Support Systems Needed for Sustained Gender Diversity in Municipal Politics

Despite strides made in 2020 to push for more gender diversity on council in the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL), the outcome in 2024 is likely to turn the tables once again.

In the 2020 municipal election, 19 candidates were nominated across the 10 districts. This year’s official candidate list surpasses that of four years ago, with 23 nominees.

In 2020, voters had a woman candidate in nine out of ten districts, with three women being acclaimed for their districts. The election resulted in a council composed of a mayor and 80 per cent women councillors, marking a significant shift in the gender distribution typical of municipal elections.

In 2018, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities launched an initiative to increase women’s participation in municipal politics and push for gender parity. At that time, women held 18 per cent of mayoral positions and 28 per cent of councillor seats.

This election cycle, however, only 9 of the 23 candidates in MODL are women, and two districts have no female candidates.

Kacy DeLong, the incumbent councillor for District 8, is seeking re-election. Four years ago, she was part of a concerted effort to elevate women’s representation on council in Lunenburg County.

“We were feeling the pinch of the pandemic and also witnessing around us what was going on in terms of decision-making, wanting to ensure that there were more disparate voices at the table.” she explains. “It’s what gave me the confidence to run.”

DeLong says she, and other women candidates, feel differently about how their campaigns are being received this time around. 

“I think that after the 2020 election, the pendulum swung really hard, especially in MODL, towards female representation… I think that there’s a sense of urgency amongst my supporters and amongst other women who have put their names forward that we don’t want to just let it slide back to where it was,” DeLong explains.

Alison Smith also feels women and gender diverse folks face added barriers to participate in politics. Smith, who’s running in District 6, was the NDP candidate in the Lunenburg provincial electoral district in 2021 and worked in politics for five years. 

“And 95% of the time, people are very kind, very open and very respectful. But when they’re not, it can really go off the rails… I think it’s pretty clear that the hostilities directed towards women and racialized people, gender diverse people, when they’re running for politics, that the hostilities are more intense. There’s just extra layers of hate that people grab onto.”

Despite her extensive experience, having a local role model was a big factor in Smith’s decision to run. 

“I really admire Michelle Greek who is my councillor right now. I thought she really raised the bar for representation in our area and she offered great communication,” says Smith. “I feel like she did pave the way for me to see how I could be of service to my community in that role.” 

Smith acknowledges that more work is needed to ensure women and gender-diverse candidates feel safe and welcomed in politics.

“I think there’s some things that we can do to ensure that people don’t feel like their safety is compromised and to feel like they’re not gonna be putting themselves in harm’s way by putting themselves forward,” she says. “Win or lose, that’s something that I will be working on after the election is over.” 

The 2024 election could result in a majority-male council in MODL. With fewer mentors on council and a lack of deliberate efforts to support gender-diverse candidates, there is a real risk of eroding the progress made in 2020.

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