There’s no time like the present to get more women interested in politics, and running for office, say two Barrie councillors.
Ann-Marie Kungl and Natalie Harris say the 2022 city election isn’t far away.
“While we are two years out from our next municipal election, it is not too soon to start the conversation,” Kungl said. “It is well-reported by women that they’ve often needed to be asked multiple times or need to be convinced to run for office.”
In Barrie’s 2018 city election, for mayor and council, 30 men and 11 women ran for office. And in the February 2020 Ward 3 byelection, five of the candidates were men, three were women. Even with Kungl winning the Ward 3 byelection, nine of Barrie’s councillors are men and two are women.
“In 2020, we are no further ahead in Barrie to reducing a gender parity gap on council,” Kungl said.
In Ontario’s 2018 municipal elections, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario says 27.2 per cent of the candidates were women and, of those candidates, 29.4 per cent of them were elected or acclaimed.
“I think having more women run for office can translate into having more women elected to office and, at minimum, it can shift the conversations during campaigns and influence elected representatives,” Kungl said. “More women running for council, on council and on city committees and advisory councils, will add diverse perspectives to decision-making that could improve policies and bring new ideas to the table.”
Harris says she decided to run for Barrie city council in 2017 after learning so much about the role while attending a local women in politics meeting facilitated by CFB Borden Honorary Col. Jennifer Armstrong.
“Groups such as this are beneficial to anyone interested in a political career, as they provide a forum to discuss concerns about things such as the large time commitment required to run for election and to perform the role while already facing time constraints which naturally go along with raising a family,” Harris said.
“I think it’s important to highlight that there have been women with very large families on city council,” she added. “So like any career, if you want to pursue one in politics, I say go for it! It may not be easy, but it’s definitely possible.
“Yes, having more women run for election provides residents with more female options, but I am always certain to point out that my male city council counterparts are equally as qualified to hold this role. I think that most people vote on all aspects and qualifications of an individual, not just on their gender,” Harris said.
Mayor Jeff Lehman says the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) encourages women to run for office and tries to remove barriers.
“It’s still, unfortunately, the level of government that has the lowest level of (female) elected officials,” he said of municipalities.
Through its women in local government initiatives, FCM says it helps support women from all backgrounds increase their knowledge and become leaders in their communities through education, training and workshops.
“I will be leveraging several resources and reaching out to local champions to collaborate on developing a strategy that supports informing, empowering and engaging women in considering and planning to run in the 2022 municipal election,” Kungl said. “We know there are many factors that may deter women from participating in electoral politics and we can start working on addressing them.
“Access to role models, mentorship and networking opportunities at formal and grassroots levels are reported as being an important part of a women’s decision to run for office and can increase their confidence and willingness to take this step,” she added.
Harris says there are many local examples of women who are successful leaders, such as Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre president and CEO Janice Skot, and Georgian College president and CEO MaryLynn West-Moynes. Many managers with the City of Barrie are also women, Harris said.
Opinion: Brad West been one of the sharpest critics of decriminalization
Published Apr 22, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 4 minute read
VICTORIA — Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West fired off a letter to Premier David Eby last week about Allan Schoenborn, the child killer who changed his name in a bid for anonymity.
“It is completely beyond the pale that individuals like Schoenborn have the ability to legally change their name in an attempt to disassociate themselves from their horrific crimes and to evade the public,” wrote West.
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The Alberta government has legislated against dangerous, long-term and high risk offenders who seek to change their names to escape public scrutiny.
“I urge your government to pass similar legislation as a high priority to ensure the safety of British Columbians,” West wrote the premier.
The B.C. Review Board has granted Schoenborn overnight, unescorted leave for up to 28 days, and he spent some of that time in Port Coquitlam, according to West.
This despite the board being notified that “in the last two years there have been 15 reported incidents where Schoenborn demonstrated aggressive behaviour.”
“It is absolutely unacceptable that an individual who has committed such heinous crimes, and continues to demonstrate this type of behaviour, is able to roam the community unescorted.”
Understandably, those details alarmed PoCo residents.
But the letter is also an example of the outspoken mayor’s penchant for to-the-point pronouncements on provincewide concerns.
He’s been one of the sharpest critics of decriminalization.
His most recent blast followed the news that the New Democrats were appointing a task force to advise on ways to curb the use of illicit drugs and the spread of weapons in provincial hospitals.
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“Where the hell is the common sense here?” West told Mike Smyth on CKNW recently. “This has just gone way too far. And to have a task force to figure out what to do — it’s obvious what we need to do.
“In a hospital, there’s no weapons and you can’t smoke crack or fentanyl or any other drugs. There you go. Just saved God knows how much money and probably at least six months of dithering.”
He had a pithy comment on the government’s excessive reliance on outside consultants like MNP to process grants for clean energy and other programs.
“If ever there was a place to find savings that could be redirected to actually delivering core public services, it is government contracts to consultants like MNP,” wrote West.
He’s also broken with the Eby government on the carbon tax.
“The NDP once opposed the carbon tax because, by its very design, it is punishing to working people,” wrote West in a social media posting.
“The whole point of the tax is to make gas MORE expensive so people don’t use it. But instead of being honest about that, advocates rely on flimsy rebate BS. It is hard to find someone who thinks they are getting more dollars back in rebates than they are paying in carbon tax on gas, home heat, etc.”
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West has a history with the NDP. He was a political staffer and campaign worker with Mike Farnworth, the longtime NDP MLA for Port Coquitlam and now minister of public safety.
When West showed up at the legislature recently, Farnworth introduced him to the house as “the best mayor in Canada” and endorsed him as his successor: “I hope at some time he follows in my footsteps and takes over when I decide to retire — which is not just yet,” added Farnworth who is running this year for what would be his eighth term.
Other political players have their eye on West as a future prospect as well.
Several parties have invited him to run in the next federal election. He turned them all down.
Lately there has also been an effort to recruit him to lead a unified Opposition party against Premier David Eby in this year’s provincial election.
I gather the advocates have some opinion polling to back them up and a scenario that would see B.C. United and the Conservatives make way (!) for a party to be named later.
Such flights of fancy are commonplace in B.C. when the NDP is poised to win against a divided Opposition.
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By going after West, the advocates pay a compliment to his record as mayor (low property taxes and a fix-every-pothole work ethic) and his populist stands on public safety, carbon taxation and other provincial issues.
The outreach to a small city mayor who has never run provincially also says something about the perceived weaknesses of the alternatives to Eby.
“It is humbling,” West said Monday when I asked his reaction to the overtures.
But he is a young father with two boys, aged three and seven. The mayor was 10 when he lost his own dad and he believes that if he sought provincial political leadership now, “I would not be the type of dad I want to be.”
When West ran for re-election — unopposed — in 2022, he promised to serve out the full four years as mayor.
He is poised to keep his word, confident that if the overtures to run provincially are serious, they will still be there when his term is up.
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LIVE Q&A WITH B.C. PREMIER DAVID EBY: Join us April 23 at 3:30 p.m. when we will sit down with B.C. Premier David Eby for a special edition of Conversations Live. The premier will answer our questions — and yours — about a range of topics, including housing, drug decriminalization, transportation, the economy, crime and carbon taxes. Click HERE to get a link to the livestream emailed to your inbox.
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