Gender parity reached in BC’s election, but future of reproductive rights in province unclear

After the dust settled on an initial count of ballots in last Saturday’s election in BC, women candidates had won 48 of 93 constituencies.  The outcome represents a historic first for Canada.

Sarah Elder, host of the podcast Madam Premier, told Capital Daily “The fact that it has taken 153 years since the first provincial election in BC in 1871 for women to achieve gender party in the Legislature should be celebrated for how far women in BC have come, but it should also be alarming to British Columbians because it has taken 153 years.”

In the CRD, a strong showing from NDP candidates saw wins for women in Oak Bay, Saanich South, Victoria-Beacon Hill, Esquimalt, and Victoria-Swan Lake. Juan de Fuca-Malahat remains in ‘recount’ status until Oct. 28, a riding where a razor-thin divide between Conservative candidate Marina Sapozhnikov (8,923) and NDP Dana Lajeunesse (8,946) remains to be settled. The gap threshold for a recount in BC is 100 votes. Surrey City Centre—where Amna Shah, another NDP women candidate, holds a 95-vote lead over her Conservative counterpart Zeeshan Wahla—is also subject to a recount. Mail-in ballots are also still being counted.

These gains were not made by candidate efforts alone. One non-partisan organization that has been working behind the scenes to create pathways for women wanting to achieve elected office in the province is Equal Voice. Its BC chapter has been equipping women candidates, through its workshops and its campaign school, with the tools and support they need to succeed in BC politics. NDP Grace Lore and BC Green leader Sonia Furstenau have both spoken at Equal Voice events. The organization's aim? Gender parity.

This election’s parity outcome marks an important shift from last election, when women made up 42% of elected candidates. It makes BC the first province to reach gender parity in its legislature. Quebec follows close behind at 46%. Much of that gain is owed to the BC NDP.

The NDP elected 31 women and 15 men to their caucus this time around. The slate of Conservative party candidates was dominated by men, at 74%, but despite that imbalance, women will represent over 60% of the MLAs—17 women and 28 men—that party will send to the Legislature.

Just under half of the BC Green Party’s candidates were women. The two seats won by the Greens were won by men. Party leader Sonia Furstenau was ousted by Grace Lore in Victoria Beacon-Hill. When Lore was asked about the fact her win meant the loss of another strong woman MLA, Lore told Capital Daily, it was a fight she didn’t want.

So how do BC’s gender results stack up at different levels of government?

At the federal level, 69.4% of Canadian MPs were men and 30.6% were women in 2023 and at the municipal level, 31% of all elected representatives in Canada were women.

What does having women in power mean for women?

The equal presence of women, their leadership and their perspective in decision-making at all levels of government, is essential to ensure greater responsiveness to all citizens’ needs. Their representation has a tremendous impact on what issues are raised and how policy is shaped.

An Inter-Parliamentary Union report shows women demonstrate political leadership by working—more effectively than men— across party lines through parliamentary women’s caucuses—even in the most politically combative environments—and by championing issues of gender equality, such as the elimination of gender-based violence, parental leave and childcare, pensions, gender-equality laws, and electoral reform.

“Anyone who says that it doesn't matter needs to understand that they aren't being served by politicians that don't represent all of British Columbia,” said Elder “It really matters that the politicians making decisions that affect all British Columbians represent all British Columbians because otherwise how will they know anything other than the same decision making lens from 153 years ago when the Legislature was made up entirely of men.”

Shari Graydon, renowned Canadian women’s media and political advocate and a past president of Media Watch told Capital Daily “the outgoing BC government demonstrated significant leadership in its landmark representation of women. Not coincidentally, it introduced groundbreaking policies reflecting women's lived reality, addressing period poverty, and making birth control and cervical cancer screening accessible.”

It’s difficult to say how the incoming government will continue that policy work, and while there are some early indicators of support for many policies that will positively impact women from all parties, there are also warning signals.

Where do recently elected politicians stand on women’s wellbeing and reproductive health

At a Vancouver campaign event on Sept. 12, Eby promised an NDP government would make hormone replacement therapy free for people going through menopause.

The Conservatives have promised increased support for couples seeking fertility treatments by providing funding for first- and second-round in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, including for clinics outside BC. In their election platform, they offered one month of paid compassionate leave for women who suffer a miscarriage and to lower barriers to adoption.

The NDP suggested the Conservatives would limit access to abortion if elected. At a September campaign event for NDP candidate Darlene Rotchford in Esquimalt, Premier Eby said of Conservative leader John Rustad, “if he is at best ambivalent about reproductive freedom, and at worst, hostile to it, that women’s access to abortion, access to free birth control (something the NDP brought about) is on the ballot this election.”

In a tweet dated Sept. 10 Rustad said “Under a BC Conservative government, access to abortion, contraception will remain exactly as it is now,” yet, the party platform does not mention abortion access and a number of Conservative candidates clearly lean against supporting it.

BC resident Michelle Gamege posted to X on Oct. 2 that when she responded to pro-life group RightNow’s call for volunteers with her postal code, they recommended she volunteer for Bryan Tepper’s campaign. RightNow’s mandate is to nominate and elect pro-life politicians. Tepper won his seat in Surrey-Panorama. The group believes babies in Canada are being gender-selected and left to die in “post-birth abortions.”

Bruce Banman (reelected in Abbotsford South) told colleagues in the Legislative Assembly in May “From the moment of conception through the journey of pregnancy and motherhood, and throughout the myriad of challenges of triumphs that follow, motherhood is the nurturing force that sustains life and shapes our future.”

Harman Bangu who won in Langley-Abbotsford was endorsed by Campaign Life Coalition, and Heather Maahs who won in Chilliwack North posted to her Facebook page she is proudly “Pro-Life, Opposed to Euthanasia”

While voting on party lines is typical, it’s not clear how these candidates would shape women’s reproductive policy in BC, moving forward.