I promised I would come back to the number of women who ran for minor parties. 25 out of 177 total minor candidates (not including the Greens, but including independents)
Certainly those running for such parties are very unlikely to be elected. The point is not about electoral success but about spreading a message. I'm not including the Green Party of Ontario in this group because unlike the minor parties the Green's ran candidates in all 107 ridings and generally posted returns of over 1000 votes. While not contenders for electoral success they can make a much more significant impact on the returns of the three main parties and have consistent generalizable support. Minor parties don't have the same generalizable support and are less likely to significantly impact on the competitions between the Liberals, P.C.s and NDP, unless its a very, very close race.
An argument can be made that ALL of these parties (as there is one that runs under the moniker of none-of-the-above) offer a chance to select a 'none of the above' option in the voting booth, and if enough support went to these parties the main contending parties would certainly take notice. This raises the question, if voters are comfortable using candidates representing some rather strong ideological positions or advocating very specific issues as a way of lodging a protest vote? Given that outside of the Green Party none of the candidates for these parties achieved over 1000 votes and most did not achieve over 500, it doesn't look as if these parties are the "go to's" for making a generalized protest. (I don't at this point have numbers on how many people declined ballots). Another argument that can be applied to minor parties is that in any given electorate (or society for that matter) there is a 3% that can be characterized as "nuts" and these parties provide an electoral home for this constituency. For the moment we will go with an argument that participation in minor parties is a method for getting a message out regarding the alternatives to the status quo peddled by the 'mainstream' parties and a method for getting issues some people find very significant out into the public.
Using the Ontario Elections Unofficial returns I down-loaded June 19, 2014, minor parties ran a total of 177 candidates (including the independents). 25 were women or 14%.
By party it is as follows:
Libertarian Party: Fielded 74 candidates, 5 women
(Interestingly, one of the 5 was the only woman on the ballot Tamara Johnson in Thunder Bay-Superior North. I will blog about one woman ridings the parties and successes later.)
The Freedom Party: Fielded 42 candidates, 7 women
(In Hamilton East -- Stoney Creek candidate Britney Anne Johnston was the only woman on the ballot.)
The Communist Party of Ontario: Fielded 11 candidates, 4 women, including party leader Elizabeth Rowley.
The Socialist Party of Ontario: Fielded 2 candidates and both were women, including the party spokesperson Natalie Lochwin.
The Vegan Environmental Party: This is a Toronto-centered party which ran 5 candidates all in Toronto ridings. 2 were women.
The Family Coalition Party: This party focuses on maintaining traditional family structures and is keenly interested in issues of reproductive choice and mothering. It ran 6 candidates of which 2 were women.
The None of the Above Party: This party runs mainly in Toronto but did have candidates in Niagara and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. That at least four candidates share the same last name as the leader would tend to indicate it is a home-based electoral concern. It ran 8 candidates of which 1 was female.
The Party for People with Special Needs: Fielded 3 candidates. 1 woman.
The E.P.P. or the Equal Parenting Party: Fielded 2 candidates. 1 woman. The main focus of this party is to pursue father's rights in custody arrangements.
The remaining parties did not field any woman candidates and no women ran as independents:
Canada Choice Party: 4 male candidates
Northern Heritage Party: 3 male candidates not surprisingly in Northern Ontario
Ontario Moderate Party: 2 male candidates
Ontario Provincial Confederation of Regions Party: 2 male candidates
The Pauper Party of Ontario: 3 male candidates.
(For those familiar with electoral politics in Ontario John Turmel the leader and a candidate for this party is an electoral fixture. He has probably run in every provincial and federal election held since I moved to Ontario in 1982).
The People's Party of Ontario; 2 male candidates
The Trillium Party: 2 male candidates.
It would be very interesting to interview women who run for the minor parties to see what their motivations are and if and how they differ from their male colleagues. And if they differ significantly from women running in the main parties.
It is not inconceivable that one way to advocate and bring gender issues to electoral and campaign politics, to render an electoral protest, would be to run an all-women's party as has been done in some European, particularly Scandinavian, countries. To my knowledge this has never happened provincially in Ontario. It is clear from looking from the lack of success and marginalization of the "stray dogs" of electoral politics as evidenced by the voting returns, in our system there is little to be gained from running a women's protest party. Plus in this particular election, the success of women running in the major parties seems to indicate that there is room for optimism that an amelioration in male electoral domination can come from the inside rather than having to confront it from the outside, which in our electoral system is always from the margins.
Certainly those running for such parties are very unlikely to be elected. The point is not about electoral success but about spreading a message. I'm not including the Green Party of Ontario in this group because unlike the minor parties the Green's ran candidates in all 107 ridings and generally posted returns of over 1000 votes. While not contenders for electoral success they can make a much more significant impact on the returns of the three main parties and have consistent generalizable support. Minor parties don't have the same generalizable support and are less likely to significantly impact on the competitions between the Liberals, P.C.s and NDP, unless its a very, very close race.
