Striking a balance

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/10/2023 (1096 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba NDP made history on so many levels yesterday.

Premier Wab Kinew became the first First Nations premier of a province in Canadian history, and then he continued the trend set by others by ensuring a gender diverse cabinet in his inner circle. This includes two Indigenous women cabinet ministers (Bernadette Smith, minister of housing, addictions and homelessness and the minister of mental health; and Nahanni Fontaine, minister of families and status of women), Malaya Marcelino (Labour), a person of colour and a nonbinary person of colour (Uzoma Asagwara as minister of health, seniors and long-term care and deputy premier).

And well he should.

It’s an antiquated notion that gender isn’t just as important as region, language, identity and culture when determining representation in politics. That debate is over. Kinew understood this when he described his interest in naming a cabinet that represented all of Manitoba, not just the traditional male, white faces seen around the table.

For Kinew there wasn’t a shortage of women and non-binary candidates from which to choose. In the Manitoba’s election, the gender-diverse representation found among the candidates was impressive. Women, men, transgender and non-binary individuals stepped forward to run for various parties. According to Equal Voice Canada, about 47 per cent of the NDP candidates who ran in the election identified as a woman or non-binary, compared to the Conservatives with almost 32 per cent and the Liberals at almost 33 per cent.

The high percentage of diversity for the NDP is not unusual. The party has historically recruited non-traditional candidates to run. Indeed, the Yukon New Democratic Party in 2011 became the first party to have an elected caucus that achieved parity (and beyond) when four women and two men were elected as MLAs. The NDP federally also had the distinction of electing the first female party leader with Audrey McLaughlin.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau succinctly summed up the idea of having a gender-balanced cabinet by declaring “because it’s 2015” after his election win over the Conservatives. However, this decision was met by criticism from pundits and columnists in Ottawa. Many suggested he had elevated women to the position of cabinet over men that were viewed as having more experience.

Kinew is already facing similar criticism online for his focus on Indigenous and First Nations MLAs. But in an age of reconciliation and in a province where racism remains an ongoing issue, it’s important.

Also, given the rise of discrimination and hate toward those who identify as non-binary or LGBTTQ+, naming Lisa Naylor (Transportation and Infrastructure) and Asagwara is powerful and refreshing after seven years of Tory silence.

It is important to note that Trudeau wasn’t the first political leader to implement gender parity in his cabinet. Earlier in 2015, Alberta’s NDP premier Rachel Notley also ensured there were an equal number of men and women serving in her inner circle when she won the election in Alberta. Media coverage had little to say about the makeup of her cabinet. In 2007 Jean Charest appointed the country’s first cabinet with gender parity when he was the premier of Québec. John Horgan in British Columbia and François Legault in Québec also did the same thing. Horgan in 2017 and Legault in 2018. Kinew is merely following what is by now a process other premiers have put in place.

According to researcher Véronique Pronovost at the University of Québec at Montréal, the consequences of gender parity — whether it’s within companies or decision-making bodies — are largely positive. In other words, having different voices around the table when making policy is beneficial for everyone.

Wednesday was history making and important for Manitoba and for Canada. While Kinew spoke about the little “neechies” who could watch his win and see what is possible, other kids — so often unseen in society — can look to Naylor, Fontaine, Usagwara and others to represent them too.

Well done.

Shannon Sampert is a communications consultant, freelance editor for Policy Options and former politics and perspectives editor at the Free Press. She teaches part time at the University of Manitoba.

shannon@mediadiva.ca