Federal government unveils power panel to boost number of women on corporate boards

OTTAWA — The Conservatives are making good on a budget promise from last year to create an advisory council to promote and boost the participation of women on corporate boards, a move welcomed by the official Opposition as a “step in the right direction” by a government it says has regularly let women down.

Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose announced the names of the first panel members in Toronto on Friday, a list that includes notable figures such as former auditor general and Bombardier director Sheila Fraser, Venture Communications CEO and Dragons’ Den judge Arlene Dickenson, former Ontario finance minister Janet Ecker, Canadian Federation of Independent Business chairwoman Catherine Swift and Sen. Linda Frum.

Of the 23 council members, 16 are women.

“Increasing opportunities for women to serve on corporate boards makes good business sense for Canadian women and for Canada’s economy,” Ambrose said.

“Businesses with more women on their boards are more profitable and routinely outperform those with fewer. The role of the advisory council will be to advise our government on how industry can increase women’s representation on corporate boards over the next 10 years.”

NDP women’s issues critic Niki Ashton welcomed the announcement Friday but suggested the government could do a lot more. For one thing, she said it could support an NDP private member’s bill that would ensure at least half of Crown corporation board members are women. Also, Ashton said, female MPs account for just a fraction of the Conservative caucus and women tend to play a lesser role in the party.

“Just the other week we pointed out that when the prime minister is absent, never once has a woman answered his questions in the House (of Commons). Those first questions always go to male ministers,” she said.

“The overall Harper government agenda towards women in Canada has been one to let women down, and it includes Minister Ambrose, who voted to re-open the abortion debate in the fall. We need to see her showing more leadership.”

Ambrose faced a barrage of criticism last year after standing up in support of of a private member’s motion in the House of Commons that would have struck a committee to study parts of the Criminal Code that establish when a fetus becomes a legal person. The motion failed to pass in the September vote.

Ashton said she hopes the advisory council will consider things such as quotas or strong directives from government regarding female representation on corporate boards and that the government will support such proposals.

While many women are successful in business, far few are represented at the highest levels and the advisory council’s aim is to reverse that trend.

The council will advise the government on how industry can boost female representation on corporate boards over the next decade, suggest ways to track and measure progress and recommend how government could recognize industry leaders and companies that reach their gender representation targets.

The council will report back with its recommendations in the fall of this year.

The board also includes a number of prominent men, including Rogers CEO Alan D. Horn, Suncor chairman John Ferguson, Council of Canadian CEOs president and former deputy prime minister John Manley and Open Text Corp. executive chairman Tom Jenkins.

Statistics suggest women hold 14.5 per cent of board seats at Financial Post 500 firms, while 40 per cent of them have no women. Meanwhile, women represent just two per cent of Canada’s top 100 CEOs, according to Financial Post Magazine’s 2011 “CEO Scorecard.”

Original Article
Source: montrealgazette.com
Author: Tobi Cohen