All the breathless political commentary claiming Alison Redford won the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party’s leadership by “harnessing the women’s vote” make me want to scream. Last time I checked that was legal.
And even if it is true that a majority of the people who voted for her were women (nobody really knows as the PC Party doesn’t release demographic information about voters – but let’s not let lack of data interfere with rhetoric), that doesn’t make her victory any less legitimate.
When Premier-Designate Alison Redford is sworn in on Friday, she will be the eighth woman to be sworn in as a premier of a Canadian province or territory. Three conservatives, three liberals and two non-partisans. And isn’t that political distribution exactly as it should be – as diverse as women themselves?
Rita Johnston was the first. She took the helm of the British Columbia Social Credit Party in 1991. Then came Nellie Cournoyea in the Northwest Territories (1991-1995), Catherine Calbeck in Prince Edward Island (1993-1996) and Pat Duncan in the Yukon (2000-2002).
Four of the eight are in office today: Eva Aariak in Nunavut, Kathy Dunderdale in Newfoundland and Labrador, Christie Clark in British Columbia and, of course, Redford.
And good on them. The depth, breadth and diversity of our political leadership is increasing. I am still waiting for some political commentators to catch up.