An argument can be made that ALL of these parties (as there is one that runs under the moniker of none-of-the-above) offer a chance to select a 'none of the above' option in the voting booth, and if enough support went to these parties the main contending parties would certainly take notice. This raises the question, if voters are comfortable using candidates representing some rather strong ideological positions or advocating very specific issues as a way of lodging a protest vote? Given that outside of the Green Party none of the candidates for these parties achieved over 1000 votes and most did not achieve over 500, it doesn't look as if these parties are the "go to's" for making a generalized protest. (I don't at this point have numbers on how many people declined ballots). Another argument that can be applied to minor parties is that in any given electorate (or society for that matter) there is a 3% that can be characterized as "nuts" and these parties provide an electoral home for this constituency. For the moment we will go with an argument that participation in minor parties is a method for getting a message out regarding the alternatives to the status quo peddled by the 'mainstream' parties and a method for getting issues some people find very significant out into the public.
So where do women candidates fit in these parties?
16 minor parties fielded candidates in the 2014 Ontario Provincial Election, all ran candidates albeit not in all 107 ridings. In addition, 14 independents ran. For information about the minor parties and links to the Party websites and platforms (not all the links work) check out www.elections.on.ca/en-CA/CandidatesAndParties/RegisteredPoliticalPartiesinOntario.html or www.studentsvote.ca/on2014/the-parties/Using the Ontario Elections Unofficial returns I down-loaded June 19, 2014, minor parties ran a total of 177 candidates (including the independents). 25 were women or 14%.
By party it is as follows:
Libertarian Party: Fielded 74 candidates, 5 women
(Interestingly, one of the 5 was the only woman on the ballot Tamara Johnson in Thunder Bay-Superior North. I will blog about one woman ridings the parties and successes later.)
The Freedom Party: Fielded 42 candidates, 7 women
(In Hamilton East -- Stoney Creek candidate Britney Anne Johnston was the only woman on the ballot.)
The Communist Party of Ontario: Fielded 11 candidates, 4 women, including party leader Elizabeth Rowley.
The Socialist Party of Ontario: Fielded 2 candidates and both were women, including the party spokesperson Natalie Lochwin.
The Vegan Environmental Party: This is a Toronto-centered party which ran 5 candidates all in Toronto ridings. 2 were women.
The Family Coalition Party: This party focuses on maintaining traditional family structures and is keenly interested in issues of reproductive choice and mothering. It ran 6 candidates of which 2 were women.
The None of the Above Party: This party runs mainly in Toronto but did have candidates in Niagara and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. That at least four candidates share the same last name as the leader would tend to indicate it is a home-based electoral concern. It ran 8 candidates of which 1 was female.
The Party for People with Special Needs: Fielded 3 candidates. 1 woman.
The E.P.P. or the Equal Parenting Party: Fielded 2 candidates. 1 woman. The main focus of this party is to pursue father's rights in custody arrangements.
The remaining parties did not field any woman candidates and no women ran as independents:
Canada Choice Party: 4 male candidates
Northern Heritage Party: 3 male candidates not surprisingly in Northern Ontario
Ontario Moderate Party: 2 male candidates
Ontario Provincial Confederation of Regions Party: 2 male candidates
The Pauper Party of Ontario: 3 male candidates.
(For those familiar with electoral politics in Ontario John Turmel the leader and a candidate for this party is an electoral fixture. He has probably run in every provincial and federal election held since I moved to Ontario in 1982).
The People's Party of Ontario; 2 male candidates
The Trillium Party: 2 male candidates.
What can we take from this?
If we characterize minor parties and independents as the "lone wolves" of electoral politics, actually it would probably be more apt to describe them as the "stray dogs," the electoral "lone-wolf" is a male phenomenon. The 2014 Ontario provincial election shows that women are unlikely to run for minor parties or as independents. Reasons are most likely many, ranging from the ideologies represented by such parties to the simplistic calculation of the time, money and stress involved in running in an election based against poor returns. This does not explain why women were willing to run for the Green's (35% of the candidates) or for any of the three main parties in ridings that were safe for other parties. However, it does seem clear from this election that women are much more likely to be found in the major and mainstream parties were there is much more likelihood of electoral success and in the case of the Green's getting serious media attention during the campaign.It would be very interesting to interview women who run for the minor parties to see what their motivations are and if and how they differ from their male colleagues. And if they differ significantly from women running in the main parties.
It is not inconceivable that one way to advocate and bring gender issues to electoral and campaign politics, to render an electoral protest, would be to run an all-women's party as has been done in some European, particularly Scandinavian, countries. To my knowledge this has never happened provincially in Ontario. It is clear from looking from the lack of success and marginalization of the "stray dogs" of electoral politics as evidenced by the voting returns, in our system there is little to be gained from running a women's protest party. Plus in this particular election, the success of women running in the major parties seems to indicate that there is room for optimism that an amelioration in male electoral domination can come from the inside rather than having to confront it from the outside, which in our electoral system is always from the margins.
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