Burke looks to add youth, more female voices to council
Lethbridge city council needs more youth and more women, says council candidate Aileen Burke. She would bring both to the table if elected in the October Municipal Election.
“I want to change the demographics on city council for better representation of what our city looks like — so more women, more young people,” said Burke. One of the biggest voting blocks is under the age of 35, she explained.
“I think it’s unfair and does a disservice to our population if we don’t have people on council that are speaking for those voices that are living in that time period.”
Burke previously ran for school board trustee in 2013. She was already debating whether to run for council when the Ready For Her panel came to Lethbridge, encouraging more women to run for local government. Burke said those conversations helped to solidify her decision.
If elected, she says she would help to bring the issues youth are passionate about forward.
“A lot of it comes down to communication and being able to go to those groups and those young people, to the university, to the college, and having those conversations with the students’ unions, with the grad student associations, and bring those issues to the forefront,” she said.
Burke can speak for herself when it comes to a disconnect between students and local government.
She is presently a student at the University of Lethbridge obtaining her master’s in political science. Poverty and homelessness are the topic of her thesis and she’s studying the impact of Housing First in both Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.
“It’s a very real issue here in the city. We have one of the highest child poverty rates in Alberta and I think this is a fact that often gets overlooked at a council level, that we as policy and governance makers, have the ability to shape that and change the tides there,” she said.
“Also, housing — affordable housing, lack of housing options, affects so many different groups in our community. We’ve got the refugees, immigrants, our students, our seniors, who all are looking for different options for housing that I think we could be doing a better job in.”
Building safe and inclusive communities are also at the top of her list. Referring back to the community issues during Pridefest this summer, Burke noted how important that movement still is. She also believes in building neighbourhood associations and getting to know your neighbours.
“Those types of things are so important to be making Lethbridge a vibrant community that really looks out for one another and continues to build on the awesome things that we have here.”
Burke works for the local Canadian Mental Health Association with Housing First, as well as for a public affairs firm where she assists businesses and groups with advocating for their viewpoints at a provincial level. She’s also volunteered with a number of non-profit and community organizations “who are doing really awesome things.”
“And I want to be able to bring those issues to the forefront of council to be able to help them move their movement forward.”
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