Absolutely.
Evidence of meeting #109 for Status of Women in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was female.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #109 for Status of Women in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was female.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC
I don't know how well aware you are of the nomination process. I know that you said you went through a couple of them before you were acclaimed.
Do you find there are certain barriers that women face that men don't necessarily face in the nomination process before they even become actual nomination candidates, when they're starting to put their names out there and they're starting to look for the support they need in order to become nomination candidates?
4:55 p.m.
Mayor of Banff, As an Individual
Yes, I think I alluded to that, too, in my comments, this whole confidence piece. In my experience, women seem to be a bit more timid about their ability to be successful. Again, I don't know why that is, and I think it's way beyond politics and way beyond this room. I think it has a lot to do with your earlier question about education, and how to raise a more confident group.
Politics is still very much tied to power and competition. An election is a competition, and those are stereotypically male fields. Masculine traits seem to be essential for politics. Some of the things I wrote down include logic, focus, independence, strength. Female traits—or what are called female traits, whether females have them, or males—include empathy, patience, nurturing, vulnerability. These are considered to be in the female world. Those aren't really tied to politics, so I think there has to be a balance there.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you to both of you, Jenelle and Karen, for being here today.
Jenelle, it sounds like your decision to leave politics was very much based on factors internal to you and to your family. I'm a mother as well. I have a young son who is seven years old, and it's very difficult to get on the plane every Sunday night and come back on Thursday, but I, too, am very fortunate to have a very supportive husband who in fact told me, “You have to do this.”
In both of our cases, it sounds like we made our decisions relative to our families. I guess I'll leave it at that, but I wanted to know if there were any external pressures in terms of situations where you were publicly shamed or shamed by other people for being a mother and a politician, for making that choice to commit yourself to public life at the same time that you had a young family.
4:55 p.m.
As an Individual
In terms of being publicly shamed, no, but you always did get the comments about what you were wearing, what you ate at a certain function. Sometimes I'd get so angry because I'd feel like we had a really confident meeting or a confident presentation and somebody would make a comment about my shoes rather than what I actually said.
A determining factor for me was actually a disgruntled resident who phoned our house at five o'clock in the morning and asked if I would come and meet him downtown. He was upset about a downtown revitalization project we were doing in Marwayne. Maybe it was just a feeling in my stomach, but I did not choose to go and meet him. He phoned back with some subsequent phone calls that got more and more hostile as the conversations continued, enough that I did phone the police. Later that evening that gentleman was found deceased on a rural road after he had committed suicide. I often wondered what would have happened if I had gone and met him.
It was timing. When my kids were little, they didn't really know.... Time was different for them. As they got to be teenagers, they fully understood what it meant for me to be gone for four or five days. I was feeling those pressures, and then when that incident happened I really did have to step back and say, “Is this worth it? Why am I here?” That was when I chose to leave.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Those are very tough questions. I know my best friend, on my nomination day, went to a door and she said, “I'm here to see if you've cast your vote.” The lady said, “Yes, I have cast my vote.” My friend asked, “Can I ask if you voted for Stephanie?” And the lady said, “I just thought about that little boy at home and I just couldn't bring myself to do it, and I voted for her male competitor.” My friend is truly a friend because she said, “Shame on you”—
5 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
June 14th, 2018 / 5 p.m.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
—and walked down the steps.
Something that allows me to do this is the belief that somehow I am giving something to my son through contributing to the country and what I aspire for it to be. I always tell people that the House sits for 26 weeks but for 26 weeks there are commitments in the constituency. You do international travel, there are caucus commitments, but your time is flexible. So I'm very fortunate. I get to vacation with my son when many Canadians don't have the opportunity to do that. I like to think I'm giving him opportunities later in life. I was fortunate to do this as a diplomat as well for him.
I'm not sure if I use it more as a justification to myself or to others, but my question is this. What were the benefits that you felt you were giving your family during the time that you were doing this service? It is a tough balance between those two things. Your contributions to society.... We would be foolish if we didn't say personal ambition doesn't play a part, but for them you like to think that they'll go to a better university or they'll be in a better network of opportunities later in life, potentially.
What were some of the benefits that you felt made you consider staying in politics?
5 p.m.
As an Individual
There are really so many benefits. I've often told people that my kids can learn how to cook from a cookbook. They can't read a piece of paper and learn how to be a leader. They're following me. They're watching me. I think that I have raised four very well-rounded children who have had a lot of unique experiences. In our small community we don't even have a restaurant, for goodness sake. If an MP or a MLA came to visit me when I was mayor, they had supper at my table with my children sitting around. My children were part of the conversation. I have absolutely no regrets. They are strong leaders, and have proven this even through school, being president of the student's union. My son, who just graduated, is going into political studies, and I know that he will be a politician one day. It's in his blood.
