English Posts

Parliamentary Relatives: Dale Lovick and Jan Pullinger

This entry is part 8 of 10 in the series Vol 45 No. 4 (Winter)

Parliamentary Relatives: Dale Lovick and Jan Pullinger

Dale Lovick and Jan Pullinger married while both were serving as Members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Lovick was first elected in the 1986 provincial general election and Pullinger was elected in a 1989 by-election. They both represented the electoral district of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island until 1991, when multi-Member electoral districts were eliminated in B.C. From 1991, Lovick continued to represent the electoral district of Nanaimo while Pullinger represented the neighbouring electoral district of Cowichan-Ladysmith. They both served as MLAs until the dissolution of the 36th Parliament in 2001.

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Jackets, ties, and comparable attire: Maintaining gender norms through legislative assembly dress codes

Jackets, ties, and comparable attire: Maintaining gender norms through legislative assembly dress codes

Kate Korte was a 2021-2022 BC Legislative Intern. She is currently pursuing a law degree at the University of Victoria. Kate would like to extend her sincere thanks to the legislative librarians that assisted in researching this article and Legislative Intern Aidan Guerreiro for assistance with French translation.

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Whose Interests Matter? Representational Priorities among Members of Parliament in communities with high rates of COVID-19

This entry is part 5 of 8 in the series Vol 45 No. 3 (Autumn)

Whose Interests Matter? Representational Priorities among Members of Parliament in communities with high rates of COVID-19

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Women’s Descriptive Representation in Canadian Politics: Impacts of Electoral Reform

This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series Vol 45 No. 3 (Autumn)

Women’s Descriptive Representation in Canadian Politics: Impacts of Electoral Reform

Mark Johnson recently graduated with an M.A. in Political Science from Carleton University. He also holds graduate degrees in Communication and Political Management.

Despite significant advances in recent decades, women in Canada continue to be underrepresented in Canada’s House of Commons. Many reasons have been discussed for this gap, not the least of which is the impact of the Single Member Plurality (SMP) electoral system. Indeed, the effects of the electoral system reverberate through the candidate aspiration, nomination, and election phases. Using evidence from the Alternative Vote (AV) electoral system of Australia and the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system of New Zealand, Canada’s electoral system will be critically evaluated from the perspective of women’s descriptive representation. The evidence suggests that, while adopting Australia’s AV system could be expected to have a minimal impact at best, should Canada switch to MMP, while no panacea for women’s underrepresentation, we would likely see a higher proportion of women elected to the House of Commons compared to results currently seen under SMP.

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