Women can ‘make a difference’
Niagara District Council of Women is giving Niagara’s female candidates an opportunity to share their hopes for the Region.
Council president Gracia
Janes said 20 of the 21 women from throughout Niagara hoping to represent their community at regional council following the Oct. 22 municipal election will be participating in a Women in Niagara Politics Forum at 7 p.m., Wednesday, at the Mills Room, in St. Catharines Centennial Library, 54 Church St.
“We’re really pleased that so many women are running. They can make a difference,” Janes said.
Debbie Zimmerman, a former regional chair and CEO of Grape Growers of Ontario, will moderate the forum, giving each of the candidates four minutes to speak, followed by questions from the audience. Janes said the forum could at times resemble a typical political debate, particularly among candidates from Niagara Falls, where five of the city’s 12 registered regional council candidates are women.
“It is a little competitive,” she said. “They’re going to have four minutes to present what they’re going to do to make a difference. And yes indeed, especially in Niagara Falls it may come up. There’s a conflict there on angles as to what they think should be done. I’m sure of that.”
Although there likely won’t be as much debate occurring between candidates who are the sole women on the ballot in their communities, Janes said they too will each have an opportunity to discuss “what they’re going to do to shape things up.”
“Things are such a mess right now, I think that is going to come up (at the forum) as to how things in the Region need to be done,” she said.
Currently, only four of Niagara’s 31 members of regional council are women. Janes said that ratio is something members of the Niagara District Council of Women hope to see change, because Niagara needs more women in elected office, working to make a difference in their communities.
While many more women have also registered as city council candidates in their respective communities, Janes said Wednesday’s forum is only for women registered as mayoral or regional council candidates.