Canada

Men have greater confidence in their ability to serve as politicians and are more likely to have been personally encouraged to enter politics, a new poll shows, underscoring factors why women are under-represented at all levels of elected office in Canada.

One obstacle highlighted by the poll for the Environics Institute is the degree to which men and women see themselves as qualified to run for election and the amount of encouragement they get to throw their hat into the political ring.

Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial leaders are in Saskatchewan this week, but for the first time in years, the annual gathering won’t have women at the table.

“Symbolically, it’s very significant that there is no woman premier,” said Sylvia Bashevkin, a political-science professor at the University of Toronto, who researches women in politics and recently edited a book on the effect of women in the premier’s office.

For the first time ever, members of Parliament will have the right to take paid parental leave from their jobs on Parliament Hill when they adopt or give birth.

The House of Commons unanimously agreed to new rules that will allow new parents who are serving as MPs to take up to 12 months of parental leave. The rules give MPs who are expecting babies the right to take up to four weeks off as leave at the ends of pregnancies as well.

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada has said that when women play an active role in conflict prevention and peace building, and when their rights are respected, we are better able to achieve long-term, sustainable peace. As Canada’s first Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security, Ms. O’Neill will lead our country’s efforts to support women, help prevent and end conflict, and build a better and fairer world.

Despite Canada’s self-proclaimed feminist prime minister and gender parity in the federal cabinet, Canada falls well short when it comes to women’s representation in federal politics.

Artificial intelligence is tracking the vile comments hurled at female Alberta politicians during the election campaign.

“One of the major barriers that women face when they're thinking of running for office, especially lately, is the abuse they receive online,” explained ParityYEG co-founder Lana Cuthbert.

The bot, sponsored by Edmonton non-profit ParityYEG, tracks every tweet mentioning a woman in the election race.