City councillor pushes for women’s bureau at city hall
Posted Mar 1, 2018 02:18:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA — A city councillor thinks city hall could do better by women, and wants the city to create a women’s bureau to focus on making improvements.
Gloucester-Southgate Councillor Diane Deans gave notice of her plans to introduce a motion at city council, calling for a city council member to be appointed a special liaison on women’s issues, for gender parity on the city’s boards and committees, and for the creation of a women’s bureau.
“The United Nations has declared that the critical mass necessary for women to make a visible impact on the style and content of political decision-making is 30 per cent,” said Deans, while giving notice of motion at city council.
“Currently, Ottawa city council has a female representation of less than 17 per cent,” Deans stated.
Of 24 city councillors, only four are women. Three women are among the nine top managers at the city.
The mayor is skeptical of the idea of creating a women’s bureau, but says he would also like to see gender parity on boards and committees.
“I’m not interested in creating a big bureaucracy; I’d rather see dollars go into resolving issues of gender equality,” said Mayor Jim Watson.
Deans’ idea will come up for debate at city council on March 28.
