Charest’s gender-balanced cabinet breaks new ground

Premier Jean Charest presented a slimmed-down, 18-member cabinet that is split 50-50 between men and women — believed to be a first in North America.

Charest noted his new lineup is “one of the smallest” Quebec cabinets in modern times. Before the election, the Charest cabinet counted 26 ministers, including the premier.

Francoise David of Quebec solidaire and a noted feminist, said she believes that to be true, and while other countries such as Finland, have a majority of women ministers, the composition of the Charest cabinet is “an important advance.”

“Another bit of good news is the first black woman,” in a Quebec cabinet, David added.
But David also noted that the percentage of women MNAs actually went down after the 2007 election to 25 per cent, from 30 per cent in the 2003 race.

LINK: NatPost