Calgary’s Mayoral Candidates Talk Women’s Economic Recovery
As Calgarians prepare to go to the polls on October 18th, Lean In Calgary, The51, The Calgary Chamber of Commerce and Madame Premier joined forces to present a mayoral panel discussion on a topic near each organization’s heart: women’s economic recovery.
From lack of access to affordable childcare, to skills training and mental health resources, women have been hit disproportionately hard by the effects of the pandemic. As of April 2021, more than 16,000 women have dropped out of the labour force, while the number of men in the workforce has grown by 91,000.
Of the top seven candidates invited, five of them lent us their time and energy to talk about policies, cultivating change, and access to key resources for women: Jan Damery, Jeff Davison, Brad Field, Jyoti Gondek and Grace Yan. Expertly moderated by Deborah Yedlin, President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and Chancellor of the University of Calgary, here are the highlights from the discussion…
Deborah: Despite some gains in the last few years, women in Alberta face the largest employment gender gap of any province. They are overrepresented in lower paying and minimum wage jobs, and experience poverty at a greater rate than men. Especially if they are single parents, or on their own. Women in Alberta are amongst the most educated in Canada but they make only 63% of what men do. The wage gap is even wider for Indigenous women, women who are visible minorities, and women with disabilities. If elected, what will you do to address issues that uniquely impact women, and increase the labour force participation rate of women in Calgary?
Grace: This is a really complex issue. [As mayor], I would look to what other successful cities have done to combat this problem. One thing others have done, is given different options for working women; either they can work from home, offer childcare programs, incentives, and with women being primary caregivers, it is a challenge. And childcare is a big factor. In some places, governments have offered lines of credit for women who have businesses. […] When I met with the Women’s Centre, they indicated that there was an increase of women intake, and public transportation was a big concern. And also, safety. They suggested with the Police Department, that [there be] a woman’s department [comprised of] female police officers that women can go to. So, as mayor, I would look to different cities and how they have addressed this issue, and make sure there are proper programs in place.
Brad: There’s no question the deck has been stacked against women for decades. We have to acknowledge that, and get comfortable with [having] uncomfortable discussions, in order to get to the point where we can create an environment where all Calgarians, including women, have the same opportunities to make a living and create careers here in the city of Calgary. I would advocate for creating a women-based advisory council that would have direct access to the mayor’s office. I believe the tone has to start at the top. I can only speak to my actions in my life and my own organizations around what I’ve done, but going into the mayor’s chair I would create the environment where open dialogue can happen, and when we see inequalities, we can acknowledge them. Again, having those uncomfortable conversations is what needs to happen. I would be a champion to continue the discussion, we’ve got lots of work to do, but I’m up for the challenge.
Jan: Many of you know I’m currently on an unpaid leave of absence from the YWCA Calgary, and so this is a topic that has been very near and dear to my heart, [and] the YW has really championed ensuring that we increase participation of women in our workforce. We’ve seen with the pandemic the disproportionate burden of women actually leaving the workforce particularly in our province, and we’ve got to come together to remove the barriers, both in terms of pay equity, [but also because] we’re one of the most unsafe cities in Canada. Which, as mayor, and being the first female mayor, would definitely be a huge lightning rod in terms of talking about this issue. I just launched my detailed platform today. I’ve identified very specific [policies, like] really leveraging the city, one of the largest employers in the city and also one of the largest purchasers of goods and services in the city. We actually have an ability to act in this area as opposed to check-boxing, [and] talking about better culture, we can actually change our hiring processes, we can actually change the way we procure, to ensure there is actually representation and that people have a voice around the table. We can look at our agencies, our boards, our commissions and grant recipients. This is something that I’m campaigning on specifically to make sure we have representation of women. And I will say, cheekily, we can start by actually electing our first female mayor. Because she can’t be what she cannot see. I’m committed to this mission. This is actually one of the reasons I’m running for mayor—to pave the way behind me. This is not an easy game to get into, but we have to create a city where there is opportunity for all and remove barriers. You’ll also see in my platform opportunities to create employment, and as Grace has noted too, public transit is key—so women can actually get where they need to go.
