(Less)Male, (Even Less) Educated,
(Even Less) Experienced &
(Even more) White
A Statistical Breakdown of Canada’s 40th
Parliament, with Comparisons to the 39th
Parliament
April 2009
With Additional Comparisons to the 111th and 110th US Congresses and the 54th
British Parliament
Some of the Basics - Age
• Average Age: 51.39 years (-1.59 years)*
– 51.25 (-1.43) for Men; 52.00 (-2.18) for Women
– 24.3% over the age of 60 (-2.9%)
– Youngest MP: Nicolas Dufour, BQ (21)
– Oldest MP: Christian Oullet, BQ (74)
• Average US Representatives Age: 57.0 years (+1.1)
– Oldest House of Representatives in History
– 187 (42.5%) over the age of 60
• 48 (10.9%) members over the age of 70
• Average UK MP Age: 50.6 years
– 17.6% over the age of 60
n.b. All figures in parentheses represent figures or changes from the previous Parliament & U.S. Congress
Some of the Basics - Gender
• 69 Women in Parliament – 22.4% of MPs (+1.7%)
– Highest in Canadian history
– 64 women in previous Parliament
– 42 (61%) from Ontario and Quebec
• Compares with 46 (71%) in previous Parliament
– Has been more than 20% since 1997
• 78 (17.8%) Women in the US House of Representatives
– Highest in US history
– 61 (78%) are Democrats
• 127 Women MPs (19.7%) in the UK
– Compares with 120 (18.2%) women in 1997 & 19 (3.0%) women
in 1979
– Highest percentage of women in UK history
Some of the Basics - Ethnicity
• 24 (7.8%) of MPs are “non-white”* (– 1.1%)
– 9 (11.7%) MPs in the Liberal Caucus
• vs. 13 MPs last Parliament – decrease of 1.8%
– 12 (8.4%) MPs in the Conservative Caucus
• vs. 9 MPs – increase of 1.3%
– 2 (4.1%) MPs in the Bloc Caucus
• vs. 3 MPs – decrease of 2.2%
– 1 (2.7%) MP in the NDP Caucus
• no change; increase in caucus size – decrease of 0.6%
• 76 Representatives (17.3%) are “non-white”†
– vs. 75 in previous Congress
• 15 British MPs (2.3%) are “non-white”‡
* No statistics available, done by visual assessment
† Compilation of “African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American and Native-American” statistics
‡ Statistics provided by the UK Library of Parliament, definition unknown
White vs. “Non-White” MPs – 40th Parliament
140
131
120
100
80
68
60
47
36
40
20
12
9
2
1
0
Conservative
Liberal
NDP
Bloc
Some of the Basics –Foreign Born
• 36 (11.7%) of MPs are “foreign-born” (-1.7%)
– 17 (22.1%) MPs in the Liberal Caucus
• vs. 21 MPs last Parliament – increase of 0.2%
– 11 (7.7%) MPs in the Conservative Caucus
• vs. 12 MPs – decrease of 1.7%
– 6 (16.2%) MPs in the NDP Caucus
• vs. 5 MPs – decrease of 0.5%
– 2 (4.1%) MPs in the Bloc Caucus
• vs. 4 MPs – decrease of 2.1%
– 15 MPs from Ontario (41.7% of total)
• vs. 18 – decrease of 2.2%
• 12 (2.7%) of US Representatives are “foreign-born”
Education
• 84.7% have attended a post-secondary institution
– decrease of 1.8% from previous Parliament
– 10 (3.2%) listed high school as their highest attainment
• Decrease of 1 MP (0.7%)
– 37 (12.0%) did not specify their education
• Increase of 8 MPs (2.7%)
• 203 (65.9%) of MPs have a university degree
– Decrease of 4 MPs (1.9%)
•
•
•
•
59.4% of Conservative MPs
59.2% of Bloc MPs (+0.8%)
64.9% of NDP MPs
83.1% of Liberal MPs
Education Breakdown - 40th Parliament
Conservative
Liberal
NDP
Bloc
40
34
35
31
30
25
25
25
22
18
20
17
15
10
17
11
6
5
1
5 4
3
19
11
9
6 6
5
6 6
3
1 0 2
0
6 6
1 0
0
0
Highschool
Some PostSecondary
College
Bachelor
Masters
PhD
Professional
Desig'n
Unknown
Education Breakdown - 39th Parliament
Conservative
Liberal
NDP
Bloc
33
35
30
30
27 26
24
25
20
15
15
15
10
5
17
15
12
9
6
6
3 3
0
6
5
2
1 1
3
10
8
7
3
1 0
2
5 6
0
0
Highschool
Some PostSecondary
College
Bachelor
Masters
Doctorate
Professional
Desig'n
Unknown
Education Background – Breakdown by Party
Highschool Some Post4%
Secondary
17%
Unknown
