Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went viral for explaining why his 2015 cabinet was equally split between men and women, but his party is a little bit behind when it comes to gender-diverse candidates in 2021.
According to Equal Voice, a Canadian advocacy group, the Liberal Party scores second-last among Canada's major parties when it comes to the percentage of election candidates who are women or gender diverse — almost 10% behind the leaders of the pack, the NDP.
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The Bloc Québécois comes in second place, with 47% of its candidates being women or gender diverse, 3% ahead of the Greens at 44%.
Next is the Liberal Party at 43%, and in last place is the Conservative Party with 33%.
In total, Equal Voice reports that women and gender diverse people account for 43% of candidates across the five major parties, up slightly from 42% in the 2019 election. It's the highest such percentage ever in a Canadian election, helped in part by the fact that almost every major party (excluding the Greens) has increased their percentage of women or gender diverse candidates since 2019.
"The next step beyond the analysis of these nomination numbers is electing more women and gender diverse people on September 20," Equal Voice Executive Director Eleanor Fast said in a press release on September 1. "We hope to see the 44th Parliament include 40 per cent women and gender diverse MPs, making a significant stride towards the ultimate goal of parity in the House of Commons."
As of the last parliamentary session, 29.6% of total elected representatives in Canada are women or gender diverse.