Donna Dasko, Ph D. is co-founder and past national chair of 
Canadians seem to prefer women as provincial premiers.
by Donna Dasko
Christy Clark shocked everyone last month with her victory in the in the British Columbia election. The opposition New Democrats led by Adrian Dix were expected to win – but ended ended up with less of the popular vote than they received in 2009, when they were led by Carole James.
Pundits have attributed the surprise Liberal win to many things – negative campaigning, the Premier’s laser-like focus on the economy, the ill-timed rejection of the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal by Dix, and even a mysterious “incumbency” factor which is supposed to give governing parities a boost for some unknown reason. But none of the pundits has pointed to the gender factor and how having a female leader may have boosted Liberal support.