Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Carole Saab. I'm the executive director of policy and public affairs with the FCM. I'm joined here today by Councillor Yolaine Kirlew, who was just elected as our third vice-president two weeks ago, alongside our second consecutive female president, Vicki-May Hamm

Ms. Hamm is the mayor of Magog.

With an elected board executive that's now 60% female, FCM members are walking the talk, and we're starting to see more women in leadership positions across all orders of government. I say “starting”, but obviously, as you've been hearing today, there is much more to do.

In municipal government, just 26% of elected leaders are women. Among mayors, it's only 18%. Canada's commitments under the 1990 UN Economic and Social Council resolution to adopt a 30% minimum proportion of women in leadership positions have not yet been fulfilled. According to the UN, if women make up fewer than 30% of a government's representatives, its policies cannot be trusted to address their needs.

Canada and our cities and communities simply cannot afford to lose the insights and expertise of one half of our population. That's why FCM has been pushing for change, targeting barriers to women's participation in municipal politics.

FCM maintains a network of over 50 regional champions across the country to promote women's engagement in municipal elections and to mentor candidates. We also operate programs aimed at increasing women's representation in local government.

Our current program, FCM's Diverse Voices for Change, a project undertaken with funding from the Government of Canada, provides tools to help municipalities engage with under-represented women for a more inclusive decision-making system. The municipalities of Edmonton, Halifax, London, Montreal, and Sioux Lookout, Ontario, are working with community organizations to implement strategies, recommendations, policies, and procedures to strengthen the voice of women from diverse communities. Before that, FCM's Head Start for Young Women program brought women municipal politicians together with groups of young women to identify and address barriers and serve as a mentorship program.

Now, as we look to the future, we're looking beyond pilot municipalities. We're looking beyond the 30% goal towards parity. We see a real opportunity here to build a nationwide partnership that includes our 19 provincial and territorial municipal associations and to build meaningful collaboration with women's organizations at the national, regional, and local levels. By working together to break down barriers, this multi-stakeholder partnership will level the playing field and provide a better opportunity for all Canadians to play a part in influencing policy.

Speaking of women in local government, we're sharing our time, so I'm going to pass it over to our newly elected third vice-president, Councillor Kirlew. Again, she is from Sioux Lookout and flew to be here with us today. This is one of her first opportunities in her new capacity, and I can't think of a more appropriate topic.

Over to you, Councillor Kirlew.

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