Jyoti: I will echo what Jan had to say about if we start normalizing women in decision-making positions, then their lived experiences can help shape better cities that we can all benefit from. I think supporting women in the labour force means looking at the other responsibilities in their lives. Women are disproportionately responsible for not only childcare but sometimes also elder care, and it’s going to be critical for our municipal government to work with our federal and provincial partners to ensure that our city has strong access to supports that women rely on. It’s already been mentioned that we need strong public transit networks, we also need to have options for housing affordability in communities across the city, we need to make sure women have access to educational programming that allows them to reskill, or change the type of labour force participation they’d like to engage in. And we need to have investments in healthcare, particularly mental health, so women themselves can be strong and they can keep their families strong. Childcare is also a top priority, and that’s why I was so pleased to have brought a unanimously supported motion to council which is seeking support from the federal government to funnel money directly to our city to create safe, and affordable childcare opportunities for women and their families so that kids can have early childhood education opportunities. And for women entrepreneurs in our city, we need to attract capital. We know that women-led start-ups generate 78 cents per dollar that is invested in them which is more than male led, at 31 cents. So, we know the opportunity is great if we start investing in women.
Deborah: From the work-life balance to work survival, COVID-19 has taken a toll on our mental health, and studies have shown, and some local health experts have suggested, that the pandemic may be contributing to a nation-wide mental health crisis with people experiencing depression, anxiety, stress and isolation at much higher numbers. Depression and anxiety symptoms have doubled in youth, and disproportionately for women who are trying to juggle it all. Work, childcare and the emotional impacts of the pandemic. So, if elected, how do each of you plan to address and support the mental health of Calgarians?
Jan: I’ve talked a lot during the campaign, and also during my time with the YWCA, about how the mental health of our citizens is really the shadow pandemic. And we’re actually seeing people struggling with mental health that never have been before. So what I’m advocating for, unlike this current council which is just one time funding for the mental health and addiction strategy, is committing to on-going funding, that we can actually support the amazing expertise that we have in our community agencies, that they have the security and funding that can deliver the expertise and also expand the abilities. And this is about robust partnerships, with the City of Calgary and our agencies to make sure that those services are available. It’s so much when we think about [...] our homeless population, we not only have to ensure both affordable housing and housing options, but also the wrap-around services. This again has been locally underfunded by the city, so again [I’m] ensur[ing] there is that commitment there.
Grace: The City of Calgary has convened a task force, committed up to $25-million over 5 years, from 2019 to 2023 for its community action on mental health and addiction initiatives. So a unique strategy and action plan was developed, a Calgary model based on a systemic view of mental health and addiction, that centres on the individual. The City of Calgary is funding private projects to undertake quick wins, providing $3-million in funding, and top funds raised by community partners. Mental health is a big problem currently becauseof the 370,000 Calgarians that live on or below the poverty level. There are many ways we’ll have to look at combating mental health, and there’s other issues under mental health, [like] homelessness, addiction, [and] domestic violence. But, we really need to focus on getting Calgarians back to work, in order that they can feed their families, get their kids into programs, which reduces socio-economic issues.
Jyoti: I’ll reiterate that we have a mental health and addiction strategy at the City of Calgary right now that’s managed to build a great deal of capacity in our partner organizations, and that’s because the city wasn’t a backbone or a lead partner—they were a conveyer. And when you bring together organizations that have expertise in this field, you can do great things. We’ve dispersed several small grants to local community-led groups that have innovative programs that are helping to strengthen community mental health. We have also looked at how the Calgary Police Service can better serve Calgarians that are dealing with mental health issues when a call comes in; it has been a pleasure to see executive leadership like Deputy Chief Katie McLellan come forward with an idea to expend $8-million dollars from the police budget on partnering with other organizations. A portion of that will be dedicated toward mental health supports, so officers going on calls are best able to deal with the situation with an expert in that field. And I think benefit plans also have to be reviewed. We need to start as a corporation to ensure the strategies we’re deploying around health, are particularly looking at mental health. Right now, it’s woefully poor. We have access to limited visits with a professional, and if we show leadership as a city, perhaps benefit programs throughout our economic ecosystem can change as well.
Brad: Great comments and thought process from all the candidates. There’s no question, my first exposure to mental health and addiction was with my volunteering with the Terminator Foundation, where I started out as a volunteer [and] ended up becoming Board Chair. And that’s where I learned around mental health and addiction, and that truly there are no barriers to who can suffer from those ailments. And when I looked into those young adults’ eyes that were coming out of addiction and we’re training them into the sport of triathlon, they had the same hopes and dreams as we all do about careers, families, homes, and so forth. So, I’ve been transformed as a person. Then, fast forward to my wife Cheryl, a professional undergrad in nursing went back to school and got her Master’s degree in counselling; she now has a counselling practice both in Calgary and Okotoks, and I listen to the stories from her around mental health, and how it’s escalated, and [especially] around Covid, and how it’s increased anxiety in our youth, there has to be more attention paid to that. And to Jan’s point, we have to continue [to]increase funding where necessary to create those agencies and support those agencies. I often say though, too, that the City of Calgary council and administration need to get out of the way and just be a facilitator and a champion. We’ve got great agencies here, social agencies in the City of Calgary, CPS, that can work in this area. They’ve got boots on the ground, [we need to ] make sure we’re championing and supporting in any way possible.
