Vision Vancouver pushes gender parity motion
2016/03/08 Leave a comment
One aspect of diversity but as the DiverseCityonBoard initiative makes clear, this challenge goes beyond gender given the increased (and increasing) ethnic diversity in our larger cities:
All City of Vancouver advisory committees could soon be required to have 50-per-cent female representation.
To mark International Women’s Day on Tuesday, Vision Vancouver Coun. Andrea Reimer plans to introduce a motion that would create a formal policy ensuring that at least half of all committee members are women.
Mayor Gregor Robertson indicated he’ll be supporting the motion, and hopes it will pass unanimously.
Reimer’s motion also calls for a review of how the city funds subsidized housing and social policy grants to make sure that women and girls are getting an equal share of services.
“While we often think of Vancouver as a progressive city, there’s more we could be doing to remove barriers to women and ensure that we are providing an equitable delivery of services,” Robertson said in a press release. “We continue to see women underrepresented in public life and in 2016 there’s no reason that should be acceptable.”
But unanimous support may not be possible. NPA Coun. Melissa De Genova said she has yet to decide which way she’ll vote on the motion, but she does have concerns about the 50-per-cent standard.
“We all would like to see more women become involved in our city and in our community, but I think perhaps we don’t agree on how we should get there,” she said.
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