I don't want to be simplistic about it, but I don't think it's about government led by women. I think it's about communities deciding that gender parity is going to be a major issue.
When I look at the United Kingdom, it has had only one woman prime minister, but gender parity is a concern and everybody works at it. The United States has never had either a president or a vice-president who was a woman, but that doesn't imply that gender parity is not an issue. I do know the historical perspective of Canada, but what I'm saying is that gender parity as a principle doesn't have to flow from the head of government. I think it's a matter that communities, societies, and nations have to take on as a principle to pursue.
When you look at what has happened in the Nordic countries, you see a deliberate effort for this to happen, and I think that's where Canada is failing in large part. If you then follow what has happened in the intergovernmental process and the political process and public policy, you see a commitment by governments to several things—CIDA, Beijing, the ICPD agenda—that actually provide them with the tools to domesticate and take this forward.
In my country they even voted to say that 30% of parliamentarians should be women. In a country like Rwanda, 60% of parliamentarians are women. I think it's about a national consciousness. I think it's about making sure that we mobilize communities, and mobilize men and women to look at governance from a gender-neutral perspective, and I think change will come.