03/08/2026
When No Shouldn't Mean No
Last night, I attended an International Women’s Day Event hosted by the Western University Liberal Association (WULA) led by its dynamic President Leticia de Castro. For a recap of the evening read Jordan Kent’s: https://jordankent.substack.com/p/the-ontario-young-liberals-southwest?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=7475625&post_id=190283936&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3ff533&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
The evening included a lineup of notable Liberal women who shared their stories of how they came to be involved in politics. I came away with a perverse lesson in this era of “No means No”. There is an exception to the rule. Woman after woman recounted that when they were first asked to run for political office that their answer was “NO”. Often a series of repeatedly emphatic “Nos”. I could relate as I was sitting close to my favourite candidate – Cathy Burghardt Jesson who told us “NO”, more than once, when we approached her about running for us in Lambton Kent Middlesex. Cathy and I exchanged knowing smiles when Stephanie Bowman was relating how she said “NO” repeatedly when initially asked to consider jumping into the political arena.
I was not a fan when OLP adopted a mandate that 50% of candidates would be women in 2022. I am not opposed to DEI but I am averse to quotas. I thought that with Bonnie as Leader we didn’t need a mandate. I assumed that her example would induce more women to step forward – I was wrong. We fell well sort of 50% in 2025. The fact remains that if we want more women to step forward as candidates, they may need deliberate and concerted encouragement. As allies, we need to keep an eye out for future candidates among the women we encounter in our lives, we need to raise the prospect of jumping into the fray with them and we need to be gently persistent when their initial response is “NO”.
I was hopeful when I looked at the young women in the room that maybe they will be self-promoters in seeking office (Yes, Leticia – I am thinking about you). But for now, we need to keep in mind that there is an exception to every rule and when it comes to asking women to enter public life we need to remember that “No shouldn’t mean No”.
Why I Went and the People Who Inspired Me
