Guergis for all the wrong reasons.” It’s a similar problem for the Liberals. “There hasn’t been anyone there for
the Martha Liberals, Hall even Findlay…
hasn’t got that type of al- lure to become the one woman who is going to shine in the Liberal Par- ty,” says Canseco. It’s interesting to look back at Brian Mulroney, a Conservative who unlike Harper enjoyed strong majorities. Turnbull says that Mulroney when first elected “had a personality that would have been attractive to women.” He also had a number of prominent women ministers in his government – such as Pat Carney, Kim Campbell, Barbara McDougall. Dasko notes, “Mulroney was a more popular Prime Min- ister, but he did better with women. Under Brian Mul- roney the Conservative Party was a bigger tent, it was a centrist government, and that’s the kind of government that women tend to like.”
In the macho world of federal politics and news, there can be a value judgement attached to male and female issues that gets in the way. The danger is that the issues that motivate women voters can get dismissed as trivial or pedestrian. That’s a mistake.
There’s another reason to listen carefully to women
voters according to Leslie Turnbull: “Women almost al- ways make up a higher proportion of the undecided vote.” Undecided voters, swing or cross-pressured voters and late deciders are all more likely to be women. And late decid- ers can be incredibly influential. People in politics know how we hang on their words at focus groups, even as their inability to decide drives us crazy. So are women deciding elections in Canada? “They’re deciding close elections” clarifies Turnbull. Dasko points to Jean Chretien’s 1997 election win. “I’m convinced that women voters gave Chretien his majority government. Women voted for the Liberals in greater numbers than men and he was just on the edge of being reduced to a minority. That election was very close, and women did put
him over the top, she recounts. To the idea that women voters are more influential, Canseco says, “There is something to be said about that, absolutely. Late deciders are waiting for something, wait- ing to see what the parties will deliver to them. That’s the group you want to cater to – it’s important the parties find specific policies to speak to those voters.” So for parties that want to light up the sky for women,
they need to get talking about the things women care about. “When I look at the Liberal Party right now, with Michael Ignatieff talking about an initiative for home care, that is a perfect women’s issue. It’s a perfect thing that is going to attract female voters,” notes Dasko. Canseco’s prescription for Harper is to get back to ba-
sics. “They have to go back to those easily digestible snip- pets, and talk about issues women care about.” But in the macho world of federal politics and news,
there can be a value judgement attached to male and fe- male issues that gets in the way. The danger is that the issues that motivate women voters can get dismissed as trivial or pedestrian. That’s a mistake. Women – who be- lieve in the role of government and that we all share a responsibility to care for each other – start to listen up when we talk about concrete things that make a difference for people. “You can make any issue sexy if you frame it properly,” says Canseco.
And Canadian politics is at an impasse looking for an
end. We’re in a holding pattern, and women may be the ones to break the pattern. Whoever gets themselves or- ganized to deliver the concrete solutions that women are looking for could make themselves #1.
Maya Russell is Managing Director with NOW Communica- tions, a full-service advertising agency serving progressive causes across Canada.
December 2010 | Campaigns & Elections 35
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