Women now outnumber men on Saskatoon city council

After electing six women and fivemen to city council, Saskatoon now has the distinction of becomingonly the second city in Canada to tip the gender scales.

Cynthia Block, Bev Dubois, Sarina Gersher, Hilary Gough, Ann Iwanchuk and Mairin Loewen were elected Wednesday night, along with five men, including mayor-elect Charlie Clark.

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Men still outnumber women on city councils across Canada, with the exception of Victoria, B.C. Voters there elected Lisa Helps as mayor onNov. 15, 2014. Four women and four men serve as city councillors.

A month earlier, voters inMississauga, Ont., elected six women and six men to city council, including mayor Bonnie Crombie.

Running for office difficultfor women

"I can tell you that it's difficult for women to run," said Cynthia Block, who beat six challengers to win a city council seat in Ward 6.

Block ran under the Liberal banner in last year's federal election. She said she deliberately waited until her children were older before putting her name forward for public office.

"To be working, raising a family soccer, science fairs, piano lessons and be a city councillor? It just wouldn't have been something that I could have found a way to do," Block said.

She joins Dubois and Iwanchuk, who have also raised children prior to running for council.

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Duboiswon in Ward 9, which was vacant after five-time incumbent TiffanyPaulsenretired from municipal politics in order to spend more time at her law practice and raising two young children.

Fresh perspectives

Sarina Gersherattributed her win in Ward 8 to launching her campaign in early June, and spending months on end door-knocking

"I am very pleased to see that Saskatoon has a strong representation of women on council," said Gersher. "I think diversity and representation on council is important and helps be reflective of the city.

Gersher worked as a geographic information specialist preparing mapping data for the Meewasin Valley Authorityprior to her run for council.

She noted the average age on Saskatoon city council has also been lowered by this fall's election results.

"Saskatoon has a large population of younger folks, and fresh perspectives are important," Gersher said.

'We're going to see a lot of new energy'

Hilary Goughdefeated 10-year incumbent Pat Lorje in Ward 2.

"One of the best parts about that is new segments of the population are being heard differently," Gough said. "That's one thing we tried to focus on in this campaign is to make sure to hear from people who sometimes haven't been heard from, across the ward, in all different demographics."

Gough said she looks forward to training sessions, which begin after councillors are sworn in at city hall on Monday.

"With some new councillors, we're going to see a lot of new energy and we're going to see a lot of new motivation to think ahead," said Gough.