Article content continued
The organization hopes to see at least one woman elected to each of Grey-Bruce’s 17 municipal councils in 2022. During the last municipal elections in 2018, every municipality except South Bruce had at least one woman elected. But women still only make up 28 per cent of the municipal politicians in the two counties while accounting for more than 50 per cent of the total population.
Merton said there is definitely an opportunity for improvement.
“If our focus is to increase the number of women to better represent our population then we have some work to do,” she said. “In different municipalities there are different percentages.
“We have some work to do for sure, to move towards that gender parity, and then to sustain it.”
Merton said the goal of the group is to not just get women to run and get elected, but to keep them involved in politics.
“There is a need to continue to have forward momentum to have more women to run for council, be successful and then once you are there continue to do well and thrive,” she said.
“Ultimately our goal is for women who have been elected to a first term to consider a second and third term and then to consider running for a position more than a councillor, to run as deputy-mayor or mayor.”
Along with encouraging more women to get involved in municipal politics locally, electHER also plans to provide the support and guidance to candidates through training, networking and mentorship programs leading up to the next municipal election in the fall of 2022. The first training session is slated for mid-March.
Source:- Owen Sound Sun Times
