Brutish politics turn women away

Liberal MLA Abel LeBlanc's name-calling and obscene hand gestures last week in the legislature continue to draw criticism and could be a symbol of why of women avoid politics, according to a political scientist.

LeBlanc's finger-waving outburst last Thursday cost him three days of pay due to a suspension, but it may also serve to highlight a broader problem plaguing the New Brunswick legislature.

Joanna Everitt, a University of New Brunswick professor who specializes in gender and politics, said there are several reasons why New Brunswick is at the bottom when it comes to including women in politics.

In particular, she said many women find the aggressive approach to politics, which was displayed by LeBlanc's actions, frustrating.

Everitt said many women, who may have been considering a future in public life, will look at LeBlanc's taunts and ask themselves if they need that hassle.

"Women often say, 'Why would I want to put my self in that situation. Why would I want to be in a place where there's shouting, arguing and heckling going on I don't work that way, I don't want to work that way,'" Everitt said.

Everitt said there has to be institutional reform before change will come to the New Brunswick legislature.

Declining number of female MLAs

New Brunswick has been plagued by a declining number of women MLAs in recent years.

When Progressive Conservative MLA Rose-May Poirier officially departs the assembly later this month for the Senate, there will be six female MLAs in the 55-seat chamber.

The highest percentage of female MLAs in the New Brunswick legislature was 18.2 per cent after the 1999 election. That number has fallen in each of the subsequent elections.

Katie Young said she' s interested in politics but the theatrics that have dominated the legislature recently may influence her decision on whether to run.

"Absolutely, I don't think there's a question there. It's what you want to put up with," Young said.

The former Bernard Lord government launched the Commission on Legislative Democracy, which explored various ways to improve citizen involvement in government and one aspect was how to get more women involved in politics.

The commission's main recommendation in its 2005 report was to switch to a mixed-member proportional system of electing MLAs. The report listed the percentages of female politicians in a number of countries, and those with some form of proportional representation all elected more women.

One of the other recommendations aimed directly at adding more women to the legislature was to give political parties an extra $1 per vote if they had women make up 35 per cent of the party's candidate slate.

However, none of the recommendations was implemented as the Tories were defeated before they could institute any of the proposals.