The text below is an excerpt from the original article by Giovanna Mingarelli, published June 27, 2010 on the Equal Voice Blog.
Samara, a Canadian based charitable organization that studies citizen engagement within Canadian democracy, recently released a report entitled: The Accidental Citizen. Authored by Samara co-founders, Michael MacMillan and Alison Loat, the report analyzes exit interviews that were conducted with 65 Members of Parliament (MPs) who served in Canada’s 38th and 39th Parliaments (2004-2008). It presents fascinating findings regarding how MPs chose a life in politics and their reflections surrounding their decisions to run.
Contrary to popular belief, Samara found that the path to politics was far from calculated – it was, more often than not, accidental. The majority of MPs interviewed weren’t lawyers or millionaires; nor had they spent years in the political arena greasing their political machines before making the decision to run. On average, the MPs were “normal”, often middle-class, recognized community leaders with educational and professional backgrounds that varied considerably. Some were recruited to run with a political “ask” from party representatives, whereas others were encouraged to run by family members and close friends. They were priests, nurses, small business managers, and Grand Chiefs, to name a few.
What’s more, despite the flurry of differences as to how they got to the gate, what MPs found challenging was the chaotic and often blurry nomination process, or what the authors refer to as “The Black Box.” In Canada, the nomination process is decided by each party and is often unwieldy and unruly. Candidates often cited this time as the worst part of running for elected office. However, Samara noted several benefits to the chaotic nomination process, which include: providing candidates with a platform to debate issues, exploring the finer details of community issues and policy, and providing “good practice for the general election.”
So, what does this mean in the context of Equal Voice and electing more women in Canada? Anyone can run for office.
