Student representatives of Carleton’s political party chapters debated women’s issues in Up for Debate Carleton, a non-partisan event hosted by Oxfam Carleton and Carleton Equal Voice in the Unicentre atrium on Oct. 1.
The event was held in solidarity with the national Up for Debate alliance between various Canadian women’s rights organizations that called for a national televised debate between federal leaders on women’s issues.
Present at the debate were Carleton Conservatives Rachael Ostroff and Jessica Klasser, Carleton New Democrats Miriam Illman-White and Letycia Henriques, Carleton Liberals Hillary Martin and Trang Thai, and Carleton Campus Greens Simon Hunt and David Hodgson.
The debate was facilitated with questions contributed by various campus clubs and organizations.
Debate topics brought up during the debate included female representation in politics and leadership, sexual assault, reproductive health services, violence facing Aboriginal women, and transgender health.
Ostroff began the debate by talking about the Conservative Party recognizing the need for more female leadership. She added that in the 2011 federal election won by the Conservatives, a record number of female MPs were elected.
Illman-White said the NDP party had the most female MPs running in the current election.
Hunt said increasing female leadership in Parliament would be more doable by bringing in a proportional representation system.
Thai echoed Justin Trudeau’s promise to create a Parliament that has completely equal gender representation, a point which the Carleton Conservatives rebutted by saying quotas are “perhaps a band-aid solution to underlying problems.”
On the issue of sexual assault on campuses, Martin said the Liberal party would be committed to looking at strengthening punishments for serial offenders of domestic abuse.
Henriques said the NDP has proposed implementation of a federal bill that requires campuses to create and enforce compliant procedures and prevention programs for sexual assault on their campuses.
The Carleton Greens said more education revolving around consent and increasing funding to nonprofit organizations that support sexual assault victims is an important way to improve the situation.
Ostroff said the Conservative federal government’s recently passed Bill C-13 twill combat cyber sexual harassment, also noting sexual assault on campuses does not fall specifically under federal jurisdiction.
In response to the issue of access to reproductive health services, all student representatives said they take a pro-choice approach.
The debate also addressed the topic of violence facing Indigenous women in Canada.
Thai said Trudeau promises to immediately launch a public inquiry with intent to “find the justice.”
Klasser said unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women have decreased by 9.3 per cent over the last couple of years. She added different initiatives funded by the federal government help victims of violence, such as a $25-million action plan to work with and support Aboriginal communities.
Hunt said that a 9.3 per cent reduction is “positive but not acceptable,” and also said the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada is a “national shame.”
Both NDP and Green student representatives agreed on implementing the 94 recommendations made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in June 2015.
The debate also touched on the safety of sex workers, helping advance empowerment of women in developing countries, the Syrian refugee crisis, and transgender health.
It concluded with closing statements from the chapter representatives encouraging their fellow students to vote on Oct. 19.
