I received this question from Mary Ann G.:
Hi Pat: I read in your election platform that you would promote women in leadership positions. While I agree (as long as they are competent and it’s not tokenism) and I applaud you for both recognizing and recommending this, I wonder how you would go about making this happen, if elected?
In the top level of city staff, there are 15 key positions. Only one, Terry Hartley, is a woman, in Human Resources, an area often led by women. That works out to a 6.6% ratio, far below average in both industry and government.
I’m still searching for numbers in the levels below.
Yes, I agree that any initiative like this must be based totally on competency and not on tokenism to achieve some formula. However, in my experience, there are a plethora of competent women in Nanaimo…why not at City Hall?
The first step to any change is awareness, and the best role I can take is as an advocate. An effort like this will require education and promotion, and will have greater impact if implemented by someone with authority within the system. It will take persistence and determination. Fortunately, I’ve got both.
Most of the women I have worked with in my career have displayed the attributes that I am hearing many voters asking for more of: collaboration, consensus, community, commitment, connection. I didn’t intend that to be an alliteration…it just came out that way.
