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Finding Sources
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Core Journals:
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There are currently no scholarly journals exclusive to this topic. The following are journals which, in addition to the list in the main Part 4 of this guide, are likely to include articles on women in contemporary Canadian government and politics:
Atlantis: A Women's Studies Journal/Revue d'études sur les femmes. Halifax: Institute for the Study of Women, Mount Saint Vincent University, 1975 - . Semiannual. ISSN: 0702–7818.
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Description: An interdisciplinary journal with occasional articles on political issues.
Indexed in: ABC pol sci, Alternative Press index, America: History and Life, Canadian Magazine Index, Canadian Periodical Index, Studies on Women Abstracts, Women's Studies Abstracts, etc.
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Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme. Toronto: Inanna Publications and Education Inc, York University, 1978 - . Quarterly. ISSN: 0713–3235.
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Description: This is a refereed journal with each issue devoted to a specific theme (e.g. National Identity and Gender Politics, Eradicating Poverty and Violence, Lesbians and Politics, etc.)
Indexed in: Canadian Periodical Index, Women's Studies Abstracts, Women's Studies Index, etc.
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International Feminist Journal of Politics. London: Routledge, 1999 - . Quarterly. ISSN (print): 1461-6742, (online): 1468-4470.
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Description: A relatively new, cross-cultural and international journal covering international relations, politics and women's studies. Few articles on Canada yet, but articles feature research on women, gender relations, sexuality from several perspectives including comparative politics, political theory, international relations, globalization studies, political economy, and geography, development studies, etc.
Includes: Conference reports, interviews and book reviews.
Indexed in: OCLC FirstSearch.
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Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. (Formerly Women and Politics). New York: Haworth Press, 1980 - . Quarterly. ISSN (1980-2004): 0195-7732. ISSN (2005 - ): 1554-477X. Online: 1554-4788.
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Description: A well regarded journal of research and policy studies. Articles cover issues pertaining to women and government and politics, especially social and public policy issues in the U.S. and internationally.
Indexed in: ABC poli sci, Academic Index, Academic Search Elite, America: History and Life, Contemporary Women's Issues, GenderWatch, Historical Abstracts, ingenta, PAIS, ProQuest, Social Science Index, Social Science Citation Index, Sociological Abstracts, Studies on Women Abstracts, Wilson Omnifile, Women's Resources International, Women's Studies Abstracts, Women's Studies Index.
Includes: Bibliographies and book reviews.
Tips: Not a lot of Canadian content, but an excellent journal for research on the broader issues.
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Resources for Feminist Research / Documentation sur la recherche feministe (RFR/DRF). Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 1972 - . Semi-annual. ISSN: 0707–8412.
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Description: Covers all topics including politics.
Indexed in: Canadian Feminist Periodicals Index, Canadian Periodical Index, Canadian Magazine Index, CBCA Fulltext, Canadian Education Index, Women's Studies Abstracts, America: History and Life, Left Index, Sociological Abstracts, etc.
Includes: Book reviews.
Tips: Annual Index volume provides author and subject access.
Highly recommended.
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Women's Studies International Forum. (Formerly Women's Studies International Quarterly.) New York: Pergamon, 1982 - . Bi-monthly. ISSN: 0277-5395.
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Description: Multidisciplinary and international in scope, articles cover feminist research in women's studies and other disciplines.
Indexed in: America: History and Life, Historical Abstracts, ingenta, International Labour Documentation, Psychological Abstracts, Science Direct.
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Indexes:
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Indexes useful for finding articles on Canadian government and politics in general are listed in Part 4 of the main section of this guide. The following is a select list of indexes in the field of women's studies chosen for their coverage of journals on government and political science or journals which include research articles on these topics:
Canadian Feminist Periodical Index, 1972-1985. Compiled by the Canadian Women's Indexing Group (CWIG). Toronto: OISE Press, 1991. 1070 p.
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Description:This is a single-volume index covering 15 Canadian feminist periodicals.
Coverage: 1972-1985.
Tips:
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Canadian Women's Periodicals Index. Ottawa: Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, 1984/85 – 1993/94. Quarterly. ISSN: 0847-2882.
