More women elected to Sask. Legislative Assembly, according to Canadian organization

A large percentage of newly elected MLAs in Saskatchewan are women, according to a Canadian organization called Equal Voice.

This is similar to B.C and New Brunswick during their elections where more gender-diverse individuals were elected.

"The big significant one is that British Columbia hit the 50 per cent mark for the first time in Canadian history. New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have really important gains on this front to note as well,” said Chi Nyguen, the Executive Director of Equal Voice.

Equal Voice is a Canadian Organization that supports women in politics.

Around 35 per cent of Saskatchewan’s Legislative Assembly are women, but there is still work to do, according to Nyguen.

"In the last legislature, you're at 27 per cent. Women are 52 percent of the population, and our legislature should reflect that."

The NDP’s Brittney Senger, a newly elected MLA in the riding of Saskatoon Southeast, said she believes good representation in government is crucial.

"I think it is crucial to the direction that any government goes. It's very important to have a range of voice of perspectives, of personalities and of backgrounds at the table when developing policies."

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Senger said it’s also important to include those with ethnic backgrounds.

"I think it's important that we're mindful of, you know, beyond gender, cultural sensitivity. That's something that [I] often hear about and policies in healthcare around cultural sensitivity, policies in education around cultural sensitivity.

“About 25 per cent of candidates who were successful in their nomination and put their name on the ballot in this election for our party were women. Coincidentally, about 25 percent of our candidates were also visible minorities,” said Julie Leggot, the Deputy Chief of Staff, Communications & Press Secretary to Premier Scott Moe.

“Of course, beyond the candidates on the ballot many, many more individuals that participated in the nomination process or volunteered on a campaign were women,” she said.

About 46 per cent of the newly elected NDP caucus are women or part of a visible minority.

Nguyen said Equal Voice is calling on all political parties across the country to keep this positive momentum going by nominating more women or gender-diverse people in upcoming elections.