CFUW hosts Meet the Women Candidates night

By: Amanda Nelson

The Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) Stratford invites the community to an information session featuring women candidates running in the upcoming municipal election.

‘Meet the Women Candidates for the Municipal Election’ will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Stratford Intermediate School, 60 St. Andrew St., Stratford.

This free event is open to everyone and offers an opportunity to hear directly from women seeking municipal office, hear their perspectives and priorities, and ask questions about the issues that matter to them.

Cambria Ravenhill, CFUW member and advocate, says that although things have changed over the years, a gap in gender representation in government remains, and CFUW wants to highlight this and show support for female leaders in the upcoming municipal election.

“We want to support leadership for our political candidates because women are 50 per cent of the population, but on council across Canada, women represent 31 per cent. There are variations; in some of the bigger cities, you will see more women on council, but across Canada, it’s only 31 per cent.

“The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has flagged this as a governance gap, and says there is still work to do to achieve gender parity and meaningful participation of women in municipal governance, and CFUW agrees.

“Gender-balanced councils are better councils,” said Ravenhill. “In the business world for decades, they've realized through a ton of research that when you have gender-based leadership teams or corporate boards, you get better results. This is proven over and over again. And at the municipal level, it's similar. Several studies have shown that when you have a 50-50 gender balance on a municipal council, you get better governance, better decision-making, more transparency, and more voices at the table.

“We want to support women in leadership who throw their hat in the ring for the municipal council because studies show that when you do get women on council, you are going to get a better council, and that should be of interest to everybody that supports everybody in Stratford.”

In a recent statement, Carole Saab, CEO FCM, noted that while significant progress has been made, women remain under-represented in many leadership positions and sometimes still face backlash.

“There is progress toward gender parity in elected positions, but it is severely threatened by growing attacks and harassment of elected officials,” said Saab. “Depriving ourselves of the talents of elected women is not just a disservice; it's an outrage. Going forward, FCM will play a lead role in collaborative efforts to put a stop to these threats.”

Ravenhill says this event is not only for community members to hear what local candidates have to say, but also a time for the community to show up for women throughout the city.

“We've seen women leaving politics because of the levels of toxicity and harassment that are sent their way, and I'd really like people to come out simply to support these women who are putting themselves out there to be our elected representatives,” she said.

CFUW’s support and promotion of women’s leadership is deeply rooted in the organization’s history. Founded in 1919, CFUW existed before women were considered persons under Canadian law and at a time when women were excluded and marginalized from business, politics, leadership and many other areas of public life.

This event gives members of the public an opportunity to engage with the women candidates and participate in the democratic process. Attendees are encouraged to bring their questions for the candidates.

Although the event is open to all and is free to attend, CFUW would prefer that people register at https://tinyurl.com/48dv3fvp, however, walk-ins are welcome.