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Description: Indexes major French and English-language academic journals and popular magazines.
Coverage: 1984 - 1994.
Tips: Uses keywords out of context format.
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Contemporary Women's Issues. Gale Research. 1992 - . Online database available by subscription; also available on CD-ROM.
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Description: Index and full-text database of over 1,500 English-language sources on women and gender-related issues.
Coverage: Includes over 150 journals, many small press publications, newsletters, reports and other materials from 1992 to the present.
Tips: Can limit searches by "Geo-Region": Canada.
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Women Studies Abstracts. New York: Women Studies Abstracts, Quarterly. 1972 – . Cumulated in last issue each year.
Also available as part of: Women's Studies International.
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Description:International in scope, covers many topics, including Politics & Government.
Coverage: Indexes and provides abstracts for articles from 25–50 academic journals and popular magazines.
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Women's Studies International. Baltimore, MD: National Information Services Corp., 1972 - . Semi-annual. (Formerly Women's Resources International.) Available on CD-ROM and online by subscription.
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Description: A bibliographic database made up of 10 smaller ones, including Women's Studies Abstracts, New Books on Women and Feminism, etc.
Coverage: Indexes over 500 academic, popular and grassroots periodicals, as well as books, dissertations and reports.
Tips: Searches can be limited by Canada as geographic area.
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Books and other Academic Work:
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Books, Theses, Conference Papers, etc.
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Useful LC Subject Headings:
- women in politics — Canada
- women legislators — Canada
- women legislators — Canada — biography
- women political candidates — Canada
- women politicians — Canada
- [name of politician]
- women's rights — Canada
- women — legal status, laws, etc. — Canada
- women in public life
- women in the civil service — Canada
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Besides the papers published from the Canadian Political Science Association conferences, women's groups, universities, research institutes and others periodically organize conferences from which the presentations are published. To find these, search your library catalogue or AMICUS with the appropriate subject heading and the sub-heading "congresses" (e.g. women in politics -- Canada -- congresses).
Canadian government-sponsored conferences include the annual federal-provincial-territorial conferences of Ministers responsible for women's issues (begun in 1982), from which "public documents" are sometimes made available, the Advisory Councils and Status of Women Canada also sponsor conferences occasionally, as can Royal Commissions and other fact-finding task forces. An example:
Proceedings of a Symposium on the Active Participation of Women in Politics. Ottawa: Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing, 1990. 446 p.
Many excellent theses have been written in Canadian universities on the topic of women in politics. Search AMICUS for these; the National Library maintains a collection of every M.A. and PhD thesis written at Canadian universities. Request an inter-library loan at your library.
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Current Events / News:
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See the web sites of the government departments involved with women's issues, advisory councils, women's groups and research organizations and look for "What's New", press releases, media rooms, newsletters, events calendars, and contact information. You may also be able to subscribe to an e-mailed version of their newsletters or press releases. For example, the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women has an excellent newsletter available by e-mail subscription: NB Women's News which provides alerts to upcoming events, recent actions and news items of interest to New Brunswick women.
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Government Information:
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Status of Women Canada is the currently the federal government department responsible for promoting gender equality and the full participation of women in the economic, social, cultural and political life of the country. There has been a federal Cabinet Minister responsible for the Status of Women since 1971. The Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, created in 1973 to advise government on women's issues, was disbanded in 1995. Every province and territory in Canada has a Minister responsible for women's issues, and most have at one time had an Advisory Council, although only a few remain. The Advisory Councils are usually independent but report to government. The government departments, branches or directorates responsible for women's issues have changed a great deal over the years, federally and in each province. (See Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women at the Parliamentary web site for a list of Ministers and the departments responsible federally since 1971.)
Besides their annual report to Parliament, Estimates, budget priorities and other reports on their operations, some of these bodies, especially the Advisory Councils, have published excellent research reports and other documents. Selected recent ones published by the currently existing bodies will be available on their web sites. Check your library catalogue, AMICUS, or a large provincial research or legislative library for the documents created in earlier years. Some examples of these are given in the Selected Primary Sources section.
