Percentage of Women in PEI Cabinet Lowest Among Provinces
Media Release
The PEI Coalition for Women in Government describes today's announcement as a missed opportunity to ensure women's voices and experiences are represented at the cabinet table.
January 10, 2018, Charlottetown – Following today’s cabinet shuffle, PEI maintains its position in last place among the ten Canadian provinces with regard to the number and percentage of women in cabinet.
The current cabinet includes two women, among 11 cabinet positions (18 percent). Dawn Wilson, Executive Director of the PEI Coalition for Women, says “we’re pleased to see Minister Paula Biggar and Minister Tina Mundy retain their roles in cabinet, but we’re extremely disappointed that Kathleen Casey was not included among the new appointments.” Wilson continues, “given the acute under-representation of women in the Legislative Assembly of PEI, we see today’s announcement as a missed opportunity to ensure the inclusion of women’s voices and experiences at the cabinet table. Utilizing the full complement of elected women in the Liberal caucus would bring the percentage of women in cabinet much closer in line with the 30 percent critical mass identified by the United Nations."
Wilson concludes, “PEI continues to lag behind other Canadian provinces in terms of gender in elected office. Having more women at the decision-making table increases the potential for policy and programs that meet the needs of Island women and the under-representation of women in cabinet severely limits the opportunity for women’s voices to be heard. We encourage Premier MacLauchlan and members of cabinet to seek out meaningful consultation with women’s organizations and apply gender and diversity analysis to policies and programs.”
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