Mission Statement The Committee for Increasing Women's Participation in Municipal Government will promote and support the participation of women in government. Goals: To analyse the obstacles to women's participation To take specific action to reduce these obstacles To encourage women to participate     FCM Mission Statement The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has been the national voice of municipal government since 1901. FCM is dedicated to improving the quality of life in all communities by promoting strong, effective and accountable municipal government. [ More ]     Profile: Ann MacLean Ann MacLean was first elected to municipal office in 1985 as Councillor of New Glasgow. She held that position until 1991 when she was elected Mayor of New Glasgow. MacLean is the first and only female Mayor in the Town's 128 year history. [ More ]     Profile: Louise Poirier Louise Poirier (2005) has been a councillor for the past six years. During the first two years, she was councillor for the City of Hull, and for the past four years she has been sitting as councillor for the district of Orée-du-Parc in the new city of Gatineau, the 4th largest city in Quebec, with approximately 240,000 citizens. [ More ]

In 1999, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) created the FCM Canadian Women in Municipal Government Committee, in response to concerns of men and women holding office across the country. They felt strongly that there was a need for a more inclusive municipal process that would lead to more responsive local governments that better reflect the communities they serve.

In June 2003, the FCM launched a one-year research project with funding from Status of Women Canada. The purpose of the project was to contribute to changing municipal consultation practices and policies so that the full diversity of Canadian women would have a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect their daily lives. The results were published in September 2004 under the title “Increasing Women’s Participation in Municipal Decision Making.”
(See More on this Issue for the link).

In May 2004, then President of FCM, Ann MacLean announced that the FCM, with the support of Status of Women Canada, would be launching a series of workshops across the country. These workshops would discuss how to establish a national strategy to achieve better gender balance on local councils and community advisory boards. In 2005, Gatineau Councillor Louise Poirier was appointed as the first chair of the new FCM Standing Committee for Increasing Women’s Participation in the FCM. For information on the nation-wide activities of this Standing Committee, consult the FCM website referred to in More on this Issue.