I think I'm the only person sitting in this policy session that thinks that requiring 52% of Liberal candidates to be women is a bad thing. I mean, who are we to say that one cannot stand as a candidate just because one's a man? This isn't admission to an American university. This is choosing who represents us in an election.
There are clearly reasons why there are more men in politics--both elected and as candidates--and those ought to be studied and addressed. However, benchmarks and standards are not the answer.
I just don't know what is. Now, let's see if I get yelled out of the room.
1 comment:
I hope you're not the only one. Seems a bit silly to me. Obviously there should be equal opportunity for candidates regardless of gender, but that does not translate to equal representation in the end. If less women are even interested in politics, but artificial standards require equal numbers, then simple probability means that men who are more qualified will be looked over in favour of women who are less qualified, simply because of their gender. That doesn't do any good for men or women in the long run.
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