True to GC’s hard-hitting journalistic mandate, we put the same dangerous questions before the Mayor of Edmonton, Don Iveson, as we had his unsuspecting Calgary counterpart:
Pets?
"We used to have a dog. We had a border terrier, and I think I would like to have a border terrier again one day."
Mayor Iveson then decides to tackle the next of our infamous GC formalized mayor questions: What is the vulnerability point, in gender politics, that you would like to address (relatively safely) here?
"Our [city] council, at one time, had gender parity in the early ’90s and, at the time, we had a female mayor. Six male councillors, six female councillors, and a female mayor. So the majority of the council was female in that case. Typically, the UN-sponsored ‘best practice’ goals that most nations and communities are trying to get to, is 30 per cent representation. Lots of studies suggest that that is the minimum threshold you need in order to have critical mass: some safety for (a group) to participate and have their voice sufficiently amplified.
"Right now, in Edmonton, we have one female councillor, 11 male city councillors – and I’m obviously a man – so that means our council certainly does not reflect the diversity of the city."
Mayor Iveson notes that, while this disparity was also reflected during the election (only 17 per cent of the candidates were female, which is what he describes as "an input challenge"), this has stimulated Edmonton into creating mentorship programs directed towards ‘under 35’ women, trying to encourage participation in municipal politics.
Now on LGBTTQA; Mr. Iveson notes that Edmonton’s municipal scene was pretty progressive in the early ’90s, but that it became "quite grumpy and reactionary". He claims that mood has changed.
"Issues around LGBT and trans-inclusion have come up in our council a number of times though, interestingly, they have come up. . . most often from our Youth Council. [The youth] have been right out front when it came, particularly, to advocacy for Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) safe spaces. Our council took a strong position in support, on their behalf and on behalf of the city [to the province], based on their research and their presentation to us.
"[The Youth Council] wanted the city to take a position [on GSAs] as a matter of safety, and there are LGBT youth on the Youth Council, so that’s how the perspective got to council. As for the sexual orientation and diversity on council, I can only make assumptions, and I wouldn’t want to."
Points for the mayor! DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS!
Mr. Iveson also points out the unequivocal stance of his council in GSA advocacy. He disparages the province’s ‘weak-kneed’ Bill 11, which left many school boards’ decisions regarding on-site/off-site safe spaces in a regionally uncertain state.
"GSAs were important in every school, regardless of the complexities of that school board’s other governance. . . There was a clash between so-called ‘parental rights’ and the desire of the kids to, through free association and free speech, establish essentially a GSA, in any school in Alberta.
"[Our Youth Council] pointed out to us that as many as 50 per cent of the homeless youth in our city identify as LGBT, and the reason they’re homeless is they have been either not welcome at home, or bullied, usually at school.
"But particularly that – if their identity is not supported at home – they need that support at school, and that is where GSAs have been established. It’s had a material impact in reducing the number of suicides among LGBT youth, and also instances of other kinds of dispossession or victimization.
"So I would put us firmly in the allies camp, not knowing if any of our councillors have an LGBT identity."
GC brings out another of its formalized mayor questions: Given that WWE’s Hitman Hart, musician/actor Cher, Star Trek’s original Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Edmonton Councillor Michael Phair, actor/musician Jack Black, and Alberta icon k.d. lang have also graced GayCalgary’s pages, what do you thing being in our magazine will do for you?
"Well, we don’t generally turn down media interviews just as a matter of democratic accountability, unless somebody’s got an axe to grind. I was hoping to have an opportunity to talk about some of the positive things that the City of Edmonton is doing in regards, particularly, to gender inclusion and sexual identity inclusion.
"We struck a new advisory committee to council called WAVE, which stands for Women’s Advocacy Voice of Edmonton, which is a committee of about a dozen women from various walks of life in Edmonton: absolutely extraordinary leaders – from students to senior professionals, academics, policy experts, artists and writers. A fantastic cross-section of women who lead in Edmonton, and that group has provided input to us on a variety of different policy decisions."
Mayor Iveson notes, as an example, one of their recommendations: the emergency assistance buttons on transit trains used to say ‘Penalty for Misuse’. WAVE noted this suggests you should almost never press this button. Instead, it now says ‘Press to Speak to an Operator’ which, Mr. Iveson says, is intended to "improve inclusion and access to help for people in vulnerable circumstances". The intention is to make these people feel safer in the public space.
Mayor Iveson also highlights the Pride Centre, the Institute For Sexual Minorities Studies and Services, and Camp Fyrefly, which is partially funded by the annual Mayor’s Breakfast (that takes place during Edmonton’s Pride).
"I got a bunch of heat this year because I wasn’t in the Pride parade, but. . . I was in Winnipeg for a conference of the big-city mayors. It was Winnipeg Pride that weekend, so Mayor Bowman from Winnipeg invited Mayor Nenshi and myself. By the end of it, we had about 25 to 30 mayors from across the country, and a huge contingent [from Alberta] who marched in the Winnipeg Pride parade.
"Edmonton is often described as a very tolerant, very inclusive, very progressive place, and we come by all that pretty honestly."
Related Articles
Contributor Carey Rutherford |
Locale Edmonton |
Person Don Iveson |
Topic Politics |
