With the GNWT Campaign Schools for Women taking place in Yellowknife this weekend, I'll review some thoughts from cabinet minister Caroline Cochrane, who I spoke to for my podcast about on women running for political office.
Fostering women leaders and building our participation in politics, and policymaking is an absolute must if we are to prosper in Canada.
According to the website, Equal Voice – a national, bilingual, multi-partisan organization dedicated to electing more women to all levels of political office in Canada – a critical mass of "at least 30 per cent of women is needed before legislatures produce public policy representing women's concerns and before political institutions begin to change the way they do business.”
Historically, women have been underrepresented in the legislative assembly and Cochrane – now minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, responsible for the Status of Women and for addressing Homelessness – said the process of campaigning and lack of childcare intimidates women.
"When women found out that they would have to travel quite a bit and it was an intense and demanding job, we had to expand our workshops to include municipal and aboriginal government where it’s less demanding. You don’t have to automatically go to being an MP or a MLA – there are other options for women in leadership.”
The MLA for the Range Lake said a major barrier for women entering politics is low self-esteem.
“The biggest barrier for women is ourselves. Self-esteem is huge. We’ve been socialized throughout our life as women to be humble, to not put forward our strengths – if we look too strong it’s seen as aggressive. We have a lot of barriers that society has put on us, and that’s our biggest enemy.”
She said her motivation for entering politics was both a personal and professional journey, that started as a youth living on the streets by the age of 13.
Later came the professional realization that, “I was hitting roadblocks. I figured the only way to make change is you can change form the outside, you can change from the inside of government systems, but the best way to make change is to change from the top. I figured what did I have to lose, I decided to change from the top.”
She credits her strong female campaign team (which included her sons and partner) for giving her the motivation and belief she could win.
“It was really important to have that support system because as women one of the things I noticed what we’re good at is putting ourselves down. Every time that I got a little bit in a slump and said ‘what am I doing,’ ‘why am I doing this?’ ‘Am I sure I want to do this?’ I had women behind me pushing me and saying, ‘Yes, you can!”
Minister Cochrane said she loves helping women envision themselves in political leadership through role modelling.
“The most exciting thing for me is when we do the workshops for women in leadership, and to watch the change within women - both young and old, all kinds of women - when they go from that place when they first come into the workshop and not sure what they’re even doing there to the end when they’re saying, ‘I can do this! I want to run for something!’”
I believe, and Minister Cochrane reinforced in our interview, that women have important perspectives on collective community decision-making, gender equality via matriarchal and egalitarian societies, and reconciliation that are needed in Canadian democracy and policy.
“We are 50 percent of the population. We need to have 50 percent of our leadership be women so that we can truly represent the needs of the population of Canada,” said Cochrane.
Her message for women thinking of entering the political realm, “Believe in yourself and just do it.”
Let’s imagine a future in Yellowknife and the North with the possibility of a female mayor and premier in our next elections.
You can listen to Caroline Cochrane’s full interview on the Women Warriors podcast at: womenwarriors.club.