Today, MLA Leonard spoke in the Legislature about the role of women in politics. You can read the transcript below, or watch the video here.

Once again, as we have for over a century, we’re set to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. You have to admire the determination that triumphs every year as we continue to work toward a more gender-balanced world. So 2019’s theme is #balanceforbetter.

One of the most important ways women can contribute to reaching a goal of equality is to get involved in politics. But before we consider why women need a place at the decision-making table and why it is still a challenge to achieve gender balance in government, I’d like to walk down memory lane and get reacquainted with some influential women in Canada, particularly in B.C. Mary Ellen Smith was the first woman elected to this Legislature in 1918. As a member of the Liberal government, she championed a minimum wage for women and girls to open the door for women as judges in the lower courts, social welfare for deserted wives, protection of women in the workplace and pensions for mothers.

Agnes Macphail was born in 1890 and trained to be a teacher. She became Canada’s first female Member of Parliament in 1921. She served there for 19 years and went on to serve as an elected member for deserted wives, protection of women in the workplace, and pensions for mothers.

Agnes Macphail was born in 1890 and trained to be a teacher. She became Canada’s first female Member of Parliament in 1921. She served there for 19 years and went on to serve as an elected member for the province of Ontario in the 1940s. She was responsible for Ontario’s first equal pay legislation that passed in 1951, her final year as an elected politician. What did she say about gender balance? “I want for myself what I want for other women, absolute equality.” And she also said: “Most women think politics aren’t ladylike. Well, I’m no lady. I’m a human being.”

In 1943, a CCFer — that’s a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party candidate — Ms. Macphail was elected to Ontario’s minority Legislature along with a second woman, Rae Luckock. Ms. Luckock was a seamstress by trade and originally set her political sights on the school board. At the provincial level, she advocated for free university tuition and improved rural education. And, of course, she championed equality for women, promoting equal pay for equal work, and pay for homemakers. After she was defeated in the next election, she went on to organize a petition with a million names that resulted in William Lyon Mackenzie King’s government stopping milling and baking companies from fixing the price of bread.

Grace MacInnis, daughter of CCF leader J.S. Woodsworth and Lucy Lillian Staples, was elected to B.C.’s Legislature in 1941 at the age of 36 and then as a Member of Parliament in 1965 until 1974. Her role model was Agnes Macphail. Ms. MacInnis recognized that men don’t usually focus on issues involving women. She raised the need for more child care so women didn’t have to choose between work and having children. She advocated for more opportunities for all women to train to qualify for better jobs. She debated affordable housing policies and the right to choose in order to reduce the amount of botched illegal abortions. Medicare, pensions, birth control — the list goes on of the many women’s causes she championed.

In 1972, Rosemary Brown was the first black woman elected to the provincial Legislature in Canada. British Columbia was served by Ms. Brown as a social worker and then as the first ombudswoman before she jumped into provincial politics, where she used her voice for equality for 14 years. I think my favourite quote of hers is: “To be black and female in a society which is both racist and sexist is to be in the unique position of having nowhere to go but up.”

In 1979, 54-year-old social worker Margaret Mitchell was elected MP for Vancouver East. She served for 14 years. She wanted to empower single moms. She raised the issue of children going to school without breakfast, the stigma of welfare, the lack of training opportunities for women. In 1982, when she raised the issue of battered women, where far too many wives were being beaten by their husbands, male MPs laughed at her. She famously fought back, saying: “This is no laughing matter.” She demanded legal recourse for these women and safe homes. She also wanted domestic abuse to be treated as a criminal offence, as in those days the statistics were telling: there were only two convictions out of 10,000 violent incidents.

Each of these women’s trail-blazing her stories indeed answers the original question of why women need a place at the decision-making table: to have a voice and a vote, to make a difference in the lives of women. And so we should celebrate, each of us who sit in this House with our own gender lens. I would like to acknowledge the work of the member from Richmond South Center, who installed the women MLA wall in the Hall of Honour.

But why is there still a challenge to achieve gender balance in government? We know that throughout the world, there’s a long way to go to achieve the goal of gender balance. We should be encouraged to see organizations like Canada’s Equal Voice being active. Their commitment to a better future was made all the more real to me when I met Sadie Cameron, the daughter of one of my husband’s colleagues back home in the constituency amongst the contingent of young women from UBC’s Equal Voice who came to the Legislature recently.

Equal Voice crosses all political parties. It is committed to increasing the number of nominations of women candidates and promoting electoral and other change that would increase the number of women in politics. They’ve explored what prevents women from entering politics. In comparing men and women, they’ve discovered that one in five women consider politics but men are twice as likely to consider it. Women tend to get involved in politics more gradually than men, and they don’t perceive themselves as knowing as much about politics as men do. Women worry about the public entering politics. In comparing men and women, they’ve discovered that one in five women consider politics, but men are twice as likely to consider it.

Women tend to get involved in politics more gradually than men, and they don’t perceive themselves as knowing as much about politics as men do. Women worry about the public persona facing discrimination and being critiqued. Even in today’s world, they worry about the increased judgment they would face for abandoning family responsibilities.

Today is a new day with renewed vigour and focus. We will overcome. We will never give up until we can say we have achieved equality for all.