Ontario’s Liberal Party wants more female candidates it fields in the 2022 provincial election. To make it easier for women to run the party is lowering registration fees, launching an aggressive search campaign and, if necessary, having only women run in nominations.
New leader Steven Del Duca has pledged to have women make up at least 50 per cent of the party’s candidates in the next election.
The party will also significantly cut registration fees for candidates who are under the age of 30, and make party memberships free – echoing changes made by the federal Liberals under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mr. Del Duca has also promised that 30 of the party’s 124 candidates will be under 30 years old.
The party is also creating a province-wide candidate search team, to be led by three women, to recruit more women to run. In some cases, riding association will be told they can only consider female candidates.
In Ontario, 39 per cent of the legislature is currently made up of women, according to Equal Voice, an organization seeking to elect more women in Canada. During the 2018 election, the NDP was successful in electing 50 per cent women. Four of the seven elected Liberal MPPs are women, and the PCs nominated and elected around 32 per cent women.
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