In October 2013 with funds from the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities Councillor Bishop, VanRooyen and I organized a forum to celebrate Person's Day. Over fifty elected women and girls in from local schools, universities and municipalities attended.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has just published a great piece of participatory action research!
Removing the Barriers to Young Women's Participation in Local Government
This guide is addressed to young women who would like a "head start" group in their community and to municipal councillors with an interest in seeing more (young) women enter politics.I recently bumped into a travel writer who travels the globe and watches politics in Europe and North America. He offered this as the greatest problem in local governance:
"The iron grip of the status quo."
The status quo is not good for communities, for women, and for young women in particular. There's a democratic and demographic deficit. What would change look like if a good number of young women entered council chambers in the years immediately ahead?
The presence of Councillor Emma VanRooyen at the County of Kings is a demonstration of the wisdom that brings and the types of change we could see if more "Emmas" ran for political office.
I've sent the guide off with a note to all those who attended in 2013. I hope it will inspire interest in exploring this topic and using this guide. It was great to have a database of young women to contact. Now, my fingers and toes are crossed that a few will get in touch.
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