Percentage of Women Candidates Remains Stagnant
Media Release
Nominations for the 2015 federal election are now complete and the PEI Coalition for Women in Government has confirmed that 6 women are among the 17 candidates (or 35.3 per cent of candidates) running in PEI ridings.
September 28, 2015 CHARLOTTETOWN -- "We are pleased to see that voters in all four districts will have the option to vote for a woman in this election and to use their vote to support women’s leadership," says Dawn Wilson, Executive Director of the PEI Coalition for Women in Government.
The Green Party has nominated 3 women candidates, 75 percent of all its candidates, which is the highest percentage among the four main parties. The New Democratic Party and the Conservative Party each nominated 1 woman, making up 25 percent of their candidates. The Liberal Party does not have any women candidates in Prince Edward Island ridings. Outside of the four main parties, the CHP also has 1 woman candidate.
Wilson notes, "Historically the number of women candidates at the federal level in PEI has been low among the Conservatives and Liberals, the two parties we have elected in the past. The Conservative Party of PEI has nominated 5 women for federal seats in its history. The Liberal Party of PEI has nominated one. Three of these 6 women won seats: Mary MacDonald for the Progressive Conservatives, Catherine Callbeck for the Liberals and Gail Shea for the Conservatives."
"We thank all the women who sought nomination and put their names on the ballot for the October 19th election," added Wilson. "Having more women elected will bring more diversity of experience to government decision-making tables, increasing the potential for policy and programs that speak to women’s experience and lives."
The Coalition will continue to look for ways to support parties to increase the number of women candidates in the future to work towards the goal of gender parity in the next federal election.
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