Women make up nearly 1/3 of Winnipeg's council, but those 5 councillors want more

It has been just over 104 years since Jessie Kirk was inaugurated as the first woman on Winnipeg's City Council — but to this day, only 32 other women have been elected to represent a ward in the city's history.

In the Mayor's office, only one woman has ever been elected to the city's top job — Susan Ann Thompson in 1992. 

"It is no solace that there are so few of you ever," Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) told CBC News on Saturday. 

Rollins is one of the five women councillors in Winnipeg's current administration, the largest cohort of female representation there has been in council ever, she said. But Rollins and her counterparts want that to change.

"All of us feel we can do better. All of us feel that there are so many female leaders out there," she said. 

Rollins, Janice Lukes, Devi Sharma, Vivian Santos and Cindy Gilroy set politics aside and held a panel Saturday morning at the RBC Convention Centre, moderated by Mary Agnes Welch, to encourage more women to enter the political arena. 

Female representation in other levels of government is also far from achieving gender parity. In Manitoba's Legislature 18 women were elected in the last provincial election out of 57 MLAs and in Parliament Hill about 30 per cent of the seats are held by a woman. 

But to change that story and get a representation in politics, Rollins said it is crucial to build the next generation of female leaders by showing them what the work in politics and public service looks like. 

At the gallery, a multi-generational crowd of at least 60 attendees filled the seats, with some elementary and high school girls among the audience. 

"That was very heartening to me," Rollins said. "With your small window of service … you really want more often … to make sure that the next generation is stepping up," she said. 

Shubha Junaid, who attended the panel on Saturday, was also inspired to see young girls sitting alongside her in the audience. 

"You're the new generations as time is going, and we want new blood to come up and take spaces … I can see a wonderful future," she said.

Junaid, who is in her 30s, was a bit apprehensive at first to attend the panel, but after Saturday's event, she said she left feeling motivated. 

"It really pumped you up … you can also contribute in something you can also give back to the country, not just taking out," she said. "It was something I didn't even expect."