Off the back of news this week that the former prime minister of Canada, Kim Campbell has she wants gender parity in Canadian politics comes another wave of rationale for why we don’t need quotas for women.  According to Campbell, sex is “the fundamental category where parity ought to be assured” and her plan is for Canadians to elect one man and one woman to represent each constituency.   Susan Martinuk in this article in the Calgary Herald argues Campbell is “a woman who achieved it the hard way — she earned it. She didn’t need incentives or quotas to make her way into our highest office.”  So apparently, Martinuk argues, no one else needs them either.

Of course it’s great that one woman was able to make it all the way to the top of public office in Canada, as is the case here in Australia at present.  However we need more women like Campbell – not less – who are willing to now step forward, share their experiences and obstacles and make positive change to ensure the number of women in public office (and corporate leadership, for that matter) is representative of our communities.

Afraid of the big bad quota?  Not me… in fact I wouldn’t mind seeing something like that here in Australia.  How about you?