Women in the 42nd Canadian Parliament

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The 42nd Canadian Parliament includes a record number of female Members of Parliament, with 88 women elected to the 338-member House of Commons of Canada (26%) in the 2015 election. [1] This represents a gain of twelve seats over the previous record of 76 women in the 41st Canadian Parliament. By contrast, the 114th United States Congress had 105 women sitting in the 435-seat United States House of Representatives.

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Of those 88 women, 54 were elected for the first time in the 2015 election.

In his first speech following the election, Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau indicated that for the first time in Canadian history, he planned to appoint a fully gender-balanced Cabinet. [2] On November 4, he announced a cabinet which included 15 men and 15 women.

The longest-serving woman in the 42nd Parliament is Hedy Fry, who was first elected in the 1993 election.

On April 3, 2017 four women were elected in by-elections. As of December 2017, there are 92 women currently serving in parliament, representing 27.2 per cent of elected Members of Parliament.

Party standings

PartyTotal women candidates in the 2015 Election % women of total candidates in the 2015 ElectionTotal women elected in the 2015 Election% women elected of total women candidates in the 2015 Election% women elected of total elected in the 2015 ElectionTotal current women members of the House of Commons % women of current members in the House of Commons
Liberal 105 (of 338)31.1%50 (of 184)47.6%27.1%54 (of 183)29.5%
New Democrats 145 (of 338)42.8%18 (of 44)12.4%40.9%18 (of 44)40.9%
Conservative 66 (of 338)19.5%17 (of 99)25.7%17.1%19 (of 97)19.6%
Bloc Québécois 22 (of 78)28.2%2 (of 10)9.1%20.0%2 (of 10)20.0%
Green 135 (of 336)39.9%1 (of 1)0.74%100%1 (of 1)100%
Independents 0 (of 2)0%
Total88 (of 338)26.0%94 (of 338)27.8%
Table source: [3] Table source: 42nd Canadian Parliament

Female Members

† denotes women who were newly elected in the 2015 election and are serving their first term in office. †† denotes women who were not members of the 41st parliament, but previously served in another parliament. ††† denotes women who were newly elected in byelections since the 2015 election.

NamePartyElectoral districtNotes
  Leona Alleslev Liberal Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill
 Hon. Rona Ambrose Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland Leader of the Opposition
  Niki Ashton New Democrat Churchill—Keewatinook Aski
 Hon. Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs
  Sheri Benson New Democrat Saskatoon West
 Hon. Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar
 Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau Liberal Compton—Stanstead Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for La Francophonie
  Rachel Blaney New Democrat North Island—Powell River
  Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek
  Sylvie Boucher†† Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix
  Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet New Democrat Hochelaga
  Ruth Ellen Brosseau New Democrat Berthier—Maskinongé
  Celina Caesar-ChavannesLiberal Whitby
 Hon. Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo Minister of Small Business and Tourism
  Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth
  Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington
  Anju Dhillon Liberal Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle
 Hon. Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North Minister of Science
  Linda Duncan New Democrat Edmonton—Strathcona
  Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport
  Rosemarie Falk††† Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster Elected in a by-election on December 11, 2017
 Hon. Diane Finley Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk
 Hon. Judy Foote Liberal Bonavista—Burin—Trinity Minister of Public Services and Procurement
  Mona Fortier††† Liberal Ottawa—Vanier Elected in a by-election on April 3, 2017
 Hon. Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale Minister of Foreign Affairs
 Hon. Hedy Fry Liberal Vancouver Centre Longest Current Serving Female Member of Parlimanet
  Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke
  Marilène Gill Bloc Québécois Manicouagan
  Marilyn Gladu Conservative Sarnia—Lambton
  Pamela Goldsmith-Jones Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country
 Hon. Karina Gould Liberal Burlington Minister of Democratic Institutions
 Hon. Patty Hajdu Liberal Thunder Bay—Superior North Minister of Status of Women then Minister of Employment, Workforce and Labour
  Cheryl Hardcastle New Democrat Windsor—Tecumseh
  Rachael Harder Conservative Lethbridge
  Carol Hughes New Democrat Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing
  Gudie Hutchings Liberal Long Range Mountains
  Georgina Jolibois New Democrat Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River
 Hon. Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic—Cartierville Minister of Canadian Heritage
  Yvonne Jones Liberal Labrador
  Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margaret's
  Iqra Khalid Liberal Mississauga—Erin Mills
  Kamal Khera Liberal Brampton West
  Stephanie Kusie††† Conservative Calgary Midnapore Elected in a by-election on April 3, 2017
  Jenny Kwan New Democrat Vancouver East
  Emmanuella Lambropoulos††† Liberal Saint-Laurent Elected in a by-election on April 3, 2017
  Linda Lapointe Liberal Rivière-des-Mille-Îles
  Hélène Laverdière New Democrat Laurier—Sainte-Marie
 Hon. Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine Minister of National Revenue
 Hon. Kellie Leitch Conservative Simcoe—Grey
  Alaina Lockhart Liberal Fundy Royal
  Karen Ludwig Liberal New Brunswick Southwest
  Sheila Malcolmson New Democrat Nanaimo—Ladysmith
  Irene Mathyssen New Democrat London—Fanshawe
  Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands Leader of the Green Party
  Karen McCrimmon Liberal Kanata—Carleton
 Hon. Catherine McKenna Liberal Ottawa Centre Minister of the Environment and Climate Change
  Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo
  Alexandra Mendès†† Liberal Brossard—Saint-Lambert
 Hon. MaryAnn Mihychuk Liberal Kildonan—St. Paul Formerly Minister of Employment, Workforce and Labour
 Hon. Maryam Monsef Liberal Peterborough—Kawartha Minister of Democratic Institutions then Minister of Status of Women
  Christine Moore New Democrat Abitibi—Témiscamingue
  Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra
  Eva Nassif Liberal Vimy
  Mary Ng††† Liberal Markham-Thornhill Elected in a by-election on April 3, 2017
  Jennifer O'Connell Liberal Pickering—Uxbridge
  Monique Pauzé Groupe parlementaire québécois Repentigny
  Ginette Petitpas Taylor Liberal Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
 Hon. Jane Philpott Liberal Markham—Stouffville
  Anne Minh-Thu Quach New Democrat Salaberry—Suroît
 Hon. Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities
 Hon. Lisa Raitt Conservative Milton
  Tracey Ramsey New Democrat Essex
  Yasmin Ratansi†† Liberal Don Valley East
 Hon. Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill
  Sherry Romanado Liberal Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne
  Kim Rudd Liberal Northumberland—Peterborough South
  Ruby Sahota Liberal Brampton North
  Brigitte Sansoucy New Democrat Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot
  Deb Schulte Liberal King—Vaughan
 Hon. Judy Sgro Liberal Humber River—Black Creek
  Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle
  Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South
  Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland
  Filomena Tassi Liberal Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas
  Karine Trudel New Democrat Jonquière
  Anita Vandenbeld Liberal Ottawa West—Nepean
  Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London
  Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville
  Dianne Watts Conservative South Surrey—White Rock
 Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould Liberal Vancouver Granville Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
 Hon. Alice Wong Conservative Richmond Centre
  Jean Yip††† Liberal Scarborough-Agincourt Elected in a by-election on December 11, 2017
  Kate Young Liberal London West
  Salma Zahid Liberal Scarborough Centre

See also

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References

  1. "We have a record number of Female MPs, but hold the applause". CBC News, October 20, 2015.
  2. "Justin Trudeau to appoint new cabinet with equal gender balance". CBC News, October 20, 2015.
  3. Parliament of Canada: Women Candidates in General Elections