Women in Canadian Politics: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

In today’s Big Story podcast, last week, more women than ever before were elected across the country. It’s a new record for a number that hasn’t always inched upwards in every election, and that’s worth celebrating. But among the victories, most of the winners were incumbents, and very few women were chosen by their parties to run in so-called ‘safe’ ridings.

And then, two days after Canada voted, we got an example of the cost of being a powerful female politician, when Catherine McKenna’s Ottawa riding office was defaced with a gendered slur. In the wake of never-before-seen success, are Canadian political parties of all stripes doing enough to encourage women to get into the political game, help them win office and protect them once they get there?

GUEST: Sarah Boesveld, writer/reporter/podcaster

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify

You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.