BROADER HORIZONS

The latest batch of census data released Wednesday shows times are changing when it comes to Edmonton’s makeup. It’s too bad our city council — while showing modest progress — is falling behind in mirroring a more diverse citizenry.

Much has been made, and rightly so, of the lack of female representation at city hall. The gender balance improved marginally when the number of women elected doubled, with newcomer Sarah Hamilton joining incumbent Bev Esslinger. On a 13-member council, that’s still a long way from good enough, considering roughly half the population is female.

Wednesday’s release of 2016 census data underscores the lack of diversity on council. When it comes to visible minorities and Aboriginal representation, the needle moved slightly after Aaron Paquette, who has Cree and Métis heritage, was sworn in Tuesday as the city’s first Indigenous councillor since Kiviaq (then David Ward) served from 1968 to 1974.

The election didn’t add voices from the city’s burgeoning South Asian, Chinese, Filipino or Middle Eastern communities. When it comes to visible minorities, which Statistics Canada classifies as separate from people with Indigenous heritage, Moe Banga, who replaced Amarjeet Sohi, remains the only council member of colour in a city that is growing more colourful.

At 76,205, Edmonton has Canada’s secondlargest Indigenous population, behind only Winnipeg. Meanwhile, the share of immigrants in Edmonton has reached 23.8 per cent, above the national figure of 21.9 per cent. In Edmonton, 6.1 per cent are recent newcomers.

Academics studying diversity in politics and visible minorities who have run as candidates point to issues such as limited access to donations and volunteers and even racial discrimination and affinity voting, in which people support those with whom they most identify.

But winning an election is also about having experience and a profile in the community. That’s why it’s important to ensure we have people of diverse backgrounds in high-profile jobs and on boards in and outside city hall. We need as big a pool of qualified candidates as we can get.

It’s up to voters to decide, but here’s why they should consider inviting more voices to the table: A single-sex, single-race governing body offers by its nature a narrow frame of reference while an increasingly diverse community demands the opposite. That’s a factor when issues such as alleged racial profiling by police, the future of Chinatown, the safety of public transit and the city’s hiring policies, for example, come under the spotlight.

Diversifying our council can only expand our vision and our horizons.