Islanders in general and politicians in particular like to reference a time in Island history when the five most senior positions in government were held by women. They included Speaker Nancy Guptill, Lt.-Gov. Marion Reid, Opposition Leader Pat Mella, Premier Catherine Callbeck and Deputy Speaker Libbe Hubley. The 1993 ‘Famous Five’ photo is becoming almost as iconic as the Fathers of Confederation gathered in front of Government House in 1864.
This week, Paula Biggar, P.E.I.’s status of women minister, is in New York with a Canadian delegation to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. There, she will make reference to the 25th anniversary of the famous five’s accomplishments.
It was truly an historic and successful era for Island women. But it also illustrates that things have regressed over the past 25 years.
In our 27-member legislature, there are five women – Liberals Ms. Biggar, Kathleen Casey and Tiny Mundy, Progressive Conservative Darlene Compton and the Green Party’s Hannah Bell. Our four Island MPs are men. It’s not a positive picture for women in government.
International Women’s Day on March 8 offered an opportunity to remind us of the many achievements that women have accomplished. But it was disconcerting to see advances overshadowed when other facts were presented.
The P.E.I. Advisory Council on the Status of Women offered a number of disturbing statistics: About the miniscule number of women who lead countries around the globe; the prevalence of sexist laws and arranged marriages; that at least 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence; and in most countries, women earn between 60-75 per cent of men’s wages for the same work.
The Atlantic Chamber of Commerce was equally bleak: There are more women in the workplace but they are largely hewers of wood and drawers of water. With less than half the population, men hold two-thirds of senior management positions and 80 per cent of board seats. Many public companies have no women on their boards.
The past year saw the emergence of the #MeToo movement in support of women’s rights. Instead of seeking gender equality, women are still fighting to be safe in the workplace - a battle that should have been long since won.
The headlines this past year were not about women’s accomplishments. Women must not only overcome job discrimination in the workplace, they also have to overcome systemic sexual harassment, abuse and violence. The gender equality federal budget is a good start but much more needs to be done.
Here is a good starting point. When women get elected, they capably serve with distinction. But getting the party’s nomination is the hard part. Once women are on the ballot, their odds of winning are actually pretty good. P.E.I.’s political parties should make a commitment to recruit more women, support them in the nomination process, get them on the ballot and help them get elected.
Then maybe that ‘Famous Five’ photo will become just one of many we can proudly refer to in terms of women’s accomplishments.
