About this Book

Quebec women have had the right to vote and run for office in provincial and federal forums for at least six decades, yet they continue to occupy a minority of seats in Quebec’s National Assembly and in Canada’s House of Commons and Senate.

To explain this situation, Women and Parliamentary Representation in Quebec examines women’s engagement in politics from 1791 to the present. It begins by tracing the path that led to women achieving the right to vote and run for office and then draws on statistics and interviews with women senators and members of Parliament to complete an in-depth portrait of Quebec women’s under-representation and its main causes – political parties and the voting system. This innovative account not only documents the significant democratic deficit in Canada’s parliamentary systems, it also outlines strategies to improve women’s access to legislative representation in Canada and elsewhere.