Ms McKelvie is the chair of Toronto City Council after Mayor John Tory resigned over an extramarital affair with one of his employees.
Toronto Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie has assumed mayoral duties since John Tory officially stepped down on Friday.
Photo: Radio Canada / Evan Mitsui
A geoscientist by training, Jennifer McKelvie is the third woman to lead Ontario’s capital. June Rowlands and Barbara Hall are the other two women who have managed Toronto. Both served one term. Ms Rowlands was mayor from 1991 to 1994. Ms. Hall then defeated Ms. Rowlands in the 1994 election. No woman has held the office of mayor since the 1998 Toronto City Government merger.
In Montreal, Valérie Plante is the only female mayor in the city’s history. Ms. Plante was first elected in November 2017 and re-elected in autumn 2022.
Trees covering the forest
Montreal and Toronto aren’t the only major Canadian cities to be led by women: Calgary, Mississauga and Hamilton all have female mayors. On the other hand, women are still underrepresented in local politics.
In Ontario, only 6 of the 29 major city mayors are women. In Quebec, only 23.6% of parishes in the province are led by women, and 38.5% of parish council positions are women.
In Toronto, most city councilors are men. The same goes for Calgary, Hamilton and Mississauga. Montreal is the exception: more women than men are elected.
Valérie Plante is the tree that hides the forest. It’s good that she’s the mayor of a big city, but that’s not necessarily the case in all Québec communities, says author Pascale Navarro, project leader and trainer at Groupe Femmes, Politics and Democracy.
Valérie Plante is the first female mayor of the city of Montreal.
Photo: Radio Canada / Ivanoh Demers
This lack of female representation is not limited to local politics. At the provincial level, only Manitoba and Alberta have a premier. In fact, only Heather Stefanson was elected to the position in Manitoba. However, in Ontario, more than 39% of the women elected in Queen’s Park are women.
“I don’t think we’re going to see total equality in our lives, but I think there’s still progress, you have to look at it on the bright side. »
— A quote from Pascale Navarro, project manager and trainer at the Women, Politics and Democracy Group
modernize institutions
According to Ms. Navarro, there are several barriers to women wanting to enter politics. In particular, she points to the large number of outgoing candidates standing for re-election and the fact that the majority of them are men. The low turnout in local elections and the social climate are also obstacles for women, said Ms. Navarro.
In 2022, 32% of Ontario municipal candidates were women. A 5% improvement over 2018, according to Ontario organization Equal Voice.
The entry of women into politics at all levels leads to a questioning of the existing rules and institutions. It is clear that these are old institutions that need to be modernized, explains Ms. Navarro.
Providing local politics education, ie tools and training so that citizens can learn about local democracy and equality, would be a step in the right direction, she said.
Citing attacks on social media by former Environment Secretary Catherine McKenna, Ms Navarro also wants support networks to be created between colleagues to give institutional support and resources to women in politics.
Not just for women, but for everyone. Because what improves the lives of women in politics also improves the lives of men in politics.