Despite record-high number of women candidates for P.E.I. election, only 7 elected

Cody MacKay · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2023 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: April 4

Although more than 50 female candidates were on the ballot for the 2023 P.E.I. election, only seven have been elected to the legislature.

And although the campaigning parties said they were offering the most diverse roster of candidates P.E.I.’s ever seen, only one member of the BIPOC community was elected.

“It’s disappointing that the numbers remain unchanged — especially given the historic number of candidates who were women and from other underrepresented groups,” said Sweta Daboo, the executive director for the P.E.I. Coalition for Women in Government. 

The Greens, who had the most women working as MLAs when a snap election call ended the legislative sitting in early March, managed to get only one woman elected: Karla Bernard in District 12: Charlottetown-Victoria Park. The Liberals had no women elected among their three winning candidates.

The PCs will have six female MLAs, a jump from the two they had going into the election. They are:

• Darlene Compton, District 4: Belfast-Murray River.
• Jenn Redmond, District 5: Mermaid-Stratford.
• Jill Burridge, District 6: Stratford-Keppoch.
• Natalie Jameson, District 9: Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park.
• Susie Dillon, District 11: Charlottetown-Belvedere.
• Barb Ramsay, District 22: Summerside-South Drive.

‘Silver lining’ more women in cabinet?

Daboo said it’s important to have more women in elected positions overall, but pointed out that it also helps to have more of them in positions of authority — particularly in cabinet. With more PC women, she said there is a possibility that Dennis King’s next cabinet will be closer to gender parity.

Daboo calls it a “silver lining” in the election.

“Previously, only 20 per cent of members of P.E.I.’s executive council were women, the lowest percentage across the country,” she said. “We can bring that number up considerably now, and we will be watching as new cabinet members are announced in the upcoming weeks.”

Of the 27 people who will make up the Legislative Assembly of P.E.I., only one of them is a person of colour: Liberal Gord McNeilly.

Daboo said more work needs to be done to attract diverse candidates to politics as well as “present them as viable options to voters.”

She added: “Until this work is done, we hope that meaningful engagement initiatives such as the anti-racism table are not only maintained but also increased to ensure that programs and policies are representative of all Islanders — even those who currently do not have a seat at the table.”