Women could make a difference in the November municipal elections if the level of interest and participation at the May 24 campaign school is any indication. The non-partisan school spearheaded by community activists Sue Jackel, Margaret Page, Margaret Harrington and Dawn Miller was a resounding success.
Jackel first attended a campaign school in 1988. At that time, she was urged to run for office. However, with a family and career to tend to, the timing wasn't right for her. Since coming to the Coast, Jackel has been active on several fronts, especially affordable housing. She's also a frequent attendee of Sechelt council meetings.
Harrington was in office in Ontario and continues to be involved in local politics. She's also a member of the Canadian Federation of University Women and was instrumental in a well-attended forum for women last fall that covered how far women have come in many areas, including politics. Page and Miller were the driving force behind the recent Sunshine Coast Women's Dialogue as well as ardent Toastmaster members, among many other accomplishments.
The day drew women from all over the Sunshine Coast and from all walks of life and delivered on its promise to inform women on the background, challenges and expectations of local politics.
Spurred by a United Nations report that says women should form at least 30 per cent of any government, the Saturday event was designed to pique women's interest and answer many of the questions they have about running for office.
The first speaker, Jo-Anne Frank, District of Sechelt's corporate officer, spoke on the Local Government Act and the Community Charter. She advised the audience on the roles and responsibilities of council. Frank said the purpose of council is to "foster the economic, social and environmental well-being of a community."
"Then it becomes let the games begin in how to apply those purposes," she remarked.
Ultimately the role of council is to develop policies, adopt bylaws or resolutions and ensure they are enacted.
Elected women politicians played a vital role in the day. Gibsons' councillor LeeAnn Johnson and Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) director Lee Turnbull spoke on their perspectives on the differences of men and women in politics. And although attendance at her daughter's graduation precluded Area D director Donna Shugar from presenting, she supplied a statement on her experience for the school.
In many instances, Johnson said, what society views as traditional women's issues fall off the radar of the men who make up the bulk of Gibsons' council.
"Until the mayor [Barry Janyk] recently became a new father, I couldn't get any support for the issue of childcare. Women have a responsibility to raise issues the guys are never going to raise," she said.
Turnbull expressed her concern in the small representation her area of West Howe Sound has on the regional board. Just over 2,000 in population as of the last census, Area F has only three votes at the table yet has the largest industrial area in the SCRD. Past issues where the Area F directors were disqualified from voting caused Turnbull to run for office in the first place. The other elected officials on the Coast who spoke at the campaign school were school trustees Lori Dixon and Mary Bittroff. Dixon said she has been "politically involved since she was knee-high to a grasshopper." Her First Nations matriarchal upbringing prepared her for responsibility. She advised those present to not view differences as negative, to not be too hard on themselves and to not apologize for who they are. Bittroff was a prior trustee in Delta. Her motivation is the kids. "I have a brain. I'm smart, and I believe it. I'm making decisions for generations," she stated.
Other topics for the day included making the decision to run, media considerations and campaign ethics.
One of the highlights of the day was a presentation by former Gibsons' councillor Angela Letman on campaign strategy. Full of practical advice covering everything from photographs to speaking at public forums to the monetary cost of running a campaign, the topic was well covered.
Letman, along with former SCRD Area B director Elise Rudland, finished the day with a discussion on what they would have done differently in their campaigns when they were defeated. In Letman's case, she ran against an incumbent mayor, and she didn't feel there was a lot she could have done differently. Rudland said she felt the politics of the day were more a factor in her defeat than her campaign. At day's end, six attending women were either considering or committing to run in November. If the four would-be councillors were successful and joined the sitting councillor and directors, the UN's 30 per cent female representation would be readily surpassed - a fact that made organizer Page "ecstatic."
