The political woman

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

When Beaconsfield municipal councillor Kate Coulter was running for the last municipal elections in 2005, she would come home from her full-time job, prepare supper for her two kids and husband, and head right back out the door to campaign.

“I think that it’s pretty intimidating for women to jump into politics,” Coulter said.

However, she maintained that a healthy mix of men and women in any political jurisdiction may lead to a wider perspective when it comes to decision-making.

For example, both Coulter and fellow councillor Brian Pollock, as parents of teenagers, saw the importance of having more unsupervised places where teens would be able to hang out.

Coulter said that dawned on her when her daughter, 13, kept asking her to take her to Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre to meet some friends. Those types of places are conducive to make teens spend the generally little cash they have, she said.

Minister of Immigration and Cultural communities Yolande James also praised "the role that women play in politics."

For Coulter’s fellow female colleague on Beaconsfield city council, Karen Messier, her gender plays less of a part in shaping her politics. “I don’t think about it,” she said, although she added that she does not have any children.

However, it was a woman that first opened up Messier’s love for politics. As a child of a politically engaged American mother, the councillor recalled constantly watching news from the United States with her mom. “I remember vividly the Kennedy assassination and how it affected my mother,” she said.

There are 72 councillors and mayors altogether in the various West Island municipalities and boroughs stretching from Ile Bizard/Ste. Geneviève to Dorval. Nineteen of them are women. The 26 per cent proportion is just a bit higher than Quebec’s 25 per cent of female MNAs, and a little more than the 20 per cent of female MPs at the federal Parliament.

“Is politics something that attracts more males?” Messier questioned. “I don’t know.”

"I'm glad to see that it's changing," said James. She mentioned that entering politics is a difficult decision for anyone to make.

Both Coulter and Messier said they would like to see more women get involved in politics.