'Historic' meeting aims to have equal representation of women in politics

Judy Wasylycia-Leis remembers being told to go home and knit or take care of grandchildren, which she doesn't have, when she was running for mayor in Winnipeg in 2010.

Those types of hurdles that women continue to face in politics were the reason Equal Voice Manitoba, the provincial chapter of the national organization dedicated to the equal representation of women in Canadian political office, held its first meeting on Tuesday.

"This is historic. This is the beginning of a new era in Manitoba and Canadian politics," Wasylycia-Leis said.

"We are going to launch Equal Voice to encourage more women to run for politics so we can get to that goal of 50-50 as quickly as possible."

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Roughly 150 women and men of all ages were in attendance at the Winnipeg Convention Centre to not only listen to the panelists but to network with other people interested in politics.

Wasylycia-Leis said part of the challenge is convincing women to get involved when they see some of the "bullying and harassment" female politicians face. It may be particularly hard after the recent American election and the scrutiny Hillary Clinton faced for everything from her looks to her voice, she added.

That doesn't only happen across the border — former Manitoba Liberal leader Rana Bokhari also talked to CBC earlier this week about the offers of sex hook-ups, racist attacks and death threats she received during the provincial election in April.

"It is exactly these kinds of situations that make this event so important. We've got to somehow work hard to eradicate that kind of sexism and discrimination that women face," Wasylycia-Leis said. "That's what is keeping women out of politics. That's why we are only at about 25 per cent these days."

She added there are also systemic economic challenges, with women having less income flexibility to enter politics and a lack of supports if they have family.

In her roles as a cabinet minister in the government of Howard Pawley and a member of the Canadian House of Commons over a 40-year career, Wasylycia-Leis said she was shamed for breastfeeding at the legislature and was told that, because she was a female, she wouldn't know how to balance a chequebook.

"There were times when I still went home and cried because it was just so awful," she said, adding that she kept going because of the support of her family, constituents and other women.

Anita Neville said she also faced sexism during her time as a member of parliament.

"Many of the women in Parliament were publicly called out for their appearance, their comments, in a way that men were not ridiculed," she said. "You have to have thick skin."

However, she said while there are frustrations, the role women can play in politics is too important to be discouraged.

"I think we have to recognize that women don't all sing from the same songbook. We don't all agree on everything but what we can agree on is supporting each other," Neville said.

"I think that's important, even more so given the events of the past couple of weeks."

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