New Brunswick sees share of female candidates increase

New Brunswick is witnessingan increase in the number of women putting their name on the federal ballot, but the numberof female MPs actually heading to Ottawa continues to remainlow.

Several female candidates say what is needed to attract more women to politicsis greater support from political parties and leaders, as well as access to role models.

In the last 18 years, the largest number of female MPs sent from New Brunswick was three in 1997 and it hit zero in 2006.

Heading into Monday's vote, there are 15 women or 36.5 per cent out of 41 total New Brunswick candidates on the ballot.

Karen Ludwig, the Liberal candidate in New Brunswick Southwest, said politics would be different if there was more diversity in the House of Commons but she said that may be difficult to achieve.

"It definitely takes a lot more for a woman to step up," Ludwig said.

"But I don't think it is a lack of abilities."

Ludwig said she waited until she felt she had the necessary career experience, and her children were in post-secondary schools,before she opted to enter the political arena.

When she decided to jointhe race, Ludwig said spoke to a former female MLA to discuss some of the issues that she could face. Ludwig said having more female mentors could help convince other women to put their name forward come election time.

Green candidate Mary Lou Babineau is running for her second time in Fredericton and each time, she said it's been a tough decision.

She said Green Leader Elizabeth May took the time to talk to her about running and asked about what the party could do to encourage her candidacy.

These are important steps for a party to take, Babineau said, because women do not have the same number of political role models to look up to.

Political parties must take responsibility for the lack of female candidates and for recruiting more in the future, she said.

"It is reallythe party that must takethe initiative to say, 'This is important that we want more women,' and then reach out and back them up with concrete support," Babineau said.

Difficulty in electing female MPs

The difficulty in getting women elected into Parliament can be spotted by looking at the numbers from recent elections.

In 2011, 13 30 per cent of the 43 candidates on the ballot in New Brunswick were female.

But when all those ballots were counted, only Tilly O'Neill-Gordon was leaving New Brunswick for the House of Commons.

That means 10 per cent of New Brunswick's 10-person delegate of MPs was female, despite women making up 51 per cent of the province's population.

Federally, there was a small bump up in the overall percentage of women in Parliament in 2011. Roughly25 per cent of MPs were women, up from 22 per cent after the 2008 election.

The increase was thanks mainly to the number of female NDP MPs elected.

Smaller parties nominating more women

Even in New Brunswick, the Liberals and Conservatives continue to nominate fewerwomen comparedto the smaller parties, such as the NDP and the Greens.

This year, the Liberals and Conservatives both have three female candidates, compared to four for the NDP and five for the Greens.

Even if a larger number of female candidates are entering the race, it is tough to send more to Ottawa when they are running for parties that are not in contention to actually win.

It shouldn't be about who has the loudest voice, it is who has the clearest voice.- Liberal Karen Ludwig

Of the three Liberal candidates running in the election, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the candidate in Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe, can look at a recent history of local female MPs. The riding elected Liberal Claudette Bradshaw between 1997 and 2006.

Ludwig is running in New Brunwick Southwest, which is considered a Conservative stronghold.

Similarly, Alaina Lockhart is trying to win Fundy Royal for the Liberals, but that riding has elected one Liberal since 1917.

The Conservatives are hoping O'Neill-Gordon will retain her seat in Miramichi-Grand Lake. But their other candidates are running in ridings that have histories of voting for other parties.

Ann Bastarache is running in Beausejour, the province's only riding that elected a Liberal in 2011.

Riba Girouard-Riordon has her name on the ballot in Acadie-Bathurst, which has voted for the NDP for the last 18 years.

This is election is the first without Yvon Godin's name on the ballot, but Girouard-Riordon joined the race late after the former Tory candidate withdrew.

The Fredericton Green candidate saidit's no secret that the Liberals and Conservatives tend to nominate women in ridings that hold little hope of winning.

"In the inner circles within the political parties, these political circles are small, there is many speculation, commentingand eye-rolling, and it's not just the Liberals, nominatingwomen in ridings where theyknow they don't have a strong chance in winning but so they can beef up their numbers of women running across the country,"Babineausaid.

If more women were actually getting onto the ballot and then winning local races, that could create some of the changes necessary to see more women enter politics.

Girouard-Riordon said many women are likely turned off of politics because of the theatrics and negativity that are involved in the profession.

"I was in a debate and I just stepped in and said we need respect here. It was my turn to talk. People just keptgoing and going and going and got louder and people want respect," she said.

Girouard-Riordon, who was a teacher for 35 years, said it can be discouraging to see politicians "bickering" between each other.

In New Brunswick Southwest, Ludwig said she has the same views about how the pugilistic style of modern politics can turn women away from getting into a race.

"It shouldn't be about who has the loudest voice, it is who has the clearest voice," Ludwig said.

Babineau said it is important to start with young women and encourage them to believe they have a career in politics.

"I talk very openly that yes we have made wonderful gains for women in this country but that there are still barriers," the Green candidate said.