Let’s have a look at council today.  HRM Councillors include:  13 white men, one black man, and two women. Seriously. And rumour has it we are in the top fifteen largest cities (by population) in Canada – and the biggest city east of Montreal.

We are about to have our civic election.  Winners could reflect the changes and the diversity of our city. 

Here are the women who sat on council in the last two decades: the X represents the terms they sat on council.

Terms- X =1 term as councillor	2000-04	20004-08	2008-12	2012-16	2016-20
Jackie Barkhouse			X		
Lisa Blackburn					X
Sheila Fougere	XX	XX			
Debbie Hum		XX	XX		
Becky Kent		X			
Gloria McCluskey		XXX	XXX	XXX	
Linda Mosher	XXXX	XXXX	XXXX	XXXX	
Lorelei Nicoll			XXX	XXX	XXX
Dawn Sloane	XXX	XXX	XXX		
Krista Snow		X			
Sue Uteck	XXX	XXX	XXX		
Jennifer Watts			XX	XX	
Diana Whalen	X				
Mary Wile		XX	XX		
Total women on council	5	9	9	4	2

Notes:

-Hum and Snow began their terms in 2003.

-Whalen left to serve as an MLA in 2003.

-Barkhouse began her term in 2007, after Kent left to serve as an MLA.

-If I made a mistake, and added or left someone out, please let me know.

As earlier noted, for the current term, 2016-20, HRM council had two women (12.5% of councillors).

However, we seem to be going in the wrong direction.  Today with two women councilors, we have half the number of women (4) councillors that we had from 2012-16.  And in

• 2008-12 there were 9 women on council (more than four times the number we have today) (39%)
• from 2004-08 there were 9 women on council  (39%)
• and from 2000-04, we had 5 women on council (21%)

Why women are so scarce on HRM Council

Here are two reasons:  First, in 2011 the Council was decreased from 23 to 16 seats in time for the 2012 election.  And what do you know?– when seats are scarce, those remaining seats tend go to men.  It’s like the game Musical Chairs.  For career reasons, men tend to hang on to their seats and because they have more experience in leadership roles at the workplace and in other organizations, they are often preferred as savvy candidates for city council. Sexism also plays a role.

Secondly, Premier McNeil dissolved school boards in 2018, and health boards (except for one) across Nova Scotia in 2014.  Often women ran for trustee positions on school boards, in part because they tend to be involved in their children’s education, and in part because running for the school board was often a first step up the political ladder.   Without the ability to test commitment, organizational skills and popularity at the school board level, women have less access to electoral politics.  And with McNeil’s scuttling nine district health authorities, women who at one time filled seats at their local health authorities,  have no pipeline into other public offices.

Halifax leads the country with an astoundingly low percentage of women on council

In fact, even in Atlantic Canada, Halifax has the second lowest percentage of women councillors — only 12.5%.  Only Fredericton has fewer with 8.3% women on their council.   This chart shows the percentage of women councillors in selected cities in the region and across Canada –

Fredericton, NB	8.3%
Halifax, NS	12.5%
Moncton, NB	20%
St John’s, NF	33%
Ottawa, ON	30%
Hamilton, ON	25%
Calgary, AB	21%
Victoria, BC	42%

           

We do have a low percentage of women on council, but in keeping with many other cities we have a low percentage of black, brown or Indigenous councillors.  Halifax has no noticeably disabled councillors.  Jen Powley, a severely disabled writer and activist, is running this time — downtown/south end, in District 7.

“We elect councillors so they can represent our concerns at council. If all citizens had the same concerns, and the same point of view on all the issues, then we would only need one councillor for all of HRM. But we live in a diverse municipality…”

Tim Bousquet, of the Halifax Examiner

All this is to say that when you cast your ballot in 25 days, think about equity.  We have five women of colour  running for council.  And one woman who is physically disabled contesting one district.

As Tim Bousquet wrote in The Coast a decade ago: “We elect councillors so they can represent our concerns at council. If all citizens had the same concerns, and the same point of view on all the issues, then we would only need one councillor for all of HRM. But we live in a diverse municipality…”

Let’s think about the fact that in five terms, since 2000, our council averaged more than 27% women councillors – but today women make up only 12% of councillors.  What will it be in a month from now?

Featured Image: The Dispute of Minerva and Neptune (1689) by Rene-Antoine Houasse. For more about the tale behind this image see “Pandora’s Ballot Box: The Myth of the Irresponsible Female Voter”, here https://eidolon.pub/pandora-s-ballot-box-6c85dbe7fbe5