As the proportion of women in legislatures slowly rises around the world, this thesis asks: what difference does it make when women are elected? Are women simply descriptive (numerical) representatives of their gender, or are they substantive representatives who bring to their roles a responsibility for advancing the status of women? To help answer this question, this thesis looks to two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Ontario. This study considers the impact both of critical mass of women and political party on three specific policy areas (domestic violence, social welfare reform and education) during the time period 1996-2003. This study employs interviews with former cabinet ministers as well as extensive policy analysis through process tracing. The results demonstrate that women are indeed substantive representatives, but that there is a more subtle definition of substantive representation. The study indicates that critical mass alone is not a determinant of women's policy activism, but that political party remains an important influence. This study also finds that in light of the recent retrenchment of the welfare state, women politicians of all parties and women's movements generally have re-framed feminist issues and public policy. The thesis characterizes this re-framing as a new approach entirely, which it identifies as "fiscal feminism".