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There will be a federal election this year in Canada; it’s already been scheduled for October 19th. However, in a parliamentary system such as ours, the Prime Minister is free to dissolve Parliament at any time and ask the Governor General to call an election. This is why there is always so much speculation over the next voting date. Election campaigns in the digital age are vastly different from the first one I worked on in 1979.  At that time, everything was paper-based. As

Women & Politics London is recruiting two individuals to serve as board members.  Joining our board of directors is a one-year commitment, with the possibility for extension.  Board memberships take effect as of January 2015, and the expected time commitment is 1-2 meetings (2-4 hours per month), in addition to working group meetings as required. While we encourage applications from all people who identify as women, we recognize the importance of a diverse leadership team, an

For the past year, London has participated in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’  Head Start program, an initiative to encourage young women to actively participate in civic issues and politics. As a result of the program’s extensive consultation with young women they have partnered with web.isod.es to produce a documentary film to be released this fall. The purpose of the film is to address the underrepresentation of women in political seats across municipal, provinc

On behalf of Women and Politics London, I want to state my support for the London Plan and also commend City Staff and Council on their extensive work in engaging Londoners. This forward-thinking plan for our city is the result of a thorough and focussed engagement process that I enthusiastically applaud. The London Plan There is much to like about the plan and the vision it sets out for London over the next 25 years. There is a strong commitment to diversity and inclusivenes

#Women #Infographic #Ontario #Politics #Election

Have YOU ever been to a council meeting? Well I hadn’t been either until May 6. That’s when I came out to Women and Politics first ‘Council, Coffee & Cushions’ event. Over the course of the evening, as I sat and watched council debate issues that included London’s food trucks, I observed a few things. Here’s what I learned. It’s more fun and less intimidating with a group. I’d like to give a huge thank you to Women and Politics. Knowing I could meet up at a familiar location

On Saturday close to 40 Londoners come out to our first Women’s Municipal Campaign School at Goodwill Industries to learn about the ins and outs of running and volunteering in a Municipal campaign. With the leadership of experienced City politicians Joni Baechler, Judy Bryant and Gina Barber, we heard about the importance of communicating your candidacy, the logistics of running a campaign, fundraising ideas, legal requirements and more. Members of the media were also present

After flipping through the headlines today, I was reminded of a lively debate at one of our last Women and Politics Mixers about a trend many of the women at our table were noticing, and reasonably troubled by. Why is it that we only seem to see women appointed to C-suite (CEOs, COOs, CFOs etc…) executive positions, or to party leadership, when everything is about to crash and burn around them? While we are just starting to see women take to the driver’s seat (you’ll apprecia

“Political institutions reflect male lived experience. The female experience is absent.” “You don’t have to be Superwoman!” “We need to offer no strings attached support and build women up, not tear them down.” “How can we translate political language to make it more accessible?” “Women don’t have a harder time running, the problem is that not enough women run”. On Monday, January 20, 2014, a group of 48 women came together to discuss women and politics. It’s election year in

The unexamined life is not worth living for a human being. – Socrates On my internet dating profile, I describe myself as “ultra-liberal; in the nice, Canadian, sense”. But it has only been in the past few years that I have come to think about how I developed that world view. I am a child of immigrants from two very different countries with only their Catholic faith in common. Yet both families espoused conservative political views. In the case of my mother’s Irish family, it

In a previous job working for a crown corporation of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, I had the opportunity to work on a pretty cool project that was intended to bring equity and accessibility to the forefront of our projects, policy setting and decision making. It was a really simple tool that asked project managers to first think of all of the diverse groups of people that a project, policy or decision could affect. Really think about who the community was and who

London’s 2014 election cycle took off over the past week with the nomination of several candidates for City Council, and the announcement by a few incumbents declaring they are not planning on running for Council again. Already we see trends indicating Women will be under represented on Council in 2014 unless something changes. Out of 15 nominations filed as of January 6th, 12 were men and only 3 were women. In addition, Joni Baechler, Nancy Branscombe and Judy Bryant, 3 of t

Let me preface this post by saying that I am not a mom – unless of course you count my two fur-babies. That said, I do want to shed some light on raising kids on the political front lines. I can’t speak from the experience of a parent, but I can speak from the experience of a child. One raised by a single mom with a loud voice and unshakable values. A child who managed to survive unscathed into her mid-20’s despite the picket lines, protests, marches and campaigns that filled

I am happy to announce the launch of our new blog and to share with you the story of how Women and Politics, a citizen-led initiative that looks to engage and increase the participation of women in the political landscape, came to be. In October we hosted a very successful Pints and Politics discussion on women and the barriers they face in participating in politics. A double-work day, lack of role models, negative environment, overt focus on women’s appearances and an absenc