Today, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Status of Women Canada, with partners Equal Voice and the Canadian Women Foundation announced the launch of their latest partnership addressing gender parity in office at the local level: Toward Parity. FCM President Vicki-May Hamm issued the following statement.
“On behalf of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and our entire membership, I am very proud today to announce the launch of FCM’s latest initiative to encourage and support women in local government: Toward Parity.
“The goal of Toward Parity is simple—to work toward equal representation of women in local office. It is a continuation of the more than decade-long partnership between FCM and Status of Women Canada. That partnership has focused on increasing the representation of women serving and engaged in politics, providing leadership in areas of inclusion and gender equality, and developing tools and resources for municipalities.
“As our most ambitious initiative of this nature to date, Toward Parity will build on the work of our previous Women in Local Government programs, with the mission of launching a pan-Canadian plan to work toward equal representation of women in local office. We will also work with provincial and territorial municipal associations as well as other organizations at the national, regional and local levels.
“Though incredible progress has been made to live in a Canada where more women are being elected and gender parity in public office is a growing movement, more work remains. Whether it is a lack of local information for women on how to get involved, discrimination against persons of colour or other racial biases, or simply a blindness to systemic barriers women face because of their daily realities—there are still challenges to overcome.
“FCM is proud to count strong female elected officials among its many leadership figures. It is my hope now that this tremendous new initiative will lead to even more of those leaders joining the ranks of local government now and in the future.”
Vicki-May Hamm is President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Mayor of the City of Magog, Quebec. FCM is the national voice of local government, with nearly 2,000 members representing more than 90 per cent of Canada’s population.
For more information, please contact:
FCM Media Relations, (613) 907-6395, media@fcm.ca