When it comes to politics, mind the gap—the gender gap.
The chasm between men’s and women’s involvement in Canadian politics is still wide, but don’t despair. Some accomplished members of the Branksome community have insightful advice on positive ways of narrowing it, whether in running for elective office or just getting involved.
And at a crucial time for democracy, there is plenty of gap to make up. The UN Commission on the Status of Women notes that 107 countries have never had a female head of state, and that in 2024, a year full of elections around the world, women held only 27 per cent of seats in national parliaments. The push for more female involvement is not just a matter of gender justice. As the commission notes in a September 10, 2024 explainer, “Having more women in policymaking has shown to help advance legislation on crucial issues, such as health, education, childcare, infrastructure and ending violence against women, and to serve as an inspiration for girls to pursue higher education and career opportunities.”
Last November, the loss for a second time by a female candidate for president in the U.S. left many wondering if that country will ever elect a woman leader. While there were multiple factors in Kamala Harris’s defeat, the gender bias is real. Research shows that voters hold women to a higher standard than men, despite female candidates having similar or higher levels of qualifications for political office.
Things may or may not be different in Canada (we’ve had a female prime minister), but with the federal election this spring, it’s worth reflecting on the role gender plays. In the last parliament, 31 per cent of MPs were women. That’s an increase over 1997, when just 20.6 per cent were women. But if that sounds progressive, consider that Canada sits 68th globally when ranked by the number of women in national parliaments. In our history, we’ve had three female deputy prime ministers—but still no publicly elected female PM (Kim Campbell lost at the polls).
There’s room to do better—and at times we have. Of the six candidates who originally ran for the Liberal Party leadership recently, three were female. A female MP ran for the federal Conservative leadership in 2022, and the NDP and the Greens have each had two women at the top. Women frequently run and succeed at the provincial level, most recently premiers Susan Holt in New Brunswick and Danielle Smith in Alberta.
It’s encouraging to see more women in these high-level positions, but there’s clearly far to go. Four Branksome community members with direct political experience have a lot to say about stepping up to some form of public life and how to do it—whether it’s volunteering your time or running for MP.
The four are former campaign strategist Joanne COOK’73, political staffer Caroline WILLIAMS’13, school board chair Sarah PASHAGUMSKUM’89 and Canadian senator Donna Dasko, a past parent. For all of them, politics in some form has dominated their lives.
“MY MAIN THING WAS PUBLIC CONSULTATION—GETTING PEOPLE TOGETHER IN A ROOM AND TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING EVERYONE COULD AGREE ON.”
– Joanne COOK’73
Involvement can start early. Joanne Cook began by watching her parents and neighbours organize to fight against developers trying to “blockbust” their Davisville neighbourhood in Toronto to build high rises. By age nine, she was already stuffing flyers into people’s mailboxes and sitting in on community meetings held in her family room.
Recently retired from a career as a political strategist, Joanne worked as the overall organizer for federal election campaigns in 12 federal ridings in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, played a leading role on the campaign team that swept the first NDP government into power in Nova Scotia, and acted as a senior political and policy advisor to Nova Scotia’s NDP government. She says there’s still a huge cultural assumption that politics is a boys’ game.
“One of the big challenges is that you’re constantly underestimated,” Joanne says. “But it can also be a strength because they may not see you coming. Don’t assume you don’t have the skills, or shut off roads for yourself that nobody’s put a barrier across.”
Passionate about many causes, Joanne has also worked in the non-profit sector and environmental consulting. “My main thing was public consultation—getting people together in a room and trying to find something everyone could agree on,” she says. “Politics at its best is like that too. At its worst, it’s nasty, dirty, backstabbing—but at its best, it’s figuring out a way forward. And I really liked being in those rooms.
“The women I’ve seen be really good at politics aren’t playing a character from The West Wing,” she says. “They’re the ones who are thoughtful and pay attention to what people are actually saying—and not just because that’s the role they think they must play.”
