On women Liberal nomination candidates

These pieces http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/the-hurdle-to-leap-in-the-next-election/article1426310/ and http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/where-are-the-female-politicians/article1426910/ talk about some reasons why women are underrepresented in Canada when it comes to elected office. One of the reasons debated is the nomination process, that women have a harder time actually winning a nomination in the first place, let alone winnng a riding. With that in mind, I examined the track record of female candidate in Liberal nomination contests during this cycle. I only examined ridings in which an actual vote took place, no uncontested wins/appointments. Some notes on scoring. In a riding in which one or more female candidates lost to a male, that was deemed a loss. If a nomination was exclusively female, it is scored a tie. If a woman won the nomination over a mixed-gender field, such as in Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, it was scored as a win, and of course, a woman defeating one or more men counts as a win.

From coast to coast.

Cumberland – Colchester – Musquodoboit Valley: Tracey Parsons loses to Jim Burrows (loss)

Mirimachi: Véronique Arsenault and Robert D. Hutchison lose to Keith Vickers
(loss)

Fredericton: Pamela Campbell beats Wendy Robbins
(tie)

Laval: Eva Nassif defeats Alia Haddad and Jean Roussel
(win)

Pontiac: Cindy-Duncan McMillan defeats Greg Fergus and Georges Lafontaine
(win)

Ottawa Centre: Scott Bradley defeats Janet Yale
(loss)

Ottawa-Orleans: Judith Cane and Rainer Bloess lose to David Bertschi
(loss)

Glengarry--Prescott--Russell: Julie Bourgeois beats Ken Hill, Gilles Roch Greffe, and Maryanne Kampouris
(win)

Leeds-Grenville: Marjory Loveys beats Margaret Heather Rothgeb
(tie)

Northumberland--Quinte West: Kim Rudd beats Andrew G. McFadyen and Christine A. Herrington
(win)

Oakville: Max Khan over Connie Laurin-Bowie, Mary Chapin, Stuart Howe, Darla Campbell
(loss)

Sarnia-Lambton: Timothy Fugard beats Anne Gillis
(loss)

Huron-Bruce: Charlie Bagnato over Maarten Bokhout and Deb Homuth.
(loss)

Sudbury: Carol Hartman beats Réjean Grenier, Gary A. Holman, and Janet Gasparini
(win)

Calgary West: Jennifer Pollack over Ernie Corbett
(win)

Saainch-Gulf Islands: Renée Hetherington over Christopher Spence
(win)

All counted, that gives female nomination candidates thus far a record of 7-7-2, but we can break it down a bit more. The regionals are 0-2-1 in Atlantic Canada, 2-0 in Quebec, 3-6-1 in Ontario, and 2-0 in Western Canada. Something I would really to do is compare rural/suburban/urban ridings, but since a number of these ridings (such as Saainch-Gulf Islands, Ottawa-Orleans, and Sarnia-Lambton blur the lines, it's difficult.

I think this is the most telling stat. Of the above ridings which could be considered "winnable" (Liberal candidate came within 15% of winning in 2008, meaning that Liberal nomination voters had a decent chance of electing a candidate who would make it to the House), Saanich-Gulf Islands, Pontiac, Sudbury, Huron-Bruce, Oakville, Glengarry – Prescott – Russell, Ottawa Centre, Ottawa-Orleans, Laval, Fredericton, Miramichi, the record of female candidates is 5-5-1, meaning in the ridings that could potentially send new Liberal MP's to the House, Liberal nomination voters do not have seemed to have had a problem giving female candidates a fighting chance, with a solid .500 record (this number is particularly good considering the goal for next election should be a House with at least 30% female candidates.

As of right now, according to Pundits' Guide, the Liberals and NDP are tied for the lead in terms of female candidates, with 35.2% of both parties nominated candidates being female. However, the NDP lags far behind when it comes to actually getting women in electable seats. As shown above, the Liberals have had 5 female candidates outright win nominations in winnable seats, and thats not even including the various appointed/acclaimed candidates in other winnable ridings for the Liberals. In the NDP's most winnable ridings in which they have nominated a candidate (11 by my count), only 3 of them will feature a female candidate.

The numbers don't lie: The Liberals are playing a much bigger role than the NDP in advancing the cause of increasing the number of women in Parliament.