Femmes, genre et politique

N10(b) - Women as Provincial and Territorial Leaders

Date: May 31 | Heure: 10:30am to 12:00pm | Location: Classroom - CL 313 Room Room ID:15719

Chair/Président/Présidente : Jason VandenBeukel (University of Toronto)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Louise Carbert (Dalhousie University)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Mireille Lalancette (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières)

Session Abstract: What difference, if any, does it make that women have reached the highest levels of political responsibility in Canada’s provinces and territories? In response to considerable public as well as academic interest in the question, this panel offers a preview of the first systematic assessment of the track records of women premiers – defined as leaders of constitutionally recognized, sub-national jurisdictions in the Canadian federal system. Guided by a larger international literature about gender and politics, the panelists will analyze the impact of female political leaders across three provinces. They address executive influence by focusing on the following core question: How has women's leadership shaped the climate of political debate, the content of public policy, and the numbers of women in party, cabinet and civil service positions? In addition to evaluating this larger theme of the project, each contributor will consider women premiers in the specific context of their times and jurisdictions.

From Activist Outsider to Political Insider: Kathleen Wynne as Ontario Premier: Sylvia Bashevkin (University of Toronto)
Abstract: This paper considers Kathleen Wynne’s record as Ontario premier. Wynne was the first woman and first declared member of a sexual orientation minority to hold that position in the province’s history. She also stood out from her predecessors because her political origins rested in progressive social movement activism. Wynne’s government moved policy markers forward in some but not all areas related to women’s equality. Trends in cabinet and senior civil service appointment, candidate recruitment and the climate of parliamentary debate show progress unfolded on some measures while stasis or backward motion occurred elsewhere. Overall, despite her background as a left-of-centre activist, Wynne did not use her initial majority mandate at the helm of a centrist party to operate as a critical actor on matters of gender equality.

In the Wake of Male Charisma: Kathy Dunderdale and the status of women in Newfoundland and Labrador : Amanda Bittner (Queen’s University), Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant (Queen’s University)
Abstract: This paper explores how Kathy Dunderdale led her party through a provincial election campaign that produced a majority mandate for a formation that had already been in power for some time. Yet following the 2010 Newfoundland election, her predecessor Danny Williams’ ‘large shoes’ proved difficult to fill. The study reports Dunderdale named significantly more women than Williams to top civil service posts. Yet lower numbers of female PC candidates and legislators made it hard for Dunderdale to appoint women to the provincial cabinet. On the policy front, the paper explains how Dunderdale’s focus on a major dam construction project as well as a series of political crises diverted attention away from social policy generally and women’s rights in particular.

Rachel Notley as Alberta Premier : Melanee Thomas (University of Calgary)
Abstract: This paper examines the record of Rachel Notley as Alberta’s first NDP premier. A pioneer who led her party to majority government status, Notley was also a critical actor who created a status of women department, appointed the first ever parity cabinet in Alberta’s history and pressed for more women to run for elective office. On the policy front, Notley’s government faced budgetary problems which meant the province undertook a pilot study of $25/day childcare but did not immediately implement either a wider childcare program or full-day kindergarten. Thomas shows how the ideologically polarized environment of Alberta politics meant the arrival of more progressive women leaders beginning in 2015 created a more rather than less corrosive tenor in public as well as legislative debate.

Pauline Marois’ Paradoxical Record as Quebec Premier: Philippe Bernier Arcand (Saint Paul University)
Abstract: This paper probes the paradoxical record of PQ premier Pauline Marois. A political veteran who held more than a dozen cabinet portfolios under other PQ premiers, Marois’ priorities as a minister versus premier clearly diverged. Unlike the strong social policy focus of her formative years in cabinet, when she championed an innovative and popular $5 per day childcare program, Marois’ time as provincial leader was largely devoted to debates over the ‘reasonable accommodation’ of ethno-cultural minorities in Quebec. Her government’s proposal for a charter of secular social values drew widespread criticism, including from many feminists. Arcand shows how controversies over the charter and the growth of competing nationalist parties combined to defeat Marois’ government less than 30 months after its arrival in power.