Area election school aims to get more women into local politics - London Free Press (Blogs)

Women leaders in Middlesex County are launching two new projects to tackle gender disparity in politics, encouraging women locally – and overseas – to take part in local government.

Author of the article:

Calvi Leon • Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Alison Warwick, the mayor of Thames Centre, was recently elected as warden in Middlesex County. She said increasing the number of riders on regional bus routes and bridging the digital divide between urban and rural communities are among her top priorities. (Free Press file photo)

Women leaders in Middlesex County are launching two new projects to tackle gender disparity in politics, encouraging women locally – and overseas – to take part in local government.

County council’s women’s caucus will launch a municipal election school next month to support London and Middlesex women thinking of running or getting involved in this October’s municipal elections.

“When I was running for election, I was able to attend some (workshops) done by the province, but this is, I would think, more accessible for the average person who may be curious about running,” said Alison Warwick, warden of Middlesex County and mayor of Thames Centre.

“And that’s the thing,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be somebody that says, ‘I am running.’ It’s for anybody that might think, ‘How does it work?’” She cited people who may want to attend future council meetings or lead community events as examples.

The free workshop, at the Komoka Wellness Centre March 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., will include presentations by guest speakers about elected officials’ roles and responsibilities, Ontario’s municipal election process, and how to run an effective campaign. It will end with a roundtable involving women’s caucus members.

The project is funded by a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) Community Initiatives program. The federation advocates for municipal leaders at the federal level.

Free lunch, childcare and transit will be provided to ensure those wishing to attend can make it, said Thames Centre Deputy Mayor Kelly Elliott, a women’s caucus member.

“We’re trying to break down all the barriers of what we normally see with women wanting to get involved,” she said.

Women in Canada make up just 18 per cent of mayors and 28 per cent of city councillors, according to FCM. The election school, Warwick noted, will help address gender inequities by identifying and overcoming key hurdles to women and marginalized individuals holding leadership roles.

“It brings so much more to the table when you have all the voices (there),” she said. “It just makes for a better community.”

The election school is just one of the caucus’s efforts to boost gender parity in municipal politics.

On Thursday, FCM announced Middlesex County council was one of 13 Canadian municipalities selected for a six-year project mentoring female leaders overseas. Locally, women’s caucus members will work with counterparts from Cambodia to build women’s capacity to take part in local governance and foster creation of gender-inclusive government programs.

“We can show other municipalities across the world what we’re doing in our county, and how to do things like this in their own community,” Elliott said.

She added the county’s women’s caucus – created in 2020 to support rural women amid the COVID-19 pandemic – has made progress over the last two years in advancing representation of women “not just in local government, but across the community.”

The other members of the women’s caucus are Lucan-Biddulph Mayor Cathy Burghardt-Jesson, Strathroy-Caradoc Mayor Joanne Vanderheyden, who’s also FCM president, and Middlesex Centre Mayor Aina DeViet.

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