THE RURBAN FRINGE

Women Needed To Help Shape Strong Public Policy

Posted on | November 26, 2009 | No Comments

According to a recent statistic … if women business owners were their own country, they would be the 5th largest GDP in the world.* 

The finer points of this statement are somewhat debatable, I’m sure, but it raises an interesting point … if women are such a force to be reckoned with, how can we bring them into fuller participation in policy making - from chief executives, to legislators, to judges, to politicians, to leaders of not-for-profit organizations, development enterprises and social movements?

Dr. Roger Gibbins, President and CEO of Canada West Foundation, kicked off this train of thought with his recent Op-Ed questioning why – in Canada – there is an obvious lack of consistently strong, powerful female public policy voices.

“Although women constitute more than 50 per cent of the population, at most, women have held less than half of that percentage in governing bodies in this country.  Any progress made in the last 30 years has since dropped or stalled.”

- Dr. Roger Gibbins

This is seen at all levels – from local to international – and highlights more than just a void in the rurban arena … there is a void across the board.

Yet to address this issue, the Americans established Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), a national bi-partisan public policy organization that advocates for and on behalf of women.  The UK Women in Public Policy (WiPP) also operates as a cross-party, cross-sector network association.  But to the best of my knowledge, Canada has no such organization.**

This isn’t simply a ‘women’s issue.’ 

As women’s visibility in and impact on public life has grown over the past few decades, there will continue to be a need for inclusionary thought, debate, and public policy formation to better represent our changing society.

Strong leadership benefits us all.

Read the full Op-Ed piece by Dr. Roger Gibbins here.

***

 *Source:  Women Impacting Public Policy

**Note:  Status of Women Canada (SWC) exists as a federal government agency – not as an independent organization - which aims to promote the participation of women in the economic, social and democratic life of Canada.

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