TORONTO - A national organization is warning that Ontario needs more women to run in the fall election to improve female representation in provincial politics.
Almost 31 per cent of the candidates nominated so far in the Oct. 6 race are women, or 85 out of 274 potential political hopefuls.
"The numbers are not nearly what we were hoping for," said Lesley Byrne, chair of the organization's Toronto chapter. "If we continue at this pace it will be decades before women see parity in Ontario Parliament."
Equal Voice says there's still time to increase the number of female candidates before nominations close on Sept. 15.
"But we will need to see a rush of women to the nominations contests to make real progress," said Byrne.
The Liberals are leading the way proportionally at 43 per cent, with 32 women nominated so far among 75 candidates.
The New Democrats -- the only major party with a female leader -- sit at 38 per cent, with 25 women among their 65 candidates.
The Tories stand at 22 per cent -- or 21 among their 95 candidates -- while the Green Party is lagging at 18 per cent, with just seven women among its 39 candidates.
The Liberals, Tories and NDP had pledged to run more female candidates in the 2011 election than they did in the last provincial vote.
Twenty-nine women were elected in 2007, representing 27 per cent of the 107 members of provincial parliament.
The group says women's concerns are better heard and acted upon when at least one-third of the elected politicians are female.