Above all, don’t underestimate the power you may have. In 2024, Joanne was part of a team of women who helped Lina Hamid, a 35-year-old Sudanese Canadian, win an election to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly by mobilizing a last-minute grassroots campaign on a shoestring budget. Joanne credits the win—by 419 votes—to the mostly women volunteers from 18 to 75 years old who came together to support Hamid’s campaign.
“Find your tribe,” says Joanne. “If you want to get involved in politics, just walk into a campaign office and ask, ‘Is there something I can do?’ If you’re fortunate, skilled enough and in the right place at the right time, you can actually have an impact on what’s happening, even as a backroom staffer.”
“AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU DO IT BECAUSE YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT CHANGING THE WORLD, CHANGING THE COUNTRY AND MAKING IT A BETTER PLACE.”
– Caroline WILLIAMS’13
Some 40 years or so after Joanne first got involved, that’s exactly what Caroline Williams did—she walked into a Liberal candidate’s office in 2015 saying, “Hi, how can I help?” She had always taken an interest in politics but wasn’t sure what to do with it. Becoming fed up with Prime Minister Stephen Harper was her tipping point.
“Elections are a great opportunity to join politics, because everybody’s looking for volunteers,” says Caroline, who spent that election summer clipboard in hand. “Knocking on doors to talk to strangers takes a lot of courage, especially when you’re 19 at the time, but it’s the best way to do democratic engagement. Political parties are really built off the backs of volunteers, more than anything else.
“You tend to work with the party you’re most aligned with because politics is values-based. At the end of the day, you do it because you’re passionate about changing the world, changing the country and making it a better place.”
After graduating from the University of Edinburgh (where she also got involved in Scottish politics), Caroline started as a legislative assistant to Brampton Liberal MP Ruby Sahota in 2018. She then spent the next several years in various roles as a political staffer in the federal government. Most recently, she served as director of issues management in the office of then public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc.
“Absolutely, women are underrepresented in politics, and that has an impact,” says Caroline. “You’re going to notice differences with how your male colleagues are treated versus you, but this is far from exclusive to politics. It’s also important to recognize that different women will have different experiences and frankly, in many cases, harder challenges getting into politics than others.
“As a white woman, I shouldn’t walk into a boardroom and assume that because I’m speaking, I’m speaking for all women. It’s important to look around the table and see all the different diverse perspectives. That’s how you build the strongest policies, because you’re building federal policies for Canada, not just for a few people.”
If you’re thinking about running for office, Caroline suggests having conversations with people who’ve been politicians, because there are practical aspects to sort out. For instance, the impact on your career and on your family—what compromises you’re willing to make and if you’ve got the support network to handle it.
Moreover, notes Caroline, political office is not the only way to get involved. “Advocacy groups are a great way to start,” she says. “They’re not aligned with a political party, but their job is to speak to government and advance perspectives. There’s a huge space for people who care about a specific issue, whether it’s the environment, public safety, or just whether or not you want jets at Billy Bishop airport. You can advocate for a specific issue in a non-partisan way and effect a lot of change.”
“EVERY SINGLE THING THAT I DO, WORKING WITH MY COLLEAGUES, MY COUNCIL AND THE CREE SCHOOL BOARD IN OUR COMMUNITIES, IS TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY AND PUT US ON A PATH OF EMPOWERMENT INTO THE FUTURE.”
– Sarah PASHAGUMSKUM’89
Running for office was a challenge that Sarah Pashagumskum was willing to take.
Growing up in the Cree community of Eeyou Istchee in northern Quebec, she recalls becoming aware of news events early, including that political positions such as prime minister weren’t typically held by women. So when Violet Pachanos was elected as the first woman chief in their community, it was a pivotal moment.
“Seeing her example as a potential for my own future was empowering,” says Sarah, who was 16 at the time. “I really believe women taking on leadership roles is so necessary, not only for the unique perspectives that we bring, but to ensure there are role models for career paths and opportunities laid out for younger women who are looking for that particular challenge.”
