Only 22 percent of Canadian MPs are females, which ranks the country at a lamentable 52nd place internationally for the ratio of elected females in parliament.

Anne Lagace Dowson, a former NDP candidate in Westmount loved meeting people but didn't like the mudslinging and attack ads.

"Politics is like joining the debating club in high school, it's the boys, guys are schooled at being more direct and opinionated," she says.

"There's a cultural gap that needs to be overcome. We need to encourage girls to get into politics."

Lagace Dowson feels that many impediments must be overcome to fix what she calls a "family issue" rather than a women's issue.