Women hold an average 24 per cent of seats in the lower houses of legislatures around the world, according to Amanda Bittner, associate professor of political science and Director of the Gender and Politics Laboratory at Memorial University, drawing on data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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Canada, according to Bittner, ranks 59th in the world, with almost 27 per cent of its legislative seats held by women, which account for almost 51 per cent of the Canadian population, according to the 2016 Census. The African nation of Rwanda leads when it comes to female representation with 61 per cent of seats held by women.
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Closer to home, women hold 33 out of 87 seats in B.C.’s legislative assembly, a share of almost 38 per cent. This figure gives British Columbia the highest share of elected women in Canadian legislatures. By comparison, women hold 27 per cent of the seats in the federal House of Commons (91 out of 335).
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