Why don't more women run for council in Stouffville?

Only 4 female candidates have put their names forward in 2022 election in Stouffville, the lowest total in York Region

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 11, 2022
Simon Martin

If you have walked in to the Stouffville Municipal Office on Sandiford Drive for a council meeting at any point in the last 16 years, you might have noticed council is not exactly gender balanced. Not even close. Sue Sherban and Susanne Hilton have been the only elected female councillors over that period of time. Hilton was the lone woman on council from 2006 to 2014 and Sherban was the only woman on council this past term from 2018 to 2022. There was no female on council during the 2014-2018 term.

Those paltry numbers will have a difficult time increasing this municipal election. Data collected by the Stouffville Sun-Tribune shows that Whitchurch-Stouffville has the fewest number of female candidates running in this election in all of York Region. Out of the 21 candidates who put their names forward in Stouffville, there are 17 men running and just four women. Women make up 19 per cent of the candidates in Stouffville. To put that in perspective, municipalities such as Georgina and East Gwillimbury have 50 per cent female candidate representation this year. Out of all the candidates running in York Region, 37.6 per cent are female.

Gender equity on municipal council has been a long-standing issue in the province, York University associate professor for the School of Policy of Public Policy and Administration Zachary Spicer said. Due to the job’s part-time nature, they usually attract independently wealthy, retired individuals, Spicer said. “A lot of the household labour still tends to fall on women and that’s a challenge,” he said.

Across Ontario, Spicer said the average age of a council member is 61 years old and 75 per cent of council members are men. Along with needing more women in elected roles, there is a need for younger people and people from more diverse background on council, he said.

Ward 6 candidate Sherban said the issue is becoming harder to ignore. “Our town is mostly male leaders and a majority of males on council,” she said.

Sherban said women were coming out in bigger numbers prior to COVID-19 but she said a lot of moms dug in and took care of their kids. There certainly isn’t a lack of women worthy of running in town, she said. “There are a lot of professional, smart women in Stouffville. I talk to them on the GO train every day,” she said. “They are holding that job plus considering a part-time job and if they can still serve their family well.” For a first-time councillor, it really is more of a full-time commitment right out of the gate trying to get up to speed on how everything operates, Sherban added.

That being said, Sherban is hopeful in seeing many strong female leaders in York Region who have become heavily involved speaking on environmental issues around the Greenbelt, Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass.

Female representation is a little better at federal and provincial levels because of political parties, Spicer said. “Parties are much more aware of gender diversity and much more conscious of gender balance,” he said. Through the nomination process of candidates, they are often looking to even out the gender balance within their candidates, he said.

Without political parties in the municipal system, it has a limiting effect on attracting female candidates, Spicer said.

In the nine municipalities in York Region, in 2022, there are only six female mayoral candidates as compared to 26 male candidates. Spicer said that imbalance could be due to the structure of the municipal landscape. “There is a bit of a pipeline from councillor to mayor,” he said.

If you’re not building that pipeline at the councillor level, there will be fewer women to choose from who run for mayor, he said. 

Spicer pointed to organic initiatives like the volunteer-led campaign school in Waterloo Region that aims to teach women and those from diverse backgrounds how to run for office as an interesting way forward.