It is said that a woman needs to be asked seven times before she considers a role in politics.
While there is no solid evidence to back this claim, local women leaders in Guelph agree that there is a tremendous amount of moral support needed to keep a woman going in the political realm, an arena they feel is filled with an unconscious bias toward women.
On Tuesday, the Green Party of Ontario held a webinar for local women in politics. Local leaders spoke about the barriers they experience in their respective fields, the importance of strong women role models and the change that is required on a policy level.
“When it comes to silencing women and excluding them from having a voice and civic affairs, our culture has thousands of years of experience and practice that some are trying to overcome in the last, let's say, century. It's been really a big focus. I mean, it takes time,” said former Guelph Mayor Karen Farbridge.
“It's internalized, in so much of our systems and our minds and the way we do things.”
Speaking from her own experience, Farbridge said once women enter office, they face an unconscious bias that acts as a barrier against their job that other candidates don’t face. She also highlighted that many women are afraid of the misogynistic and negativity that women in the public eye face on social media.
She recalled her first experience going in front of city council as a delegate for climate change in 1994, an experience she vividly remembers.
“I was treated just abysmally by a member of the council to the silence of everybody else around the council table. The individual after I finished my five minutes said, ‘Who do you think you are? Why have you wasted our time? Why are you here?’” she recalls.
“That was a pretty big push leaving that council meeting. I didn't think that that was how any citizen should be treated. At the very least, you know, if I was successful, I could do my best to ensure that delegations that came before the council were treated well.”
Other panelists included Linda Busuttil and Jolly Bedi, both Upper Grand District School Board trustees. The event was moderated by Sara Sayyed of the Muslim Society of Guelph.
Busuttil and Bedi, both from immigrant families spoke about strong women in their families who influenced them to take on leadership roles in the community.
Busuttil said just because a woman is elected to a political organization doesn’t mean that the barriers she could face as a woman would disappear.
“Even as the school board trustee, to get things done, sometimes you need to find that champion, and it's not you and it's gender-based, and it eats at our souls as women," said Busuttil.
Bedi said entering the political area as an immigrant woman was daunting for her, and it was the support of other woman leaders like Busuttil that helped her through.
“You definitely need to have people welcoming you, supporting you so that you can thrive in that environment,” said Bedi.
Busuttil said a starting point toward change is to take a critical look at the system and how we welcome women, especially from diverse communities, into the political arena.
Busuttil gave an example of the election registration package and the name one has to use on the ballot.
“The name that you have used for your entire life may not be the name that's on your birth certificate, but the rules that are in place mean that that's the name that's on the ballot and if you want to change that there are additional hurdles that you have to go through that no other candidates have to go through,” she said, highlighting the issue immigrants would face.
Busuttil said if we sincerely want to have diversity, we need to look at the way we ask people to engage in the political system because these are systemic barriers in place that can be eliminated.
“I think there needs to be this commitment to look at the process through an equity lens or a human rights lens,” said Busuttil.
"I also think that there needs to be an intentional tap on the shoulder to engage candidates who are committed to public service and say, 'I notice you, I'm here to mentor you, I'm here to help you. Let's try to do this together because I think you bring something very important,' because it is daunting to people to become engaged in the political system.”
MPP Mike Schreiner highlighted the need to create safe spaces for women to run in politics.
“Women face, particularly in today's social media environment, many more challenges around hateful misogynistic comments and pushback,” said Schreiner.
“My commitment as the leader of the Green Party of Ontario, but also as a man is to just push back against that kind of misogyny that's targeted to any woman from any party in politics because we certainly need more women in politics from all parties.”
