Parties inch closer to gender parity in New Brunswick election

More women are running for office in New Brunswick this year than in any previous provincial election.

Of the 241 candidates, 93 are women – that’s 38.5 per cent. The percentage of women running for election has consistently risen since 2003, according to Elections New Brunswick data.

In 2014, 71 women and 149 men ran for office. Only eight of those women were elected, making up 16.3 per cent of the legislature.

READ MORE: All our New Brunswick election 2018 coverage

This year the NDP — the only provincial party led by a woman — has selected female candidates in 25 of 49 ridings, or 51 per cent women. The party says its team also includes one person of colour, one Indigenous candidate, and two openly transgender candidates.

In terms of gender parity, the Greens are close behind with 49 per cent female candidates. Three of its candidates are also Indigenous.

The Liberals sent out a press release before the campaign began touting their record number of female candidates.

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But they are are farther away from gender parity than either the Greens or the NDP.

The Liberals have selected 19 women in 49 of their ridings, meaning only 39 per cent of their candidates are women.

The Progressive Conservatives have 14 women and 35 men running.

The PCs says they do not track whether their candidates self-identified as visible minorities, Indigenous or LBTQ. It was not information they asked their candidates for.

They added that it was important for people to see themselves reflected in the politicians who represent them.

In a pre-election interview, party leader Blaine Higgs told Global News that while he thinks “it would be great” to have an equal number of women and men running, he won’t set that as a requirement.

“I don’t think that we should be setting a number and saying, ‘OK well we’re going to fill that number regardless because it looks good,’” Higgs said.

“I think we should be encouraging and finding ways to bring more females into the system because they want to be there. And they can be such a tremendous asset to any government.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think we should be encouraging and finding ways to bring more females into the system because they want to be there. And they can be such a tremendous asset to any government."

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The KISS NB Party has nine candidates running this year. Six are men and three are women.

There are also eight independent candidates, all of whom are men.

The field of candidates also come from diverse employment backgrounds, including sawmill operator, school bus driver, filmmaker and graphic design among the career backgrounds of candidates.

According to statistics provided by Elections New Brunswick, 39 candidates say they are retired.