In the 2013 municipal election here in Edmonton, just 39 of the 119 candidates who ran for office were women. And of the 79 candidates who ran for City Council specifically, just 17 were women. Nomination Day for the 2017 municipal election isn’t until September 18, but already there are more than three dozen female candidates who intend to run!
Many of them were in attendance earlier this evening at Political Pub Night, an informal mixer organized by Ward 5 candidate Miranda Jimmy. “I went to an Equal Voice event last month and everyone said ‘we need to get more women elected’,” she told me. “I thought, the way to do that is to support each other.” She organized the event to give people an opportunity to meet the women running in this election in a more casual environment.
There were about two dozen candidates who confirmed their attendance and the free event “sold out” in just four days. “Obviously, there’s a need for this,” Miranda said after I remarked how impressive it was that so many people gave up a beautiful July evening to talk politics.
Miranda Jimmy and Amanda Nielsen
Amanda Nielsen, past chair of Equal Voice’s Northern Alberta chapter, said events like tonight’s mixer are important to help candidates build confidence. “Being a candidate is tough, so you need to build support for what you’re doing,” she told me. Equal Voice has been holding training schools for candidates on door knocking, organized the Fundraise-HER event last month, and is paying attention to Twitter to proactively respond to gendered attacks.
In addition to meeting potential voters, the event was an opportunity for candidates to meet one another. “There’s a lot we can learn from one another,” Miranda said.
Here’s the list of candidates that was shared at the event:
- Bev Esslinger – Ward 2
- Shelley Tupper – Ward 2
- Beatrice Ghettuba – Ward 4
- Alison Poste – Ward 4
- Tricia Velthuizen – Ward 4
- Nafisa Bowen – Ward 5
- Sarah Hamilton – Ward 5
- Miranda Jimmy – Ward 5
- Dawn Newton – Ward 5
- Svetlana Pavlenko – Ward 5
- Taz Bouchier – Ward 6
- Liz John West – Ward 7
- Mimi Williams – Ward 7
- Lenore Dilts – Ward 8
- Kirsten Goa – Ward 8
- Heather Workman – Ward 8
- Sandy Pon – Ward 9
- Samantha Hees – Ward 10
- Sim Senol – Ward 10
- Glenda Williams – Ward 10
- Brandy Burdeniuk – Ward 11
- Keren Tang – Ward 11
- Cheryl Johner – EPSB Ward A
- Michelle Draper – EPSB Ward B
- Shelagh Dunn – EPSB Ward C
- Trisha Estabrooks – EPSB Ward D
- Leslie Marks – EPSB Ward E
- Bridget Stirling – EPSB Ward G
- Sherry Adams – EPSB Ward I
- Sajida Asghar – EPSB Ward I
- Saira Wagner – EPSB Ward I
- Patricia Grell – ECSD Ward 71
- Nancy Robb – ECSD Ward 71
- Sandra Palazzo – ECSD Ward 72
- Debbie Engel – ECSD Ward 74
- Alene Mutala – ECSD Ward 75
- Lisa Turchansky – ECSD Ward 76
- Laura Thibert – ECSD Ward 77
You can see more photos from tonight’s event here.
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