15%
Professional
Desig'n
22%
College
4%
Professional
Desig'n
25%
Bachelor
24%
Masters
12%
PhD
2%
Unknown Highschool
8%
1%
Bachelor
32%
PhD
14%
Conservative
Highschool Some Post8%
Secondary
11%
Unknown
16%
Professional
Desig'n
16%
Bachelor
30%
Masters
16%
Masters
12%
Liberal
Professional
Desig'n
12%
Masters
12%
Some PostSecondary
37%
Bachelor
35%
College
4%
PhD
3%
NDP
College
1%
Bloc
Some PostSecondary
7%
Education (US & UK)
• 409 Representatives (92.7%) have a university degree
(decrease of 14 or 3.1%)
– Only 3 (<1%) did not attend a post-secondary school
• Decrease of 2 Representatives
– 40 (9.1%) have degrees from Ivy League universities
• Increase of 4 Representatives – 0.9%
– 289 (65.7%) have “Advanced Degrees”
• Increase of 9 – 2.1%
• 465 (72%) of UK MPs attended university
– 406 (63%) attended one of the “Sutton 13” Schools*
– 174 (27%) went to either Oxford or Cambridge
– 81% of Conservative MPs, 64% of Labour MPs
*
Sutton 13 refers to a ranking of the top 13 universities in Britain compiled by the Sutton Trust
Professional Background
• 189 MPs (61.4%) come from Business/Private Sector*
– Decrease of 6 MPs – 1.5%
• 42 (13.6%)from Education/Academia
– Increase of 1 MP
• 30 (9.7%) from Public Service/Public Health
– Increase of 4 MPs – 1.2%
• 29 (9.4%)from Politics†
• Increase of 6 MPs – 1.9%
• 18 (5.8%)from Non-Profit Sector
– Decrease of 2 MPs – 0.8%
* Defined as entrepreneur, business executives, lawyers, etc.
† Defined as someone who previously held another political position – e.g. Staff to an MP,
Provincial Member, City Councillor, etc.
Professional Background (cont…)
• 73.4% of Conservative caucus comes from
Business/Private Sector (decrease of 4.6%)
– Remains the Highest
– Lowest is NDP with 35.1% (increase of 2.1%)
– Liberals and Bloc 58.4% (-5.1%) and 49% (+1.1%),
respectively
• 18.9% of the NDP Caucus comes from the nonprofit sector (decrease of 7.8%)
– Lowest is the Conservative caucus with 0.7% (-0.1%)
– Liberals and Bloc 7.8% (+1.5) and 8.2% (-2.2%),
respectively
Professional Background - 40th Parliament
120
Conservative
105
Liberal
NDP
Bloc
100
80
60
45
40
24
20
13
13 11
12
3
9
8
3
13
1
12
7
6
6
4
6
5
0
Business/Private
Public Service/Health Academia/Education
Non-Profit
Politics
Professional Background - 39th Parliament
Conservative
Liberal
NDP
Bloc
120
100
99
80
61
60
40
23
20
10
9 11
2
3
9
13
6
13
1
6
8
5
9
5
4
0
Business/Private
Public Service/Health Academia/Education
Non-Profit
Politics
4
Professional Background – Breakdown by Party
8.4% 0.7%
7.8%
8.4%
7.8%
11.7%
9.1%
73.4%
Conservative
Business/Private
Public Service/Health
Non-Profit
Politics
58.4%
14.3%
Liberal
Academia/Education
16.2%
Business/Private
Public Service/Health
Non-Profit
Politics
Academia/Education
10.2%
8.2%
35.1%
18.9%
49.0%
26.5%
21.6%
8.1%
6.1%
NDP
Business/Private
Public Service/Health
Non-Profit
Politics
Bloc
Academia/Education
Business/Private
Public Service/Health
Non-Profit
Politics
Academia/Education
Professional Background (US)
• 311 (70.7%) of Representatives come to Congress from another
political job (e.g. state/municipal politics, party insider, political
staffer)
– Increase of 64 Representatives (+12.9%) vs. previous Congress
– 227 (51.6%) from state politics* (increase of 35 – 8.0%)
– 112 (25.6%) former Congressional staffers†
• 76 (17.3%) come from the Business/Private Sector (decrease of 23 –
5.9%)
• 37 (8.4%) come from Public Service (e.g. Military, Police, Judges,
etc.) (decrease of 17 – 4.2%)
– 20 prosecutors/judges; 7 former military officers; and 4 former sheriffs
• 16 (12 & 4, respectively) come from the Academia/Teaching and
Non-Profit sectors (3.6%)
– Decrease of 11 Representatives (2.7%)
*State Members/State Senators, State Cabinet, Lieutenant Governor, etc.
