In the morning session all three committees joined to hear two speakers on voting, Chi Nguyen, the founder of Young Women Vote 20,000, a program to encourage young women to vote and Peggy Nash of Equal Voice, dedicated to electing more women to public office.

Chi Nguyen reports a life-long interest in politics and activism, beginning with a children’s program she ran in Chinatown while barely more than a child herself, and continuing with participation in a program that allowed students to intern with MPs. Now a recent McGill grad, she sees her cohort as being overeducated, over-stimulated, and self-absorbed, with a feeling of entitlement to opportunities, and unwilling to involve themselves in anything beyond themselves on the assumption that all battles have been won. There is a disconnect between what young people, especially young women, see as their issues (workers rights, abortion, tuition fees, etc.), and the ability to tackle these issues through political action. She pointed out that in the recent federal election only 25% of those between 18 and 24 voted, and voting among the 18-35 age group actually declined from 2000 to 2004, despite the 4 million dollars spent by Elections Canada to attract voters. She feels strongly that the battles have not all been won, and that in Ottawa the old boys’ network still rules. In an attempt to get young women to start thinking about politics, she, with two others, started the Young Women Vote 20,000 project, with the aim of raising awareness in young women of what is happening in the wider world and the power of political action.

Peggy Nash, of Equal Voice, expressed the opinion that power is much better than influence: power gets things done. She described her own decidedly non-traditional experience as a woman who has seized power in a male-dominated milieu: as a member of the Air Canada unit of the Canadian Auto Workers. She was the first woman to lead negotiations for the CAW, is now senior assistant to CAW president Buzz Hargrove and was NDP candidate in a Toronto riding in the last federal election. Women must have power in order to initiate action on the issues that are important to them, such as child care, affordable housing, the environment and quality of life issues. She cited countries with mandated large numbers of women legislators that have progressive policies in these areas. Canada is declining in its number of elected women (We are now 36th in the world) and Ms. Nash acknowledged some of the barriers to women’s participation in public life: disruption of family life, difficulty in raising funds, battling the perception that men are more likely to win, difficulty in getting past the nomination process, and gaining access to winnable seats Equal Voice wants the government to declare the election of women a priority and to remove some of the barriers.

Peggy Pinkerton, CFUW-Etobicoke

2005 07 20