While women make up over 52 per cent of the Canadian population, only 24 per cent of the country’s elected municipal representatives are female. Canada ranks 46th out of 189 countries for the number of women in politics.
“I have seen the next generation of women politicians, they’re out there, and what we need to do is inform, educate, and support them because more women at the table will make a difference,” said Pam McConnell, chair of Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) Standing Committee on Increasing the Number of Women in Municipal Politics and a veteran Toronto city councillor.
Berry Vrbanovic, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and councillor for the City of Kitchener, Ont., announced a free webinar series aimed at helping women overcome the obstacles they face in running for municipal office.
“The webinars will provide valuable information for women interested in running for municipal office but who have not been able to attend the in-person workshops FCM has been offering across the country for the last two years. They are another contribution to our continued efforts to increase the participation of women in municipal decision-making,” said Vrbanovic.
Each of the five English webinars will cover a key campaign issue: campaign finances (November 22, 2011); deciding to run (January 12, 2012); media relations (January 25, 2012); campaign literature (February 7, 2012) and social media (February 14, 2012). A series of French webinars will also be offered.
While webinars are free, places are limited and interested participants must register.