NDP win also a victory for women in politics

It wasn’t just an historic day for the NDP; it was a milestone for women in Alberta Politics.

Voters elected 28 female MLAs into the Legislature Tuesday night: including one in the Wildrose, two in the PCs, and 25 within the NDP — making up about half its caucus.

The candidate declared the winner in the riding of Calgary-Glenmore, currently in a tie between PC Incumbent Linda Johnson and NDP’s Anam Kazim, will be added to the ranks.

In addition, the province’s second ever female premier, Rachel Notley, was put into power.

Brenda O’Neill, University of Calgary Political Scientist, references the Famous Five, when saying Alberta has always been on the forefront when it comes to female candidates.

The iconic group of ladies, Emily Murphy, Irene Marryat Parlby, Nellie Mooney McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards, petitioned the Supreme Court of Canada in 1927, asking to be legally considered persons so they could be elected into the Senate. Three of them later became members of the Alberta Legislature.

However, O’Neill explains, in contemporary Alberta, the degree to which women can be successful in politics, depends on which parties are in power.

“The NDP across the country has always historically been one of the parties that have been more open and more supportive of women within party ranks. It actually has put in place things like quotas on committees within party membership to ensure that women get the kind of presence that they need,” she said.

While many were worried Former PC Premier Alison Redford’s performance would impact voter trust of female candidates, Notley’s victory proves Albertans were dissatisfied with the party, and not the gender.

O’Neill says while it is a victory for women, this is also a victory for the NDP; parties are the foundation of politics in Canada, and this election went beyond gender.

“We had a woman who was at the helm of a left party at the right time, had the right platform and it brought her to power,” she said. “So to some extent, I think there’s some people who might say, ‘I voted for her because she was a woman,’ but this was not an election, I think, like any other.”

O’Neill says all diversity is important, and looks forward to a day when gender becomes something we don’t necessarily need to talk about anymore.

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