Suffrage, the historical social roles of women, and the ideas of patriarchy are the major causes of under-representation of women in politics. While women have come a long way in politics, the causes of under-representation have consistently worked against them and created a gender inequality not only in the political world but in society in general. Gender inequality has long since been an issue of debate in politics not only in Canada, but worldwide as well, sparking concern from non-profit organizations such as Equal Voice, who seeks to correct this imperfection in the system. The right to vote for women has been both given and annulled throughout history. While in today’s society, young women see voting as a simple right, in earlier times the lack of these rights forced the ignorance of the voice of a great deal of the population. The lack of suffrage and the norm of patriarchy in society, in turn, relegate women to minority status without the ability for them to voice their concerns or opinions. Patriarchy suggests a need for a social system in which the men have the ultimate authority over women and children. This also includes traditional religious ideas of women being subordinate to men. In earlier times, a woman’s sole responsibility was to serve her husband and fulfill familial roles. This meant that women were prohibited from having a job, owning property and enjoying the same fundamental rights as their male counterparts. Despite the fact that women today can have careers, they are still faced with pay inequities and other sexual politics such as discrimination. The social roles of women have developed over time, with an exponential increase of opportunity during World War II in which women were enabled to work in order to fill the void left by soldiers overseas. Since then, women have continued to fight for representation and changes made to the political system, as represented by the feminist movements and the formation of organizations...