Good on Charest

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081218.wcharest1218/BNStory/National

For his second straight ministry, Charest has implemented a gender equitable cabinent, including having women in the important positions of Finance Minister, Deputy Premier, Treasury Board President, Justice Minister, and several others. Charest and the PLQ had plenty of female candidates with heavy use of a quota system or leader appointments, and the federal Liberals can learn from this.

For example, lets look at our current frontbench critcs. Women are critics for only 9 portfolios, and out of the high-profile critic positions like Finance, Defense, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Environment, Justice, etc, a grand total of 0 are held by female MP's. Only Carolyn Bennett in Health, Ruby Dhalla in Labour, and Judy Sgro in National Revenue have somewhat important positions, and for a party while claims to promote women in politics, this needs to change. We cannot mirror the Conservatives who appoint (albeit in this new ministry a record number of) women to middling positions. Copying this and downplaying the role of women in politics is no way to win back voters of all genders who have abandoned the Liberal Party recently.