Brief: Toward a Democratic Voting System That Promotes Gender Equality
As early as 2002, as part of the Quebec National Assembly's Commission on Institutions, we, as an essential component of Montreal society, submitted recommendations supporting profound reforms to Quebec's electoral system. Women's representation in decision-making bodies is and has been a priority concern for the Table des groupes de femmes de Montréal for many years.
As part of the project À égalité pour décider ("For Equality in Decision-Making"), among others, the Table organized numerous training sessions for future candidates, a conference on parity, non-partisan dinner discussions between elected officials, future candidates and residents, etc. While we recognize that the proposed bill is a step forward from the current voting system, it still does not fully respond to the values of equality and does not allow for the attainment of objectives that the Table des groupes de femmes de Montréal considers non-negotiable.
On this point, we join our voices to the already-numerous others demanding that this bill be modified to better represent the people’s will and an equal representation of women and men. We also wish to show, with this document, our disagreement with the Conseil du statut de la femme du Québec, which supports the status quo.