† Some Representatives held positions at the State level as well as on Congressional Staff
US Professional Background – 110th & 111th Congresses
Democrat - 110th
Democrat - 111th
Republican - 110th
Republican - 111th
200
185
180
160
140
126
121
120
100
80
60
50
49
40
40
36
32
24
22
20
12
16
10
4
2
5
2
2
2
0
Business/Private*
Public Service
Academia/Education
Non-Profit
Politics
126
Professional Background (UK)
• 403 (65.5%) Members come from the
Business/Non-Profit sectors*
– 83% of Conservative MPs – Highest
– 56.1% of Labour MPs – Lowest
– 118 Businessmen; 78 from “White Collar” professions;
72 Lawyers; 43 Journalists; and, 38 Manual Workers
• 91 (14.8%) come from Teaching careers
• 87 (14.1%) come from Politics
• 34 (5.5%) come from Public Service
– Including 28 “civil servants” and 6 doctors
*From
available data on the UK, there are no delineations of “non-profit” professions. Additionally, data are only for the three major parties
Political Work
• 74 MPs are newly elected (24% of Parliament)
• 208 MPs (67.5%) have less than 5 years experience
–
–
–
–
–
Versus 162 MPs in last Parliament – 53.4% (+14.1%)
65.3% of Bloc MPs (-1.4%)
75.5% of Conservative MPs (+14.1%)
78.4% of NDP MPs (+18.0%)
49.4% of Liberal MPs (+15.0%)
• Average Tenure: 6 years, 12 days
– Longest Tenure: Louis Plamondon (Bloc Quebecois) – 24 years
• 12 (3.9%) MPs have more than 15 years experience
– decrease of 6 MPs (-2.0%)
– 10 (83.3%) are Liberal MPs
Tenure Breakdown – 40th Parliament
Conservative
80
Liberal
NDP
Bloc
71
70
60
50
37
40
30
21 21
20
25
16
17
18
17
9
10
7
13
9
6
8
2 years or less
3-6 years
7-10 years
8
1
-
11-14 years
2
-
15+ years
Tenure Breakdown – 39th Parliament
Conservative
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
-
Liberal
NDP
Bloc
40
38
32
25
25
25
17
9
12 12
9
15
8
2 years or less
3-6 years
7-10 years
12
9
8
11-14 years
2
1
15+ years
2
Tenure Breakdown - 40th Parliament
11-14 years
10%
15+ years
4%
2 years or less
42%
7-10 years
18%
3-6 years
26%
Tenure Breakdown – 39th Parliament
15+ years
6%
11-14 years
16%
7-10 years
24%
2 years or less
24%
3-6 years
30%
Tenure – Breakdown by Caucus
6.3% 0.7%
10.4%
16.9%
17.5%
27.3%
49.7%
25.9%
23.4%
Conservative
2 years or less
3-6 years
7-10 years
22.1%
Liberal
11-14 years
15+ years
2 years or less
3-6 years
7-10 years
11-14 years
15+ years
4.1%
18.9%
16.3%
32.7%
12.2%
56.8%
24.3%
34.7%
NDP
2 years or less
3-6 years
Bloc
7-10 years
2 years or less
3-6 years
7-10 years
11-14 years
15+ years
Political Work (US)
• 151 (34.3%) of Representatives have less than
5 years experience (increase of 47 – 10.5%)
– 36.5% of Democrats
– 31.5% of Republicans
• 121 (27.5%) of Representatives have over 15
years experience (decrease of 14 – 3.4%)
– 30.4% of Democrats
– 23.6% of Republicans
• Longest tenure: John Dingell (54 years)
Tenure Comparison - 40th Parliament vs. 111th Congress
40th Parliament
45.0%
111th Congress
42.2%
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
27.6%
25.8%
26.0%
25.0%
19.2%
20.0%
18.2%
13.9%
15.0%
13.5%
9.7%
10.0%
3.9%
5.0%
0.0%
2 years or less
3-6 years
7-10 years
11-14 years
15+ years
Political Work (UK)
• 207 (32%) of MPs have less than 7 years
experience
• 251 (38.9%) of MPs have more than 11 years
experience
– 32 (4.9%) have more than 30 years experience
– Longest Serving Member: Alan Williams (44 years)
• 47% of Conservatives, 39% of Labour MPs and
15% of Liberal-Democrats were elected before
the 1997 General Election (>11 years experience)
Political Work (cont…)
• 102 (33.1%) MPs have experience in
Provincial/Municipal politics (decrease of 4 MPs –
1.7%)
– 28 (9.2%) have provincial experience
– 74(25.6%) have municipal experience
• 20 MPs (6.5%) have provincial cabinet experience
–
–
–
–
11 Conservative MPs
4 Liberal MPs
4 NDP MPs
1 Bloc MP