Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Groupe femmes, politiques et democratie would like to thank the House Standing Committee on the Status of Women for this invitation.
The underrepresentation of women in positions of influence and power is at the very heart of our group's mission. In addition to its education and training mandate, the group has been actively working to promote parity among political parties and elected officials in Quebec for a few years. For the past three years in the month of April—the month that women won the right to vote in Quebec—, it has organized activities at the National Assembly. First, it launched the March for Parity movement, in 2016; then it formed a coalition of Partners for Parity, in 2017; met each party leader before the upcoming election; and lastly officially submitted a parity bill in 2018.
The March for Parity now brings together 20 Partners for Parity organizations, which represent close to 500 organizations and 1.3 million people who are committed to supporting all steps toward parity and who are calling for a law to guarantee parity between men and women in all public decision-making bodies.
These actions have borne fruit. In April 2018, the National Assembly unanimously adopted a motion affirming, roughly translated:
That the National Assembly is committed to making parity an objective in all sectors of society;
For the upcoming elections on October 1, 2018, the leaders of the political parties have also committed to nominating female candidates to achieve 40/60 parity or as close to that as possible. Public opinion has often come out in favour of parity among political candidates during these events. For example, in mid-April, 69% of respondents in a Léger-Le Devoir survey said they believed that political parties should have as many female candidates as male candidates.
Systemic and structural factors impede women's access to politics by creating invisible barriers. Chief among the barriers—the greatest, we think—are the political parties' recruitment and selection processes. The world of politics has always been dominated by men who tend to replicate the system by recruiting candidates from their networks, using methods that are not suited to women, and operating with bias and prejudices. In order for women to achieve full parity, the rules of the game have to be changed and room has to be made in an arena that is much sought after by men. Responsibility for this change cannot rest solely on women or on so-called natural progress.
We believe that the political parties should be required to deliver results: they should be legally required to field an equal number of female and male candidates. That way, after an election, the number of elected representatives would be in the parity zone, between 40% and 60%, or ideally between 45% and 55% for both sexes. To bring about this change and field a balanced candidate list, the political parties could temporarily be given additional financial resources in order to take concrete steps well in advance of election periods.
The first-past-the-post voting system is not a barrier to parity. Numerous experts have pointed out that several strategies can be used, and have been used effectively under the current voting system to increase the number of female candidates.
Just as important as parity in the legislative branch, women must also achieve parity in the government, the executive branch, in light of the important policy decisions made there, particularly in the choice, presentation, and implementation of laws, policies and programs.
While there have been cabinets with parity in Quebec, other provinces, and in the House of Commons, this of course is an individual decision that can be revoked at any time. We therefore recommend that the principle of parity in cabinet be immediately established in law.
In our opinion, substantially and quickly increasing the number of women in legislative assemblies is the most powerful driver in achieving true equality between men and women. This is the only way to bring about the other changes that are needed, such as a respectful culture, reducing harassment, hostile confrontations, and ultimately changing rules such as absolute party discipline. It is thanks to the few female MPs in office, with the help of some male allies, that some improvements to the schedule and the parliamentary calendar have been made.
Once women achieve parity, they will also implement or perfect policies and measures to create an environment that is conducive to their participation, in particular to promote their work-life balance.
In conclusion, experiences around the world show us that there are long-term solutions to the underrepresentation of women in politics. They involve restrictive measures, whether they are called quotas or parity legislation. The political parties hold the key to this transformation, however, since they are the ones that select and recruit female candidates, and also form governments and adopt laws.
Success depends on their commitment, and most of the time this does not occur without the impetus of and pressure from the public and the women's movement. That is our collective challenge, we maintain, for everyone, both women and men, from all backgrounds and all parts of society: to make parity between men and women an essential condition for the democratic exercise of power and governance.
Thank you.
We will be pleased to answer your questions.