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Deborah: So, we talk about the importance of inclusive economic recovery, and that includes working to eliminate gender biases from policies and programs, and I would like to know from each of you how do you plan to reduce barriers for BIPOC disabled women and low income women and support their participation in the economy, and have you determined a way to integrate gender considerations into policy making and recovery strategies?
Jyoti: Within the City of Calgary’s corporation, I have made it my business over the last four years to try to figure out which human resources practices are dated, and not working in favour of building an inclusive place to work. I have tackled issues around promotions, by talking about the fact that we are doing promotions based on tenure rather than merit, because that’s the aged system. If you’ve been working here for 16 years, then you are next in line to become the director, instead of actually looking at what it is that the person has accomplished and what they bring to the current situation. So that’s been something I’ve enjoyed challenging, and I’ve seen some great results from it. I have also challenged this expectation that being seen in the office, physically present, is the only way to demonstrate productivity. Particularly for women who are juggling multiple responsibilities of providing care, we need to be very clear in the message that we’re sending. We believe that you can do great work remotely because all of us have been doing it for 18 months. So let’s talk differently about how people are productive, and how we give them the tools they need to be productive in settings that don’t require them to be in the office every day. I think that’s how you change expectations around mat leave, that’s how you make women feel more comfortable when they’re ready to start a family, and that’s how you make people feel comfortable when they have to go into that messy business of caring for an aging parent. I’ve been challenging those conventions and I’ll continue to do that in the corporation and within broader human resource practices.
Jeff: I think there’s a lot of things that we need to focus on, [and] completely agree that remote working has really changed the environment and the opportunities that are now possible in the way we think about employment is totally different. It’s everything we have to look at from mental health and wellbeing which is really the undercurrent of economic security and participation of all in Calgary’s economy and at the City. It’s ensuring affordable housing is met so that when we do have marginalized populations, making sure people have a roof over their head is absolutely fundamental to ensuring they have high quality of living. Access to transit is access to opportunity; I keep beating that drum and will continue to say that. These are some of the things that a lot of us take for granted [and] we have to understand [this is] a meaningful transition for people to get into different types of employment. And on top of that when we think about getting more people into our downtown, it’s the safety aspect. If people don’t feel safe it doesn’t matter how much I push for people to live, work, play [and] learn downtown. If people don’t feel safe, they don’t want to be downtown. So we need to rethink what safety looks like in the core if we’re going to welcome all Calgarians back down there.
Jan: I’ve been really painting a picture of a future city where we’re inclusive of all, and we remove these barriers. And I think again the city can play a huge role in modeling this behaviour, [with] the mayor being a huge signal booster. First of all, [we must] make sure that racism and misogyny are just not tolerated in our city. We do that through hiring practices, even where we look to hire people what are those roles, and what’s the workplace culture that many of my colleagues here on the call have talked about?. And there’s also a concern that when you’re out of sight out of mind you can limit your future aspirations or ability to progress, and that’s where the misogyny enters into this that we need to deliberately address. We have a huge pay equity issue in this city that we don’t talk a lot about. The numbers that were quoted I think we’re about 67, 68 cents on the dollar, and that is worse if you are a racialized woman, or LGBTQ. So this again is, do we really understand what these barriers are? The city can lead by acting on terms of pay equity and how we’re actually addressing these things. We are a huge procurer of services. This is another way of using these levers. We have to get beyond talking and actually start to act. Looking at our procurement processes to ensure those we are buying services from, what is the diversity on their own boards, their own organizations, what are they doing—it’s all about asking questions. When you shine a light on this and ask who’s missing at the table, that’s when change happens. So [I’m] committing [to this], and I’ve outlined this in detail in my platform release today, these are the objectives and the outcomes that I’m looking for as mayor of Calgary.
