Senate;-the-first woman ap-

Itis agalnst my philosophy to
even he here today
Separateness of the sexes lor
consciousnéss raising is almost
counter-productive. But in Uhis
case, { make an exception to
share with you my views on
women in political life, although
Iprefer to callthem “people”’ in
political life.

First, you don’t have to
cluster like the female buffale
in tha centre of the herd,
protected from the shocks of the
real world by the male bastions
surrounding you. You can
endure the shocks, stresses and
strains better than you think
youcan. You are more resilient
than. your mother led you to
believe you were and, you are
physically much stronger than
your father taught you you
were. You are an able, adept,

clever human being. You are ,

competent, Any person, can
achieve anything they wish if
(hey site the goal and lasar
beam their achievements
toward it, Allil takesis work -
hard work! But if your goal is

. political, dump the ward “lady”

and the word woman” for the
moment, Take it from your
day-lo-day work life and
become a person instead.

Women elected in Federal
and Provincial politics
presently holding office are:
Federally - House of Commons,
total of nine; ane Minister;
two Parliamentary
Secretaries; one Assistant
Depuly Speaker; four back-
bench Liberals and one Op-
position Critic of a Department.
In the Senate, there are seven
women, including the Speaker,
the second woman Speaker, in
as many Parliaments. In
Alberta there are two women;
in British Columbia there
are six; in Manitoba there are
none; in New Brunswick there
is one; in Newfoundland there
are none; in Nova Scotia there
is one; in Ontarla there are
three; in P.E.!. there are two, in
Quebec there is one and in
Saskatchewan there are none,
Alse of note, the Lieutenant-
Governor of the Province on
Onlario is woman - a total of 33
women in elected positions in
provincial and federal politics,
including the one appointee, the
Lieutenant Governor, and seven
appointees ta the Senate.

The first woman to wina seal
in the House of Commons was
Miss Agnes MacPhail of Grey
South East, elected in lhe year
1921, She held office between
1921’ and 1940, Since thal time
there have been 26 women in all
elected from 1921 until 1974 in
the ‘House of Commons. In the

pointed was Mrs. Cairine
Wilson in 1920. The first woman

Senator in Canadian history;

she was the first woman ap-
pointed Chairman of the Senate
Standing Committee on Im-
migration and Labour. Since
thal time, there have been 18

women appointed tothe Senate.

la, the Provincial
Legislatures, the first recorded
woman was in the Province of
Alberta, Mrs. Louise MicKin-
ney, in 1917. Since that lime,
there have been 61 women
elected in the Parliaments of
our Provinclal Legislatures.

In addition, there are a large
number of women now serving
on government bodies. I have
an excerpt from the Canada
Gazelle and It is represent alive
of the continuing appointment
of women to these bodies. They
include the Canada Pension
Commission, C.R.T.C., C.T.C.,
Law Reform’ Cammission,
Metric Commission, Public
Service . Commission,
Restrictive Trade Practices
Commission, Unemployment
Insurance Commission, District
Advisory Boards, Food and
Prices Review Beard, Im-
migration Appeal Board,
Nalional Film Board, National
Parcle Board, Pension Review
Board, Public Service Staff
Relations. There have been a
number of Order-in-Council
appaintments since 1968 of
women - 10 the Senate, to the
Judiciary, lo Deputy Minister
status, to Depuly Head status,
to heads af agencies, to the
Canadian Citizenship Court, the
Canada Pension ‘ Commission,
the Canada Transport Com-
mission, the Economic Council
of Canada, the Immigration
Appeal Board, the National
Parole Board, the Pension
Review Board anda number of
other Boards which | have al
my dispesal for your perusal
shoidd you wish to check them,

In addition, in the Provincial
Civil Service, (here are women
listed In all provinces in this

nation and their percentages’
listed here for your’

are
reference. Unfortunately, not
all provinces break down their
Civil Service employment by
sex. Four provinces, however,
do. provide these figures. The
regt are not readily available.
If you wished to obtain them,
you mighl be able to do so by
writing each of the provincial
Civil Service Commissions, It
_ is, perhaps, not a bad thing that
these are not avallable because
itdoes reflect thal (he provinces
are accepting women as people
and therefore not delineating
them by sex,

In this Province of British
Columbia, we range from
Senator, Ambassador, Member
of Parliament, MLA's members

PAGE 26, THE HERALD, Wednesday, October 30, 1974

of Federal Boards, Judges,
Indian .. Chiefs,. -Mayors,
Aldermen, Councillors, School
Trustees, Municipal Boards and

~ Commissions - and a~ list -of
honours and achievements.
Thus my point is that women
are no longer an unusual
phenomena in the public life of
either our province or our
country.

In the recent Federal elec-
lion, Canadian women fielded
more candidates than ever
before. They elected more

Members of Parliament than -

ever before. One of them,
Ursula Appolloni, abruptly
ended the career of NDP
Leader David Lewis, In ad-
dition, women did knock off
such masculine superstars as
Paul Hellyer and even Frank
Howard.

