National Contest Encourages Young Women to Get Engaged in Politics
Smithers, B.C. – A program aimed at encouraging young women to become politically engaged has the enthusiastic support of one northern MP.
The Daughters of the Vote project allows one young woman from each Canadian riding (between the ages of 18 and 23) the chance to temporarily take a seat in Parliament in a national initiative marking 100 years since women won the right to vote in provincial elections.
The contest is being run by Equal Voice Canada, a group working to elect more women to public office.
The winners will participate in a two-day summit in Ottawa ending on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2017.
“It’s a brilliant idea to bring more young women into politics,” says Skeena-Bulkley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen.
“It will allow young women to come take a seat in Parliament, engage in not only the issues of the day but also just to learn how to get into politics, how to be effective because even after all these years the turnout of women to run for office stays very low.”
He claims his party has done well in this regard, estimating that between 42-43% of current NDP MP’s are female.
“But the Parliament overall is around 30 or less percent and this program is a really good way to do that because it brings people right into the mix, right into the heart of our Parliament.”
So what’s holding women back?
“Well there’s barriers when you look at the way some of the party’s work. Within the NDP we have specific support for women candidates who are trying to apply,” says Cullen, adding it’s hard for women with kids not to mention the economic barriers.
“We know that women earn less for equal work in Canada still and we still don’t have legislation in Canada to end that.”
Cullen says “the toxicity of politics” is also a turn off for young women.
“I talk to a lot of young people, young women in particular, and they watch the violence and anger that goes on in our politics and they say ‘I don’t want anything to do with that.’ So we have to change the way that we talk to one another and show greater respect.”
Those interested in applying have until Thursday at midnight to do so and can hit the following link to learn more: http://www.daughtersofthevote.ca/.
Comments
Rest in peace Jo Cox . She was brave . She was honest . She was a daughter , wife , mother , and UK MP . She was murdered by a rabid rightie driven by ideology .
It might be an interesting speculation as to how much higher the “Leave” vote might have been had Jo Cox not been murdered. By someone who clearly had mental problems, as anyone who’d commit such an horrible act would have, regardless of their position on Brexit.
Doubtless the way it was played up in the media, which, in the case of the CBC in this country, seems to be going it out of its way to find everything imaginable negative about Britain’s impending exit from a EU that had clearly failed to deliver the expected benefits to British citizens that were pushed so vigorously when Britain entered, had some ‘sympathy’ effect on how some voted.
Judging by the amount of negative thumbs downs, there is a lot of hate and ignorance filled people visiting this site’s comments section today… or more likely one person that has multiple accounts and voting privilages.
As for encouraging young women to become engaged in politics, more power to them!
I’m off topic here, but this site needs to add a feature showing who give the thumbs up or the thumbs down. Maybe even make it a requirement that they explain their vote. That might keep the troglodytes at bay.
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