As a young women involved in politics, I was disappointed, to say the least, when I saw Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson’s comments rejecting the idea that it is the responsibility of elected officials to ensure that marginalized groups have the opportunities to be represented on Ottawa City Council.
Recently, long-time city councillor Diane Deans proposed that the City of Ottawa launch a women’s bureau that would apply a gendered lens to council policy, and promote the participation of women in municipal elections.
This proposal comes at a time when the City of Ottawa needs it desperately. Women currently make up only 18 per cent of Ottawa city council seats. This is lower than the average city council in Ontario, which is frankly embarrassing. If city council is going to do an effective job of representing the people of Ottawa, it must reflect the diversity of our population.
Watson claims to be a mayor of the people, but his comments do nothing but shine a light on the fact that he is not taking gender representation seriously.
He flippantly rejected Deans’ proposal stating that elected officials have no role to play in ensuring that underrepresented groups, such as women, are elected to council. He then went on to say that a “lot” of women put their names forward in the last municipal election in 2014, when only 19 per cent of candidates were female.
If Jim Watson believes that 18-19 per cent of representation for a group that makes up 50 per cent of the population is adequate, we have ourselves a very big problem.
Here are some facts that may help Mr. Watson open his eyes to what his real responsibilities as mayor are.
In her book It Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office, political science professor Jennifer Lawless highlights her recent study on women in elections. Lawless’ study found that men were almost 60 per cent more likely than women to consider themselves very qualified to run for office.
Unlike men, women often need to be asked multiple times before they decide to run for office. This is no coincidence.
Women face much larger barriers in political environments than men, including (but not limited to) economic and social factors. These factors play a significant role in preventing women from running for office, and preventing those who do run from being as successful as their male counterparts.
These barriers are much worse for women of colour, queer and trans women, and women with disabilities. To ignore this fact is more than ignorant. It is misogynistic.
Mr. Watson, as mayor of Ottawa, it is undoubtedly your job to ensure that city council reflects the diversity of our city. We cannot be satisfied with only 18 per cent representation.
It is clear by this abysmal number and your recent comments that Diane Deans’ proposal is needed more than we know. It is time for the mayor to acknowledge that others do not share the same privilege as him, and work towards adopting a gender lens in his role as mayor.
I urge him to reconsider his position on Deans’ proposal as well as issue an apology for his blatantly ignorant comments about women’s access to municipal politics.
Photo by Meagan Casalino
