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Okanagan doubles number of women mayors; still not close to parity
The number of women elected as mayor in the Okanagan has doubled after this election, but still well below the Thompson/Shuswap/Columbia region.
It’s going to seem like more women are being elected as mayor, across the province and the region, mayors are still predominantly male.
On Oct. 17, Okanagan residents voted in four new mayors. Former councillor Kari Gares became Vernon’s new mayor, while Roxanne Davyduke in Enderby took 62% of the vote against incumbent Huck Galbraith to become mayor.
Peachland had a very tight race with Gail Mansell beating incumbent Patrick Van Minsel by just 20 votes.
The District of Lake Country also saw a very tight race, with MaryEllen Buhler beating her closest rival Priscila Brunetto by just 0.2% of the vote, leaving incumbent mayor Blair Ireland in third place.
Incumbent Spallumcheen mayor Christine Fraser had an easy win, taking 70% over Guenter Rieger, who was last mayor 30 years ago.
In the District of Coldstream, incumbent Ruth Hoyte also had an easy win over newbie Carey Collinge, taking 65% of the vote.
Out of 17 cities and municipalities in the Okanagan, there are now six female mayors, doubling the number from 2022, which sat at three, and bringing the region on par with the provincial average of 35% of elected mayors in BC being women.
In the Thompson/Shuswap/Columbia region, seven out of 16 mayoral positions are now held by women, an increase from five in 2022.
New to the top position are Wendy Lee Coomber in Cache Creek, Shelley Sim in Clearwater, and Kristi Cooper in Golden. Incumbent Barbara Roden in Ashcroft won her seat, while Laurie Hopfl in Lillooet and Robin Smith in Logan Lake were both acclaimed.
The two women running for mayor in Lytton, Denise O’Connor and Jennifer Thoss, tied, both getting 45 votes, but regardless of who comes out on top, the village will have a female mayor.
Of 118 cities and municipalities in BC, 41 now have a female mayor, which equates to 35%.
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One response
When will there be enough women elected as Mayor/Council members? I am reminded of a comment by Ruth Bader Ginsberg of the US Supreme Court. It’s the highest Court in the United States. She was a member of that court for 27 years. There are 9 justices on that court and she was asked how many would need to be women before she thought the task was done. Her reply…. . “I’m sometimes asked, ‘When will there be enough?’ and my answer is, ‘When there are nine.’ People are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”