'Not a great day for women in politics,' Alberta premier says

Between the outcome of the U.S. electionand the abrupt withdrawal of two female candidates from the Progressive Conservative leadership race in Alberta, women in politics have taken a step backward, Premier Rachel Notley says.

"Yesterday was not a great day for women in politics in Alberta," Notley said Wednesday.

• Donna Kennedy-Glans and Sandra Jansen drop out of Alberta PC leadership race

"There was much hope that we would have seen a female president of the UnitedStates for thefirst time.I think a lot of people were surprised that we didn't.So that's a bit of a step back, because we thought we'reon our way there."

The withdrawal ofDonnaKennedy-GlansandMLASandraJansen from the Tory leadership race within moments of each other on Tuesday was also a blow, she said.

"It's unfortunate," Notley said.

Kennedy-Glans, a formerMLA and cabinet minister, said there wasno room for a centristvoice like hers in the leadership race whileJansen blameda series of online insults and smear campaigns.

Notleysaid it's up to the Toriesto set things right by getting to the bottom of what happened.

"One of the explanations for them dropping outis deeply troubling," Notley said.

"If a party or a campaigncannot conduct itself in a way to ensure the most basic rules around inclusivity for instance anti-harassment then quite frankly, that party or that campaign is not equipped to govern the province."

Alberta PC party president Katherine O'Neill saidthe party is taking the allegations "very seriously" and is investigating.

• PC party to probe harassment allegations

In a statement posted Wednesday, leadership candidate Jason Kenney said he condemned"any disrespectful comments."

"Neither I, nor any member of our campaign staff, has engaged in personal attacks against other candidates, or for that matter, the premier and members of government," he wrote.

Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark saidas a politician he is often the target of online cruelty, but nowhere near what women face every day.

"That bulls**t has got to end," he said. "It really makes me angry. To see the way that women are targeted in politics, it's exactly what keeps women out of politics."