Collections of links to the web sites of federal, provincial and territorial advisory councils and women's departments:
Web Sites of Provincial Agencies. Appendix C of Canada's Social Policy Regime and Women: An Assessment of the Last Decade. By Janine Brodie and Isabella Bakker. Ottawa: Status of Women Canada. March 2007. http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/pubs/pubspr/0662450870/200703_9780662450870_16_e.html
Women's Organizations / Agencies: Government. By Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
http://women.gov.ns.ca/linksorg.asp
Canadian Social Research Links. By Gilles Seguin. http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/women.htm has a less complete list of government agencies, and is poorly organized, but it provides lots of annotated links to some of their important documents.
Briefs to Committees: One of the important ways in which advisory councils on the status of women (and women's groups in general) advise and lobby government is to submit briefs to government committees of all sorts, advising them on the impact of proposed legislation on women. These briefs or reports may be found as publications by authoring group, or as part of the "Evidence" of parliamentary committees.
See Selected Primary Sources for examples of some key government documents.
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Political Party Information:
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Some political parties have created task forces, formed committees, or otherwise have examined women's issues, or they have a women's organization within the party. To find any documents they may have produced search library catalogues by keyword combining the party name and "women".
See Selected Primary Sources for selected examples.
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Research Organizations:
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Some research institutes that publish on this topic:
Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW). http://www.criaw-icref.ca
This is a national, not-for-profit organization started in 1976. They publish their conference proceedings and many other research publications. Some examples:
Canadian Women in Politics: An Overview. By Janine Brodie and Jill McCalla Vickers. The CRIAW Papers no. 2. Ottawa, CRIAW, 1982. 60 p.
Canadian Women's Movement, Equality Rights and the Charter. By Lise Gotell. Feminist Perspectives no. 16. Ottawa: CRIAW, 1990. 57 p.
Getting Things Done: Women's Views of Their Involvement in Political Life. Edited by Jill Vickers. The CRIAW Papers no. 16/17. Ottawa: CRIAW and Unesco, Division of Human Rights and Peace, 1988. 59 p.
Women's Involvement in Political Life: A Pilot Study prepared for UNESCO, Division of Human Rights and Peace. The CRIAW Papers no. 16/17. Ottawa: CRIAW, 1987. 100 p. (Presents the results of a study based on interviews of women across the country on barriers to participation in political life.)
National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL). http://wwww.nawl.ca
A non-profit feminist organization since 1974 promoting women's equality through legal research, advocacy and public education. Besides briefs to committees on the impact of laws and proposed legislation on women, their list of publications include:
A Mandate for Equality: Women and Electoral Reform: Pursuing a Feminist Policy Agenda in Canada. By Nancy Peckford. Ottawa: NAWL, 2002. 27 p.
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). http://www.idea.int/gender/
This is an Inter-Governmental Organization of which Canada is a member country. The "Women in Politics" section has links to relevant international treaties, conventions and declarations, information on voter turnout, gender quotas and other news, facts and information from around the world. A particulary useful publication examining the obstacles parliamentary election processes create for women and strategies to overcome them, is available here online:
Women in Politics: Beyond Numbers Handbook. Revised ed. Edited by Azza Karam and Julie Ballington. Stockholm, Sweden: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2005. 264 p.
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Videos:
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National Film Board of Canada Catalogue. http://www.nfb.ca.
The NFB online catalogue can be searched by keyword or browsed by subject. Click on "Find a Film". Relevant "Subject Categories" include "Politics and Government -- Canada", then "Women" and "Women -- Portraits" then "Politics". Included in this database is the 4-video set: Women in Politics Collection.
Through Her Eyes: Resources for Women's Studies. Edited by Marymay Downing. Ottawa: Carleton University, 1988. 6 vols.
This is a video catalogue. See Vol. 5: Women in Politics: Viewer's Guide to Videotapes for Module 3. Edited by Marymay Downing, Pauline Rankin and Marja Tenholder. Vol. 6: Women in Politics: Supplement to the Viewer's Guide for Module 3. Edited by Valerie J. Howe, Pauline Rankin and Marja Tenholder.
See Women — Primary Sources - Recorded Images for selected videos.
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Evaluating Sources
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Please refer to the main Part 4: Evaluating Information of this guide.
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