Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s an obstacle I’ve encountered throughout my life as an elected official and it is that of being a minority gender on an elected body. It’s quite obvious, as you look around the Chamber here, that the NWT Legislature does not have gender parity; we’re not even close; and there’s not even an inkling of any balanced gender differential in Cabinet.
Across Canada the best percentage of women in elected office is 36 percent in British Columbia, and the NWT is a long way from that.
Today and tomorrow the NWT Status of Women Council is holding a Campaign School for women, an event intended to encourage and prepare women to run for office in our upcoming territorial and municipal elections. Some 40 people have registered for the two-day school, people who will be candidates, campaign managers, agents and other campaign workers. They’ll learn about and discuss all the elements associated with an election: campaigning, that of talking to constituents, going door to door, funding a campaign, the rules of an election and so on.
Some may think that it’s too early to be thinking about an election which is eight or nine months away, but it is not. We need more women in this Legislature and in our municipal councils. Women are 50 percent of our population and we ought to be represented in that same proportion on our elected bodies.
I encourage NWT women to seriously consider running for an MLA seat this fall. Give it some thought, make a decision and start planning now. So I don’t get accused of being sexist, to NWT male residents, you do the same. Think about
challenging your current MLA. Better yet, don’t think about it, do it.
I look forward to the excitement of the 2015 NWT Election. I hope to see a female candidate in every one of our 19 ridings, and my fervent wish is that the result of the fall election will be far more female MLAs in the 18th Assembly than the current two of
19.
I am pleased to be part of the Campaign School, along with my only other female colleague here, Mrs. Groenewegen, as well as Mr. Abernethy and Ms. Lisa Dempster from the House of Assembly in Newfoundland and Labrador who has come to help us out. I know it will be a busy but constructive weekend, and I wish all the participants the best. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.