Diversity of candidates is fundamental to trust in political leadership

I think her arguments overstate concerns over candidate selection by ignoring the fact that the vast majority of candidates selected by the three major parities is visible minority majority ridings (i.e., those ridings with visible minorities forming more than 50 percent of the population) are in fact visible minorities themselves, over 80 percent in ridings with 70 percent visible minorities, over 40 percent in ridings with between 50 and 70 percent. Even in ridings with between 20 and 50 percent visible minorities, over 20 percent are visible minority candidates.

Of course, just like women candidates, visible minority candidates are more likely in non-competitive ridings:

…Party networks and the limits of recruitment

Part of the job of political parties is to select candidates who will win their seats and thus aid in the party’s quest for power.

However, party recruiters tend to select candidates from their own networks, which are mainly comprised of people like themselves. If recruiters are mostly white men – and that’s been the case historically – then most candidates will likely be white men. Changing this trend requires changing both the recruiter and their networks.

Some parties have tried to combat this by insisting that riding associations look harder for more diverse candidates. The New Democrats are notable here.

But local executives can undermine these efforts even once a candidate has been chosen. For example, a Black lesbian candidate told me that her Liberal riding association said it didn’t have a lot of money for her campaign, yet had no trouble finding more cash for the white men who ran before and after her. These actions can send the message that only white men should apply to be candidates.

Social media scrutiny as a new barrier

In addition, social media scandals are an emerging barrier to candidacy. They first became an issue earlier this century when several federal and provincial candidates were forced to step down after problematic posts came to light. Negative headlines led parties to tighten candidate vetting as a result.

But heightened scrutiny runs the risk of excluding Indigenous, queer and feminist individuals who definitely don’t share the party’s views on everything or whose views may have changed over the years, yet their original posts can still be found online. This could also deter some young people from running because many of them have documented their lives and views online since adolescence.

Scrub one’s social media sites, you say? That doesn’t always work. It’s not uncommon for party operatives to document the online accounts of people they expect to run for office in the future – both to protect themselves and to inflict reputational harm on their opponents. The inability to fully erase one’s online presence means candidate vetting will likely get tougher.

This reality might make it even harder for diverse candidates to make it to the electoral starting line. If so, white men’s dominance in our legislatures and leadership positions will continue.

Barriers such as these make it harder for Canadians of all backgrounds to contribute to our collective governance. More importantly, ongoing resistance to diverse candidates can undermine political trust. If political parties don’t trust diverse people to hold power, why should diverse Canadians trust politicians to govern on their behalf?

Dr. Angelia Wagner is an assistant lecturer and adjunct professor in the department of political science at the University of Alberta. 

Source: Diversity of candidates is fundamental to trust in political leadership