There's a ton of benefits. As I said, it's the exposure, the knowledge. I have always shared with them. When I left, they knew where I was going, what I was doing, and what we were going to be talking about. My children know more about world politics and life than probably most adults, truthfully. As I said, you can't pick up a piece of paper and learn from a book. That's the type of education and those are the experiences that they've had, and they'll be enriched because of that forever.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Thank you.
Karen, in 30 seconds, what is the root of your confidence, please?
5:05 p.m.
Mayor of Banff, As an Individual
I ask that question. I'm not 100% certain, although I guess that if I have to pick I think it's the way you are reared as a child. I think it's your childhood environment.
5:05 p.m.
Mayor of Banff, As an Individual
Exactly. That's where I would place it. I always wanted to be engaged. Even in elementary school, I wanted to be the school president. I don't really know if it's innate or learned, but I think it has to be partially learned.
5:05 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Salaberry—Suroît, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to thank our two witnesses. They are smart and caring women who want to see greater participation by women across Canada and around the world. They are also outstanding role models for the next generation. It is also reassuring to hear that there is still hope, although there is certainly a lot of room for improvement.
We talked a lot about work-life balance. Some people have said at times that work-life balance is also important to men. For decades, social roles have meant that women play a greater role in child rearing than men do, unfortunately. This is changing, however, which is a good thing.
In recent years, a number of women in Parliament have had children. In 2014-15, a number of colleagues and I were fortunate that our spouses agreed to be stay-at-home dads, which allowed us to continue our work here. Your spouse has also made it possible for you to continue to be a mayor or councillor for 14 years.
Do you think that government, as well as the media, should play a role in promoting work-life balance and supporting services such as childcare that allow women to have some peace of mind when they return to work? In the case of those who work in politics, do you think the government should promote the establishment of childcare services with schedules tailored to politicians' working hours?
5:05 p.m.
As an Individual
I can comment on that. I'm from a very small village in Alberta of 600 people. When I first got elected.... My last baby was born on a Friday and she came to Monday night's council meeting with me. I've been there. I've done it. My kids have coloured underneath meeting room tables. They've lived the life.
I think there has to be some concern for proper compensation as well. When I was first elected as mayor, I was paid $50 as a per diem for every meeting I attended. With a babysitter for four kids, I went in the hole. For two years, until I convinced council to allow us to raise the rates to $100 per diem, I actually lost money on every single meeting that I attended.
It wasn't financial gain. It wasn't anything else. It was because I truthfully believed in and loved what I was doing. I think it's really important to ensure that we look at everything as a well-rounded balance, to see where we can offer extra services, especially in rural communities. We don't have a day care. You rely on the girl down the street. You hope that she's free so that she can come and watch the kids for you in the evening, but it could be that she has an exam the next day and has to be back home by nine o'clock.
I think that we have to look at how we can ensure that we have these resources in place that are fully rounded for absolutely everybody, regardless of where we are geographically and what age our children are. Are there opportunities for us to be able to bring them to work where we can have that accessibility to them if they need it?
We are making vast improvements. The change from 2004 to 2018 is wonderful, and it's amazing to see the moms who are bringing their babies into the office with them. I hope that continues, but as I said, I think there are other areas we can look at, especially in the remote geographical areas. This is still a real issue for them.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Salaberry—Suroît, QC
Thank you.
Would you like to add something, Ms. Sorensen?
5:10 p.m.
Mayor of Banff, As an Individual
Along the lines that Jenelle was saying, as another thing in terms of encouraging women to run, again I will speak to my experience. I certainly did not choose to run for municipal politics. God bless municipal politics, where you get five calls at five o'clock in the morning to come down the street. I rarely go to the post office at noon hour. My motivation was not financial. Probably none of our motivation is financial. This is not an industry where you make a lot of money. My motivation was not power. I don't know whether this is more of a female trait than a male trait. I'm certainly not suggesting it is. My motivation and that of the women I have met in politics really is about making a difference and engaging. It's wanting to be at the table and wanting to be engaged.
When I became a councillor, it wasn't so that I could be the mayor one day. That's just the way it worked out. I'm kind of bossy and I like to chair the meetings.
Again, in terms of motivating women, it's about wanting to be engaged and make a difference in our children's lives.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Salaberry—Suroît, QC
Thank you.
Ms. Saskiw, you worked in a very rural region. Did you notice any additional barriers? You worked in the transportation sector. Could promoting public transit in rural communities encourage women to go into politics?
5:10 p.m.
As an Individual
Because of our geographical location, public transit is difficult. When you have communities that are spread 20 or 30 minutes apart, it's really hard to be able to establish a system that would be reliable and be used by a lot of people.
5:10 p.m.
As an Individual
Yes, expensive. That's exactly it. My little village has a hard time paying for broken sidewalks. We never could think about having a transit system in our community. That's our reality.
5:10 p.m.
NDP
Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Salaberry—Suroît, QC
Ms. Sorensen, your organization, Ask Her, provides tools for women.
Do you thing the government should invest more in similar organizations and even establish institutions to encourage more women to enter politics?
