The mid-June day Edmonton lawyer Anne McLellan was named Canada’s justice minister, a reporter pressed prime minister Jean ChrŽtien for an explanation of the appointment.
It is a delicate portfolio dealing with gun control in the West, the legality of Quebec separation, a justice department under allegations of incompetence and lingering questions about the performance of government lawyers in some high-profile and costly cases.
What credentials does McLellan bring, the prime minister was asked.
He smiled. She is a good lawyer, he said. She is a good MP, a woman and a westerner.
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The fact that he cited her gender set some Ottawa tongues speculating about whether she is being groomed as a prominent woman to take a run at the leadership whenever ChrŽtien steps aside. At the very least, it was a clear signal of the growing prominence of women MPs in Canada’s Parliament.
Although the House of Commons still is a far cry from accurately reflecting the gender mix of Canada’s population, it is edging closer.
Last week, a leading feminist lobby leader complained that women still lack political power.
“We are not there yet in political power and decision making,” said Joan Grant-Cummings, president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. “Ask any female MP.”
There certainly are more to ask than ever before, and they come to Parliament as award-winning playwrights, teachers, social workers, activists, lawyers and businesswomen.
Most in history
When the new Parliament meets in mid-September, a record number of women will take their seats as MPs and more will settle into high-profile parliamentary positions than in any previous Parliament.
On June 2, voters elected 62 women from all five parties in the Commons, nine more than sat in the last Parliament.
Women now occupy more than one in five seats in the Commons, far from the 51 percent of the Canadian population that women represent but much more than the sprinkling of female MPs little more than a decade ago. In 1984, there were just 15.
The change is in more than numbers.
In the new Parliament, six of the 28 cabinet ministers are women, including the high profile portfolios of justice, Indian affairs (Jane Stewart) and Canadian heritage (Sheila Copps). Others include environment minister Christine Stewart, citizenship and immigration minister Lucienne Robillard and international co-operation minister Diane Marleau.
They will look across the floor of the Commons at four Opposition parties with women either as leader or deputy leader.
Edmonton MP Deborah Grey is deputy Reform leader in the Commons and Reform caucus chair. Suzanne Tremblay is deputy leader of the Bloc QuŽbecois. Halifax MP Alexa McDonough is New Democratic Party leader. Saint John, N.B. MP Elsie Wayne is deputy leader of the Progressive Conservative caucus.
The improved numbers come despite losses for some prominent female politicians: Former NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin retired. Former high-profile Reform MP-turned Tory candidate Jan Brown was defeated in Calgary. Vancouver Liberal Anna Terrana, largely responsible for the staggered voting hours in the last election, was defeated, as were Saskatoon lawyer Georgette Sheridan and Manitoba farmer Marlene Cowling.
