Thanks so much. Certainly thank you for the opportunity to be here today.
I have a quick biography. I was first elected as a Canadian Rockies school board trustee in a by-election in 1996 and was re-elected in 1998. In 2004, I successfully ran for town councillor in the Town of Banff and was re-elected in 2007. In 2010, I was acclaimed—which is really the way to go—as mayor of Banff and was re-elected in 2013 and 2017.
I can certainly assure you that being the mayor of Banff is a privilege and a unique opportunity in our country as the municipality of Banff sits in Banff National Park, the world's finest national park. It's a very special place in the world, and I get to call Banff home.
I also have the very influential titles of wife, mom, step-mom, daughter, sister, and aunt. That in itself may demonstrate a bit of a difference in genders where I, as a female, feel compelled to tell you about my whole self and to tell you that when I reflect on my accomplishments in this life, the greatest accomplishment has been raising two fine young men who respect women and who view those who are politically driven as most interesting.
On the topic of barriers facing women in politics, I certainly acknowledge that there is clearly a problem of gender balance in Canadian politics—federally, provincially, and municipally. Obviously we've been talking about statistics and those statistics tell the story. Just as another statistic, female mayors account for 18% of mayors in Canada.
This all stated, frankly, facing barriers as a woman in politics has not been my personal experience. I have not consciously experienced barriers against me based on my gender. I also live in a community where three of seven councillors are female, three of five trustees, as well as with an acting female superintendent of Banff National Park, a female CEO of Banff & Lake Louise Tourism, and a female president of the Banff centre. I live in a gender-balanced community. I am rarely the only woman at the table.
I can only speak from my personal experience and state my personal opinions. I have focused on three barriers today: the media, being a mom, and confidence. My first observation is that the media still treats women in politics differently than they do men. Social media, of course, has taken this to a whole new level. I believe a real barrier for some women to run for office is gender-based abuse. Male politicians certainly take a lot of criticism, too, and as just noted, even based on their appearance, but my personal experience is that it's not generally connected to gender in terms of abuse.
Any woman who has political aspirations that spends 10 minutes on Twitter following their female mentors may be simply afraid to run. Women see how women are being treated and they get the message. Their response is, “Thanks, I'll take a pass.”
These are some sample tweets from Alberta when a female MLA crossed the floor from the Conservative Party to the NDP. “Now you have two blonde bimbos in that party that are clueless.” “Sandra should stay in the kitchen where she belongs.” “Dumb broad. A good place for her to be is with the rest of the queers.”
Traditional media, I believe, is also still at fault. They spend time focusing on a female politician's domestic life, discussing her looks or her voice or her attire. The media really needs to ask themselves this. If they were reporting on a man, would they say the same thing or ask the same questions? They need, we all need, to stop asking if a woman can be both a politician and a mom, which is my next point.
Women have babies. Women are moms. Women are maternal and we're very good at it. Sadly, I believe there continues to be a suggestion that mothers who pursue political careers are not thinking of the best interests of their children, or having a mom in politics is somehow more damaging than having a dad in politics. In politics, probably in any high-demand career, women who make a point of making time for their children are still labelled as a weak link and not focused on the job at hand, yet the same effort is praised in men who are labelled as great dads for taking time for the kids.
Finally, I want to speak to confidence. Based on the feedback I've received, women who consider running and then don't speaks to a lack of confidence. They may not define it that way. Here's what I hear: “I don't know enough”, “I'm not thick-skinned enough”, “I won't get elected because my network isn't broad enough”, or “I can't raise the money I will need to campaign effectively”.
Whatever the rationale, it comes down to, from my perspective, confidence. I don't lack confidence. I never have. It causes me to pause and ask, why is that? If confidence is a barrier, and I believe it is, why are some more confident than others? Is it genetic? Is it childhood environment? Is it life experiences? Whatever it is, I'm pretty certain that talking about the lack of confidence isn't going to change it. Mentoring people to increase their level of confidence may.
What is to be done? On social media abuse and in traditional media gender reporting, don't ignore this. We can't excuse it. We can't normalize this. We must oppose it, and men must be on the front lines too. On moms in politics, make it acceptable to be on maternity leave as required, to nurse an infant in chambers or caucus or in the House. Don't lash out when a politician who is a parent has a child attend an event with them or get on a plane with them, or when the Prime Minister and his or her spouse require additional child care based on their professional schedules. Stop it. Children should be every parent's first priority.
On building confidence in future politicians, certainly I understand that campaign schools are becoming quite commonplace and I think that is great for actually both men and women. If they are female-specific, then maybe some of these conversations can be had, or at least practical education sessions on how to fundraise, how to door-knock effectively, how to stretch your network and how not to get too thick of a skin. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it just doesn't roll off you, and that's okay as it's part of the experience.
Confidence is a belief in yourself. You can't fake it. Really building confidence starts way before you are thinking about running for a political position. These lessons need to be engrossed in the education system and in society. Things like anti-bullying campaigns and creating places that accept all skin colours, sexual preferences, and body types are working. Maybe our next generation of women will simply be more confident.
The legitimacy of Canadian democracy depends on integrating more women into the political process. Barriers can only be removed when social attitudes about gender change. Whatever recommendations come out of this study, please know that removing barriers at one level goes a long way in making changes elsewhere.
I'll close with a comment on a debate that seems to be infiltrating parties and politics, the comment that women should be lifted to ministries and higher profile responsibilities based on merit, not just on a quota. Let me assure you, this is not an either-or. Do both. There are plenty of women with enough credibility to fill any quota. We're right here.
Thank you.