Compared with what women

have been able to do before in -

Canadian public life, it is an
impressive record. Compared
with what we could be doing,
it’s nothing. There were 1209
candidates entered in this
election of whom: 137, or HU
percent, were women: When
ihe votes were counted, they
had elected 9, only a little more
ihan-3 percent of the 264 seat
Commons, and only 7 percent of
their own number, It's not a

good record. Clearly, the men’

"are far more efficient in getting
elected and are still in control.
Well, how come? It’s true that
many of (he voters still think in
terms of a male dominated
government. Parlies - at least

many of the major ones - are”

often al a loss to discover who
should be their candidate. But
_rather than consider a woman

in the past, they have always -

considered a male, even though
perhaps heis not the vote-getter
that the female might be, he
would do better by virtue of his
being male. :

Many women candidates lend
to be content with doing fringe
work in the ° political
organizalion. So often, as
Charlotte Whilton once stated,
“women are content (o be
church basement sandwich-

Iona Campagnolo ‘Speaks to Women

cs

Iona Campagnolo
makers instead of the movers
and shakers of the policies of
their political parties’. Ceasing
to be able to accept the label of
women politicians, women in

public life may often move into .

positions of power simply by
hard work, There is no doubt
that the impact of the women’s
movement has been enarmaus
over the years, The women’s

-movement is moving now into a

new phase. Profound social
changes that were sought by the
early flagbearers of the
movement “are now coming
about and it is up lo many of us
.o carry forward with -4
reasonable and tolerant
viewpoint of women: for all
human kind. Women are tired
of being studied, Women. are
tired of being discussed.
Woinen simply seek, in my
view, to be trealed as people
who wish to take their just place
in the running of the affairs of
the country of which they form
50 percent of the populace. It is
simply that simple. ©

We have grown very familiar
with two famous cases in this
country. The first of Irene
Murdoch who, after devating
most of her life faithfully to her
husband's ranch, was denied by

the Supreme Court any right or
share in the property after their
separation. And then there was
the Labelle case in which the
Court upheld the lopsided case
which deprived an Indian
woman, but not an Indian man,
of Indian status if she married a
non-Indian, Surely there is no
more diseriminatary document
in Canada than the Indian Actin

_ ils Sections 9, 10 and 11, which:
: delineate the right of children

born out of wedlock and Indian

"women inparticular, If a father

chose, say in 1935, to give up his
slalus as a Native Indian, not

.only did he give up his own

stalus but thal of his wife and
his children. If, in subsequent
years, the family structure

changed and the wife married

again, she was still denied her
slatus ‘and the children have
grown to adulthood without the
status that would have been
legally theirs save for their
father’s incipient deicision
sometime in the years earlier.

Token appointments and
token .women are becoming
more of a thing of the past than
they have been. ‘The issues are
relalively simple. We ‘want
Canada Pension. We want lo
remove the abortion law from
the Criminal Code and place it
under the Health Act.

We want to ensure that the
civil rights of every woman in
the country are enshrined in the
Canadian Bill of Rights within
the British North Ameriea Act.

We want {o eliminate sexism:

and placea couple of more teeth
in the Equal Pay Law and
ultimately find qualified women
who are prepared for pasilions
as Judges in Family Court and
in other significant appointed
posilions.

Weare tired of being studied.
The position of women is well
defined and seeks only im-
plementation. Once of the ways
ta do iLis to seek more women in

elected positions and = that's

- what we are here today to talk

about, We are here as living
proof thal evaporating
prejudice against women is
face, even in remote rural

ridings such“as my own... -

where it ts possible for a woman
to run and be elected, But
organizers of - Parties
everywhere will tell you that it
is very hard to get women to
run. Getting Into the political
arena is a frightening and, at:
best, a thoroughly difficult
problem for’.women. Women
who are prepared to go into
public life are usually those wha
have won success. in their
private business or pivate life
and they are loathe to give up
that success for the uncertain
and difficult manoeuverings af
the public life. It is no longer
necessary lo be the old-
fashioned widow candidate, and
then we must always guard
againsL the’ “I’m all right,
Jane” altitude.

And that is really why _I am -

talking lo you today. Because in
Northern British Columbia it is
quite easy for me Lo say-that.I
am not being discriminated
against for truthfully, Jam not,
cand never have been. I-know
that because there are fewer
people there - there are 92,000
approximately in my riding - it
is easter for me to be elected
because I have never: -ex-
perienced the type’ -of
discrimination that women in
larger communities have had Lo
undergo. But - if I'm all right,
Jane, that's nol good enough. It
is necessary thal you be ‘all
right too. So therefore it is up to
me to help if I can encourage
you lo become a more active
part of the system. Now, how
can you do it? :

If you are just in it asa
“power-ego’’ thing, you might
as well forgel it because in my
opinion, women are not capable
of the single-minded lasar beam

‘power (rip that many of our. .