Sarah has run and twice been elected to her community band council and twice been elected as chairperson of the Cree School Board—once in 2018 and again in 2021. In 2024, she was re-elected by acclamation for a third term. Additionally, she has been executive director at Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute in Oujé-Bougoumou since 2015 and has served on the board of the Canadian Museums Association.
Sarah’s parents, both teachers, were a major influence on her choices. Despite the trauma of being a residential school survivor, her father went on to graduate from university and become a school principal, turning education into a source of empowerment that enabled him to give back to his community.
“Witnessing that inspired me to follow the same type of path—to empower myself through education,” says Sarah, who holds a PhD in educational success for First Nations students. “Branksome was part of that, with so many role models of strong women within the school, and ensured that I engaged in post-secondary education so I was well placed to give back and work for my nation.
“I decided to throw my hat in the ring and run for the role of chairperson, knowing that because of my own background and my belief in the power of education, I had something really substantial to contribute.
“Every single thing that I do, working with my colleagues, my council and the Cree School Board in our communities, is to change the course of history and put us on a path of empowerment into the future. That really is the inspiration for what I do as a woman.”
“THERE ARE SO MANY IMPORTANT CAUSES AND THEY ALL NEED GOOD PEOPLE TO HELP RUN THEM, BE ON THE BOARDS AND ACT AS ADVISORS.”
– Donna Dasko
Donna Dasko understands the power of empowerment—and advocacy. A passionate believer in women’s representation in politics, she was appointed as a Canadian senator by then prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2018. She’s also been a national pollster and the co-founder of Equal Voice, a non-partisan organization aimed at electing more women in Canada.
In her job as senator, she meets many women advocates. “There’s lots of action in the area of violence against women, in social policy, health and social services—many groups that put forward ideas and proposals,” says Donna. “We just got a child-care policy in Canada that’s the result of years of activism by women. When you look at the gun-control community, there are huge numbers of women who are advocates there. It’s about getting involved and using your knowledge, experience and expertise to help organizations in the community in some way.”
Donna views advocacy as a springboard for women to enter politics, as this kind of hands-on experience is invaluable to help build a strong support network and the skills needed to be an effective political leader.
“You learn about how to get things done at the local or the community level,” she says. “This will take many women into the realm of active elected politics—at the municipal, provincial and federal level. Whatever your career is, whatever your job is, try to do something else as a volunteer. There are so many important causes and they all need good people to help run them, be on the boards and act as advisors.”
As a senator, what she’s found most satisfying is the ability to contribute to legislation. “The very first bill I worked on was the Divorce Act and I did some very important work to do with explicitly recognizing the role of violence in a relationship, and how it has to be taken into account for child custody,” she says. “You need to have the woman’s perspective.”
A key area of her earlier work was studying the gender gap in politics, beginning in the 1980s. Donna is a former senior vice-president of Environics Research Group Ltd. who helped build the firm from a small consultancy into one of Canada’s leading research firms. Her research and analysis on the differing perspectives and voting patterns between men and women was groundbreaking and attracted major media attention.
“That was a big topic of interest for me that nobody else was doing, so I really ran with it,” she says. “Polling was the perfect profession for a political junkie. I’m a data analyst, so I know how to look at data and try to interpret what it means.
“For instance, when people say they can’t find women who are willing to step up and run, it means they haven’t looked hard enough. In 2022, Equal Voice commissioned a national survey asking men and women if they had ever been approached to run for office. The result was 14 per cent of men said yes and only seven per cent of women said yes. So let’s not blame the women.
“I think women are willing to step up. We can see the number of women who were nominated in the last federal election is significant. But the political parties haven’t approached them the same way they’ve approached men. We can do better.”
And hopefully we will. With these Branksome women as inspiring role models for the country, the gap is sure to narrow.
