Email from Ryan Painter, Re: Support for expanding the number of councillors (April 2021)
Early support correspondence emphasizing the vital role of local representation and gender diversity.
Support for expanding the number of councillors
From: Ryan Painter
Sent: Saturday, April 3, 2021 2:06 PM
To: Mayor And Council Email mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca
Subject: Support for expanding the number of councillors
Good afternoon your Worship and Councillors,
I wanted to send a short note expressing my support for expanding the number of councillors for the Town of View Royal from 5 to 7.
More and more, municipal governments play a vital role in Canadian politics. Over the last 20-30 years, municipalities have seen significant downloading of costs and responsibilities from federal and provincial governments, meaning that mayors and council play a significant role in the paths that our communities take.
Our community is growing and changing, and as such the need to reflect this change at the council level is vital. The need to reflect the diversity of our neighourhoods is a key factor to consider when reviewing the potential increase in the number of councillors. For example, the 2019 House of Commons "Elect Her" report tells us that women represent only 28% of councillors in Canadian municipalities, compared to 32% in the United States. Increasing the number of councillors will increase the opportunity for under-represented communities to have representation, including people with disabilities, LGBTQ members of our community, and racialized members of our community.
Additionally, with federal and provincial downloading of responsibilities, increasing the number of councillors helps to offset the work and allow councillors time to manage increasingly complex files and varied work.
It should also be noted that increasing the number of councillors will likely have a concomitant increase in the number of candidates, increasing the representation of views and perspectives for the electorate to consider.
Given the rationale above, and the superb presentation and background provided by staff (and acknowledging the good work of CDAC), I strongly encourage council to approve the bylaw to increase the council size by two.
Respectfully submitted,
Ryan Painter
1 Tuzo Court
Victoria, BC
V9B 0S9