Journal Article

Minorities and elections in Canada's fourth party system: macro and micro constraints and opportunities

Tossutti, Livianna S, Najem, Tom Pierre

2002

Overview

Between 1965 and 1988, ethnic representation increased from 9.4 percent to 16.3 percent of all MPs. The majority of these individuals were elected in Ontario, followed by Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia. Visible minorities made less progress, with their representation ranging from.8 percent in 1968 to 2 percent in 1988 (Pelletier, pp. 129-131). Black and Lakhani's survey of the 1993 parliamentary cohort found that 24.1 percent, or 71 MPs, cited sole minority origins. Of these, 51 were elected as Liberals and 15 as Reformers. Minorities were thinly represented in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, while MPs of north and east European origins were concentrated in the Prairies. Visible minorities were primarily drawn from ridings in the Toronto and Vancouver areas. While ethnocultural minorities were represented in proportion to their presence in the population, only 4.4 percent of MPs were drawn from visible minority groups who made up an estimated 9.4 percent of the population at the time (1997). A study on the cultural backgrounds of candidates in the 1993 general election found that about 18 percent cited sole ethnic minority origins and 3.5 percent were visible minorities (Black, 2000b, p. 152). Following the 1997 election, there was little change in the number of parliamentarians with sole minority origins (25.2 percent). However, the election saw visible minority representation improve to 6.3 percent of MPs, still short of their presence in the population of 11.2 percent (Black, 2000a). Inter-provincial differences in ethnic nomination rates have also persisted in the fourth party system (Table 5). For most elections, there were weak to moderate relationships between the geographic location of the ridings and the rate of ethnic and visible minority candidacies; more ethnic candidates were nominated in Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia, while visible minority candidates were most common in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta. Where direct comparisons are possible, these patterns are consistent with third party system trends and with the provinces' histories as prime destinations for immigrants. However, it is equally important to examine whether these figures reflect the composition of provincial populations. In 1993, ethnic minorities in Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia were under-represented in comparison to their presence in the population. In New Brunswick and Quebec, the share of ethnic candidates was proportional to their representation in the population, while in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, ethnic candidates were over-represented in comparison to their actual presence.(6) Interestingly, while higher proportions of ethnic and visible minority candidates were nominated in Ontario and the western provinces, there were no statistically significant inter-provincial variations in their electoral success rates, although this can be partly attributed to many low or empty cell counts for Atlantic Canada and the visible minority categories (Table 6). Quebec-based ethnic candidates were less successful than their counterparts west of the Ottawa River. Between 17.5 and 19.1 percent of them were elected between 1993 and 2000, compared to a range of 20.6 to 40 percent of ethnic contenders in Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia. Future research needs to address why ethnic candidates from Quebec were less successful, but some preliminary explanations lie in the poor competitive position of the small number of ethnic candidates fielded by the BQ, the poor prospects for PC, Reform/Alliance and NDP ethnic candidates in the province, and the fact that ethnic Liberal candidates did not achieve the virtual 100 percent success rate of their colleagues in Ontario.

• Publisher: Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal
• Subject: Asians / Assertiveness / Biculturalism / Candidates / Committees / Competition / Cultural Background / Cultural heritage / Cultural Pluralism / Destinations / Elections / Ethnic differences / Ethnic groups / Ethnicity / Identification (Psychology) / Immigrants / Incentives / Individual Characteristics / Intercultural sensitivity / Minority & ethnic groups / Minority groups / Political parties / Politicians / Population / Power Structure / Protestants / Provinces / Racial differences / Racial Identification / Representation / Search Committees (Personnel) / Space / Time