A Review of the She Will Run Conference at uOttawa

On March 7, 2015, in a conference room in FSS, members of the University of Ottawa and its larger surrounding community met for the 2nd annual She Will Run Conference hosted by Equal Voice uOttawa. An inspiring day full of powerful speeches and equally powerful women, She Will Run was exactly the kind of event that Her Campus University of Ottawa was proud to support.

The conference began with morning friendly conversation and a light breakfast. David’s Tea, Starbucks Coffee, and Kettlemen Bagels were offered, and the hard work of Sarah Fulham, VP Communications of Equal Voice uOttawa, and Kris Rondolo, Director of Communications, was apparent in the crowd that had gathered thanks to the event’s 100% waste-free green advertising campaign.

The introduction speech was given by Equal Voice uOttawa’s president, Nicole Rutkowski. She welcomed everyone to the day’s exciting events, and expressed her gratitude to Jessica Saviotti, VP Finance, for her vision and subsequent realization of the day. Her excitement ran through the already excited crowd, and soon the room was prepared for the conference to begin.

The first speaker of the day was the Honourable Minister Dr. Kellie Leitch, who dually holds the positions of Minister of Labour and the Minister for the Status of Women in the current federal government. Assertive but friendly, the Minister began her speech by expressing how delighted she was to be speaking to the future leaders of Canadian society. She spoke of the earlier conversation she had with her father on what to include in her speech, and noted that she was lucky and thankful that she had been raised by a man who had never discourage her sister and herself from pursuing any sort of job. For, as she explained, her father regarded jobs not within the confines of gender, but rather as “good jobs” that anyone could obtain if they worked hard enough.

The next part of the Minister’s speech drove deeper into the theory and evidence behind the saying “strong women; strong world.” She noted that she had been a successful orthopedic pediatric surgeon before deciding to enter politics (a position that she still is able to practice thanks to the success of her private member’s bill), and that the former Finance Minister Jim Flaherty had been the main reason for her entrance. “Everyone needs a champion,” she told the room, “Jim was mine.” She spoke of her realization that true change for those she wanted to help in society would not come from the doctor’s room but instead the halls of Parliament, and she realized that her past experience and knowledge would make her an ideal candidate for Canada’s democracy.

From here the Minister explained the importance of having more women with experience in politics. She noted that Cabinet and the seats of Parliament are missing competitive women that are driven to produce effective and meaningful change, and that she was optimistic about the rise of female candidates in ridings where they actually had a chance of winning.

After drawing these conclusions, the Minister accepted questions from the floor. It is during this time that she offered her personal objections to the introduction of online voting for MPs (for one to be active in democracy they must also be present), noted that women from all backgrounds and experiences need to enter politics, and stressed the importance of becoming involved in local ridings. She then thanked everyone for their time and attention, and wished the room nothing but success in their future endeavors.

When contacted a few days later about her feelings about the conference, the Minister remained optimistic and thankful: “I was pleased to be invited to take part in Equal Voice’s ‘She Will Run’ event at the University of Ottawa. This was held in conjunction with International Women’s Week and served as a great platform to engage young women in our political system. I was happy to share my own story and to help encourage other women to get involved. When women succeed, Canada succeeds. Canada can only benefit if more women decided to seek elected office.”

The next speaker to address the conference was Lorraine Rekmans. As a candidate for the Federal Green Party and a proud Aboriginal woman of Algonquin heritage, Rekmans began her speech with identifying the internal struggle that occurs within her whenever she is asked to speak about politics. She noted that importance of democracy and the federal government when it comes to real change and action, but also explained that as a Native Canadian she struggled with the fact that these institutions were built upon lands that were largely unfairly overtaken.

Next, Rekmans told two stories to the crowd that were equally entertaining and educational.