Regional District Of Kitimat-Stikine

B nerenenoum By-L4W 0, 40

heeat

oy

Public notice is hereby given to the Electors of the defined.
portion of Electoral. Area C, more commonly ‘known as
Thornhill-Queensway, that: a poll. shall be: taken ‘In: ac-
cordance. with the provisions. of the “Municipal: Act’ to
determine whether or not the electors wish to participate in

jhe function — of: communit

operation. — os

_ The following bri
financing:

t

Pa

y. centre development’: and

Ve

efly sets out the proposed formula for

a) Borrowing upon credit of the Regional

' District, a-sum not exceeding $60,000.00 for

financing the operational costs and providing
7 ‘Working capital to the Thornhill Community
~~ Center,

ame be approximately $2,500.00

~b) the annual operational cost is estimated fo

Take notice that the above is a synopsis of a by-law that
may be inspected at the Regional District Office, No. 9 - 4644
Lazetle Avenue, Terrace, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Is

not to be deemed an interpreta

t :

The poll will be conducted at:

Thornhill Elementary School

On the 16th day of November, 1974,-between the hours of.8:00

a.m. and 8:00 p.m...

tlon of the by-law.

RAY. PARFITT

“RETURNING OFFICER: 7

male colleagues are and simply
because they have had some
thousands of years at least
more practice at the game than
we have, Therefore, you'll use
power if you get it - but. it
shouldn't be the prime reason
for beginning your surge for-
ward. :

So many women I talk to think
that I am an overnight sen-
sation -that Ihave achieved this
as a successful one-time gambit
inthe sun, That is not the case.
{have been working for at least
ten years as an elected public
official and previous to that as a
community worker for len
years. Preparation is the name
of the game. Don't be afraid to
make up your mind but be sure
your mind is in good condition to
be made up. Stuff you head as
much as you can with the
available tools and material
and information that you will be
needing in the future, While
your children are small, take
night school courses, take
universily extension courses, £0
to adult education classes, take
Political Science - one with a
group of kids, ii you have lo.
You'll find that il's very en-

‘Joyable and: the stimulation of.

meeting new people will start
you on a whole new world.. Get
up and talk. . Speak whenever
you can, Make sure that you
are, not inhibited in petting

_forward those thoughts which

are uniquely your own. And
don't ever fo a minute think that

you are getting in for a pleasant .

and comfortable occupation

where everything is’ executive.

jets and exciting repartee.
You're getting into a dogfight = a-
lion pit if you wlil!- So, for god’s
sake, be prepared. the be
Kenerous to other women whom
you find beside you in the pit.
We women are the “Avis”
entities of politics - it’s up to us
to try harder. It’s necessary
that we be, twice as well
prepared for every eventuality
and if we are caught with our
facts down, we'll be judged
twice as harshly as would our
male counterparts.

The interesting thing about
women in the House at {he
Moment is thal they are so
extremely visible. From the
Press Gallery, looking down on
{he many nice conservalive
suits of the Liberal, N.D.P. and
Conservative Members, the
women sland out and are’
noticeable, Their every nuance,
laugh, smile, pounding of the
desk is notable, So, too, in their
public lives are they noticeable.
Therefore, like Caesar's wife,
you have to prepare yourself for

living in a goldfish bowl. You *

recognize that discriminalian
exists. You work to defeat il by
example and, like the good
parent, example is the ~ best
possible: teaching device for
your male counterparts. —
And lastly, may Isay: Never
be ashamed of the fact that you
are a woman. You are dif-
ferent, but you are equal, and as
I said at the beginning: of this
talk, you are far more com-
petent than even your best
friend ever admitted you were,
and certainly more so than
sometimes within your heart-of-
hearts you think you are.
Therefore, go forward! Fight

_and win, and be supportive of

lhose women who are beside

you in the fray. Give them the.
edge; it won't cause you that’

much distress and it may just
make the difference far. the
sisler in the battle, Sometimes
a small act of kindness to 4
“fallaw woman” on a difficult

day will make the difference _

between her success and her

failure ... and isn't that really _

what the name of the game is -
tamake her as successful as she
would want you to be.

FOOTNOTES:

If you ever intend to run for

political office, then get out of
the women’s associations, get
Inta the riding association and
start working at that level.
You'll get known, you'll know
what's happening and be able to
be a far more creditable can-
‘ didate, should you ever wish to
become one, once you have
moved inta what is now known
as ‘‘man's sphere”.
~ Note re how well women

have been accepted in Liberal
Caucus. :

- Taken women .., should not
be put into Cabinet just because
they are women. Women should
always: be qualified before
promotion, not decorative
adjuncts, --No tokenism, and
have the good sense to step

aside when there are younger:
wonien ready to move into the,

upper echelons of the Party.
Younger women are more
prepared in this stage of
development than are older
women because of. the
culturalion of society. “

Political Parties, wien
choosing a candidate, had
.better choose one who is strong

and able to go up against the"
toughest of possible opposition, ~

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