When new B.C. Liberal leader Kevin Falcon announced his new-look caucus Feb. 7, there was a notable lack of women.

Of the 27 roles, most of them critics, only seven are females.

鈥淲e only have seven females,鈥� Tegart said with a laugh, when asked about the disparity. 鈥淭he thing is a good leader will go out and recruit really good candidates, and Kevin is very aware of what a good team looks like.

鈥淩enee Merrifield has a very significant role (Critic for Environment & Climate Change) and Karin Kirkpatrick has a very significant role (Critic for Education, Children, Family Development, & Childcare). And Shirley Bond is staying on as Opposition Leader until such time as Kevin wins a seat.

鈥淲e do have a limited number of women in our caucus, but they all have a role that I think they鈥檙e quite pleased with, and some are pretty high profile.鈥�

Tegart is in her third term as MLA for Fraser-Nicola, and she admitted it鈥檚 still a tough world for a female politician.

鈥淧olitics is a tough role to be in as a woman, particularly at a provincial and federal level,鈥� she said.

Tegart said it鈥檚 difficult for women to fundraise and difficult to put together a team.

鈥淣ominations are incredibly difficult for women, and we tend not to nurture women for leadership roles at the provincial and federal levels,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you look at school boards, you see quite a number of women because education is something that is near and dear to the heart of moms and females, and that seems to be a natural place for people to get their feet wet in politics.鈥�

That鈥檚 where Tegart got her political start, and she said the scariest thing is to put your name on a ballot and have strangers vote for you.

Or not.

鈥淚n order to win, we have to go out and ask for your vote, and ask for your money to support the campaign,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have to work really, really hard. Sometimes twice as hard as men. I鈥檝e been so impressed with so many women in my life who鈥檝e been very successful politically, but I don鈥檛 know one who would tell you it was easy.鈥�

The first time Tegart ran for school board, her mom gave her $200 and that was the full campaign budget.

鈥淚t鈥檚 my understanding that from a male perspective, there鈥檚 often a team around them and they often have a 鈥榖agman,鈥� someone who says 鈥業 will collect the money,鈥欌�� Tegart said. 鈥淭hat just wasn鈥檛 my experience. I was always amazed when people came up to me and said, 鈥楬ow do I donate?鈥� And I thought, 鈥榊ou want to donate? How exciting!鈥欌��

Tegart drew inspiration from good friend Carol James, former leader of the B.C. NDP who served as Finance Minister under current Premier John Horgan. She watched James rise in the party, and under her leadership the NDP captured 41.52 per cent of the popular vote and 33 out of 79 seats in 2005 election. But she was forced out of the leadership position in 2010, with 13 caucus members urging her to resign.

鈥淭o watch what happened to Carol makes you really cautious because how many women have actually been able to stay in leadership jobs?鈥� Tegart asked.

In the most recent provincial election, Chilliwack Liberal candidate Kelly Velonis lamented the low level of discourse on social media, and said some people spent more time talking about her appearance than her party鈥檚 policies.

That鈥檚 one of the many reasons Tegart said she鈥檚 avoided social media.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 even look at it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is nothing that is off base and you鈥檝e got to get a thick skin. The way I deal with it is I know what my goal is and I鈥檓 here to do the work. I don鈥檛 have time for Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and whatever else. I get up every morning with a list of things to do, and at the end of the day most of them are checked off.

鈥淏ut social media has definitely changed everything, and made it tougher.鈥�

So is there hope? Is there anything to suggest that when Tegart talks about these same things in a decade, things will have changed?

She believes the answer is yes.

鈥淎bsolutely,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need young people. We need ethnic groups. We need a welcoming process to come into politics, be part of a team, be part of an election and have fun doing it. We need to see more of that and less of social media and sniping at each other. This is probably the most satisfying job I鈥檝e ever had because of the people, and the things you can accomplish to make their lives better.

鈥淏ut in 10 years? We鈥檝e got a lot of dynamic young women who right now are pretty busy with families. But as kids grow and you get more time to contribute to your community and maybe the province, hopefully they think this is an honourable job to do.鈥�

eric.welsh@hopestandard.com
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