Grace: So, I am BIPOC, a person of colour, [and] as mayor I’m committed to the values of inclusion and creating a fair and equitable environment and society in which everyone can feel respect, dignity and belonging. In order to understand what needs to happen [….] I’ve spoken with Chief Crowchild, Chief Deerfoot, on what we need to do, [and] what they need from me as mayor, and that means understanding, learning— we’re constantly learning. And so, engaging in the Treaty 7, [with] the seven chiefs of Treaty 7, is important, and really engaging the community on what needs to happen in order for us to understand and to take action - again this is the concern. When I was speaking with Chief Crowchild there’s a lot of talk on solutions, but action needs to be taken.
Deborah: Talking about barriers for women, studies have shown that women do twice as much unpaid work as men including childcare. Alberta and generally in Calgary, childcare is hard to access and is not affordable to many, and the choice is becoming: do I work, or do I stay home with my kids? Early child educators and care staff are predominantly women and earn some of the lowest wages in the province. What will you do to create affordable and quality choices for childcare in Calgary, and support early childhood educators to provide quality care and earn a living, and eliminate the barrier of women having to choose between staying home and going to work?
Jeff: I think the simple answer is: whatever it takes. As we’ve seen many times here, as the provincial government has continued to pick-pocket the citizens of Calgary on certain matters that should be reliant upon them to cover, the city has stepped in and I think we’re going to encourage more and more women in the workforce […] and to remove these barriers. We’re going to have to figure out policy around that, and what funding models are appropriate to support the policy, and do that on our own. And to me this is not unlike a lot of things that we see [from] the city over the last four years where other forms of government have not been there, they’ve come up with a made-in-Calgary solution that works for us. And so obviously we want to encourage the provincial and federal governments to come to an agreement on childcare, but if it’s not agreed upon, we’ve got to work to remove those barriers for women and have them more fully participating in the workforce. So, you know, working for our family community support services funding model to ensure that everyone has access to opportunity to participate in community is key.
Jan: I think one of the key barriers to having women fully participating in our economy is childcare. And this means we have to learn to get along together with our levels of government. When I hear a “made-in-Calgary solution” that results in leaving dollars on the table because we can’t get along with both the province and federal [governments], that can actually bring affordable childcare—[that’s something] that the federal government is currently supporting. How do I know this? The work I was doing at [the] YWCA. We’ve got to ensure that women and families have access to quality and affordable childcare. It also means that we’ve got to ensure the childcare workers—like we saw at the YWCA team, so incredibly proud particularly during the pandemic when government funding was not covering—we fought for living wages. This is the economist in me. Because if we pay people living wages we get a triple [or] quadruple multiplier in how people look after their needs, and we save ourselves down the road in terms of having to support them with services. So we have to come to terms with all of our front line workers and how important we value these sorts of roles. Again, just to emphasize a key barrier to women participating in our economy is not having affordable childcare. It’s time to deal with this.
Grace: Being a mother myself, and going between work and childcare I know how difficult that can be. And I have staff also facing the same challenges of trying to find childcare. My one assistant was saying “Well, they’re all full.” She couldn’t even find a day home that could accommodate childcare. So, you know, there’s one thing we do have to look at is having programs and […] offer different options. […] Childcare is a federal matter, which as mayor, I would have to strongly advocate with the provincial and federal governments what we need in Calgary. And so that needs support, for women and childcare subsidies and that’s really what’s important right now because it is very, very stressful for a lot of families currently. Especially in this pandemic. Trying to juggle childcare and work. But there are options and there are solutions.
Jyoti: When I dug into the issues of childcare, and like all of you, learned that our provincial government was unable to come to some sort of a reasonable agreement with the federal government to take the money that’s sitting on the table for childcare, not only in our province but specifically for our city, I took action at council. I brought the motion which says let’s look at how we can get federal funding flowing directly to municipalities. In the past, housing funding used to go to the province and then get filtered down to cities. This year, the federal government has created a rapid housing initiative to send that funding directly to municipalities. I’m requesting that the same be done for childcare. If we can demonstrate that we have strong partnerships and strong spaces to provide safe, affordable childcare, let’s try to get those dollars that are sitting there right now. Let’s see if we can get service providers better trained in early childhood education. Let’s get our unemployed workforce reskilled to be childhood educators and let’s make sure that women in this province are able to access $10 a day childcare, like everywhere in the country will have. If the province isn’t going to do it for us, we need to do it. And in professions where women are overrepresented, professions like teachers and nurses, we can see that there’s no commitment from this provincial government to chair for those people in the labour force. So our [city is] going to have to do it on our own.
Thank you again to all the candidates who shared their time and perspectives, and thank you to our partners for making this panel possible.
If you want to watch the panel conversation, you can access it on Lean In’s YouTube channel here.
Don’t forget to vote on October 18th!
-The51