{"id":2750,"date":"2026-09-02T12:21:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T16:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/?p=2750"},"modified":"2026-09-02T12:34:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T16:34:45","slug":"amo-womens-networking-session-remarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/amo-womens-networking-session-remarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Association of Municipalities of Ontario Women\u2019s Networking Session Remarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Check against delivery<\/em><\/p>\n

The speaking remarks were delivered bilingually, with portions in English and others French. To request a full English or French version, please contact\u00a0lg@ontario.ca<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

OPENING<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bonjour!\u00a0Good afternoon!\u00a0Bozhoo!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

C\u2019est un v\u00e9ritable plaisir d\u2019\u00eatre de retour parmi vous. Merci d\u2019avoir r\u00e9pondu \u00e0 notre invitation. C\u2019est toujours inspirant d’\u00eatre ensemble.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before we begin, I want to acknowledge that we are meeting\u00a0on the\u00a0traditional and\u00a0unceded territory of the Algonquin people, and to pay\u00a0my respects\u00a0to\u00a0their stewardship\u00a0of these lands.\u00a0<\/span>Je reconnais\u00a0\u00e9galement\u00a0la pr\u00e9sence et les contributions\u00a0pass\u00e9es et pr\u00e9sentes\u00a0de nombreux peuples autochtones\u00a0\u00e0 ce territoire.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And now,\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0like to start with a quick story.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before my time\u00a0as lieutenant governor, when I was working here in Ottawa\u00a0as the\u00a0director of\u00a0education of the\u00a0public French\u00a0school board\u00a0\u2013 CEPEO\u00a0\u2013\u00a0we\u00a0organized\u00a0monthly\u00a0parents\u2019 council meetings.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We found that,\u00a0in some\u00a0communities,\u00a0very few\u00a0women were\u00a0attending. Eventually, we realized\u00a0this was because\u00a0in the evenings, many\u00a0women\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0feel safe on public transportation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So,\u00a0we\u00a0allocated\u00a0a small budget to people for travel by taxi\u2014and\u00a0women\u2019s\u00a0participation significantly increased.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0lesson I\u00a0took\u00a0away from this is that\u00a0when it comes to civic space,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0necessary to\u00a0think outside the box,\u00a0in order\u00a0to\u00a0reach\u00a0people whose voices are not well represented.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately,\u00a0even\u00a0here\u00a0and now\u00a0in 2026, this\u00a0often includes women.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, as we\u00a0discuss\u00a0the potential for\u00a0civil society\u00a0to\u00a0collaborate\u00a0with\u00a0municipalities,\u00a0let\u2019s\u00a0think about how to\u00a0ensure\u00a0women\u2019s voices can be heard.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time,\u00a0let\u2019s\u00a0consider\u00a0how civic space can foster a sense of\u00a0<\/span>belonging<\/span><\/b>\u00a0that\u00a0will have an impact throughout society\u00a0\u2026\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And\u00a0how we can\u00a0encourage the participation of women,\u00a0as well as\u00a0<\/span>others<\/span><\/b>\u00a0who may be underrepresented, in\u00a0<\/span>all\u00a0<\/span><\/b>spheres where important conversations\u00a0take place,\u00a0and\u00a0where\u00a0decisions\u00a0are made.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you to\u00a0our partners at\u00a0Cooperations Canada for organizing this event!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d\u00a0like to turn things over to\u00a0our moderator,\u00a0<\/span>Andy Ou\u00e9draogo\u00a0[<\/span>weh-drah-OH-go<\/span><\/i><\/a>], government\u00a0<\/span>engagement and\u00a0civic\u00a0space\u00a0lead\u00a0at Cooperations Canada.\u00a0<\/span>Over to you, Andy!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CLOSING<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Merci \u00e0 nos pan\u00e9listes pour cet \u00e9change aussi \u00e9clairant\u00a0qu\u2019inspirant!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the representative of the Crown in Ontario, I wish to extend my sincere thanks to\u00a0Andy\u00a0for moderating,\u00a0and to Jen and Melissa for sharing your\u00a0expertise\u00a0and experiences with us.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Merci encore \u00e0\u00a0Cooperation\u00a0Canada\u00a0pour leur appui dans l\u2019organisation de cette rencontre avec vous\u00a0et surtout pour son engagement \u00e0 d\u00e9fendre et r\u00e9imaginer l\u2018espace\u00a0civique.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And thank you to all of you for attending and\u00a0participating!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope the conversations that started\u00a0here\u00a0in this room\u00a0will\u00a0live on\u00a0in the weeks and months to come,\u00a0through\u00a0the connections\u00a0you have made,\u00a0and the friendships you have strengthened.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Profitez bien du reste de la conf\u00e9rence.\u00a0<\/span>Bonne journ\u00e9e!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Merci.\u00a0Thank\u00a0you.\u00a0Chi\u00a0<\/span>Miigwetch.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Check against delivery The speaking remarks were delivered bilingually, with portions in English and others French. To request a full English or French version, please contact\u00a0lg@ontario.ca.   OPENING\u00a0 Bonjour!\u00a0Good afternoon!\u00a0Bozhoo!\u00a0 C\u2019est un v\u00e9ritable plaisir d\u2019\u00eatre de retour parmi vous. Merci d\u2019avoir r\u00e9pondu \u00e0 notre invitation. C\u2019est toujours inspirant d’\u00eatre ensemble.\u00a0 Before we begin, I want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-speaking-remarks","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2750"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2759,"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2750\/revisions\/2759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lgontario.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}