989 — Audrey McLaughlin is elected leader of the New Democratic Party, the first woman to head a major federal political party.

1993 — Kim Campbell becomes Canada’s first woman prime minister, replacing Brian Mulroney, but her tenure lasts only a few months until the Progressive Conservatives are defeated in the November election.

Source: Equal Voice

Read more about: