How diverse are Edmonton's federal election candidates?
Women and visible minorities are under-represented among candidates in the Edmonton-area for the upcoming federal election, according to analysis from CTV News.
A review of Elections Canada data and websites and social media profiles for 56 candidates shows white men are most likely to be running for office across 10 Edmonton-area ridings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Women candidates are outnumbered by a nearly two-to-one ratio compared to male candidates, with 19 women on ballots compared to 37 men.
“This confirms a reality in Canadian politics, that there is still a gap in terms of representation of women and minorities in the political systems,” said MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah.
Most parties had close to a gender-balanced roster of Edmonton candidates.
Among the major parties, the Liberals have four women running and the New Democrats have five.
For a second straight election, all 10 Conservative Party candidates in the listed Edmonton area ridings are men.
Edmonton Griesbach has the most women running with four. There are no women candidates running in Edmonton-Wetaskiwin.
Women make up almost exactly 50 per cent of the population, according to the most recent national census.
“The major challenge for the parties is recruiting, making a concerted effort to recruit women, and putting them in winnable ridings where they can have a chance,” said Mensah.
“All parties have a responsibility to encourage more representation of women in politics.”
Visible minorities are similarly unrepresented among candidates compared to population statistics.
Forty-six of the 56 candidates are white, or about 82 per cent of those running in the 10 Edmonton-area ridings.
Mensah says similar to women, diverse candidates face struggles entering the political process and often draw abuse because of their background.
“That stuff can be very scary,” said Mensah. “It really discourages people from entering politics.”
The NDP has the most non-white Edmonton-area candidates with four, followed by the Liberals and Conservatives with three each.
The census shows about 37 per cent of Edmontonians are a visible minority, including those of Indigenous backgrounds.
“I think there is this kind of widespread agreement that there is value to having diverse voices represented in Parliament,” said Mensah.
“We need to have the political parties be more proactive in recruiting people from diverse backgrounds.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.