First, she recalled when she had travelled to the gathering of the Chiefs of Ontario to run for election in the race to decide the tribes’ next provincial leader. Convinced to run by some of her closest colleagues, Rekmans had arrived to the gathering under the impression that she had gained the support of one of the chiefs. However, upon arrival and the commencement of the nomination process, she found herself standing for a long period of time while most of her male counterparts were called to the ceremonial drum. Refusing to be embarrassed for her decision to stand as the first woman for nomination, Rekmans remained steadfast in her position until she was finally called. Though she was eventually eliminated from the nomination process in the first round, she noted to the crowd the importance of her actions. She was the first, and remains to be the first, woman to stand for nomination for the Chief of Ontario. She was proud to have paved the way for the strong and intelligent women that would one day follow her.

The next story Rekmans told was from her early days as a journalist in her small hometown. In a rush to make it to a Liberal event that was being held in her area, she had forgotten to fully zip up the back of her dress. This oversight had remained oblivious to her, until she arrived at the event and realized her mistake. Unable to do the dress up herself, she proceeded to slowly approach up the aisle to take photos of Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Finance Minister Paul Martin, who were seated at the podium. Thinking that she had been able to go undetected, she then tried to quietly sneak out of the back. But as she was approaching the door she heard a booming voice “Ah! Excuse me Madam, but next time you should get dressed before coming to an event!” the Prime Minister jokingly yelled at her as she exited. She explained that she was absolutely mortified and thought she would never live it down.

However, she then explained to the crowd how nowadays, this story is nothing more than a funny memory to her. Even though she had thought at the time it was the end of her career, she now realized it was just a small hiccup in her journey to where she stood today. This, she said, was an important lesson for every woman in politics to learn. There was going to be times in life when things didn’t go your way, but that didn’t mean you stopped. It simply meant that you keep moving forward. On this message she then opened up the floor to questions, and concluded her speech with the same inspiring enthusiasm that she had begun with.

After a delicious lunch that included a variety of wraps and precious mini cupcakes, the conference concluded with its final speaker of the day, Lynne Steele.  As President of the Ontario Women’s Liberal Commission, Steele began her speech by saying that she had first encountered politics during a time that women were limited to a small variety of jobs (nurses, teachers, housewives, etc.). She expressed her gratitude for the fact that she had been lucky to have an enlightened husband who believed that women were just as welcome in the working world as men, and accredited this as one of the reasons she was able to obtain her undergraduate degree twenty six years after getting married. Her husband and family also equally supported her in her decision to become more involved in politics.

Next, Steele got into the reality of Canadian political statistics when it comes to the involvement of women. Though our population is over half female, only twenty two percent of the individuals involved in Canadian politics are women. Women remained intimidated to enter what has traditionally been seen as a man’s world, and Canada is dropping in world rankings when it comes to the ratio of women that fill its parliamentary seats.

This is a shame, Steele told the room, since women have the capability to work and cooperate in a way that is much more productive than men. Women are more likely to work for the “cause not the power,” and they need to become more involved in order to create a better and more efficient world for future generations.

However, this is going to be a hard battle, Steele explained. For in today’s political world, most riding associations remain unwilling to find or support female candidates for electoral nomination. Steele told the story of one riding organization made up of all men that even went as far as to hide party funds from a female candidate in an attempt to save them for future male candidates. This infuriated her to her very core, and the room became evidently aware of her passion as she spoke of the need for women to become more actively involved in ridding associations that have previously been so cold to female participation.

Finally, Steele told the room that it is time that men in politics and other public sectors realize that women want to be heard, not just listened to. She spoke of the importance of making sure that women have equal opportunities in having their messages and concerns broadcasted and understood, and told the room that it was our generation’s responsibility to make sure that women got the recognition and power that they deserved.

Steele then concluded with a powerful plea to each and every individual in the room to remain dedicated to getting more women involved in politics, and encouraged many in the room to become involved in their local ridings in order to start making the connections needed for change.

 The day’s event then concluded with a speech by Danika Leminski, a blogger and researcher who offered heart-warming concluding remarks which can be found on the Equal Voice uOttawa website here.

Overall, Her Campus University of Ottawa was pleased and delighted to take part in this amazing conference. The executive and staff wish to thank Equal Voice uOttawa for all of their hard work and dedication, and to express our excitement for next year’s event. It is always a pleasure when the University of Ottawa can come together to support the advancement of women;  it is events like these that will get us one step closer to our final goals.