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Daughters of theVote take their place in Ottawa by Tina Agrell S p e c ia l to th e B e a v e r 4 3 | T h u rsd a y Ju ly 6, 2 0 1 7 | O A K V IL L E B E A V E R |w w w .insidehalton.com A dvancement of W omen Halton (AWH) is a non-partisan coalition of 20 com m unity Halton groups, that seeks to promote the advancement of w om en by developing and supporting social, political, cultural and econom ic strategies to achieve gender equality municipally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Recently, AWH m et up with four young w om en from Halton w ho had visited Ottawa in March to participate in the Daughters of the Vote program to hear about their experiences. This was an initiative by Equal Voice to invite 338 young w om en leaders to take their seat in Parliament. One young wom an between age 18-23 years was chosen from each federal riding to take part in this historic event, which marked the 100th anniversary of the first time w om en gained the right to vote in Canada. The w eek-long event from March 6-10 also coincided with this year' s International W om en' s Day as w ell as Canada' s 150th anniversary. The Halton representatives for Daughters of the Vote - for Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Oakville North-Burlington - recently related their experiences on Parliament Hill to the members of Advancement of Women Halton (AWH), whose member Tina Agrell filed this account of the experiences they related. | submitted photo Yhra Salam a was the Daughter for Oakville She is the daughter of immigrants, and attended Iroquois Ridge Hight School, where a friend introduced her to the Model UN. She became involved with the Arab Institute and helped getting out the vote. Yara particularly valued the new connections and friends she made and was struck by how representative the delegates were of all of Canada and their shared solidarity. Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn and Oakville MP John Oliver were both clearly committed feminists and very helpful. Yara now has a summer internship in Flynn' s office. Emma Fisher-Cobb was the Daughter for Burlington by the delegates about "allyship." It gave everyone an opportunity to share their stories and bond. Hafsah Asadullah was the Daughter for Milton. Emma attended Assumption Secondary School and Blythe Academy. Emma is a recent graduate and a long-time supporter and organizer in the Girl Guide movement, where she was encouraged to apply to Equal Voice. She noted the experience began with a visit to the Ontario Legislature, where they met with their MPPs and with Ontario Premier Kathleen W ynne, then moved on to Ottawa. Emma was very impressed with Burlington MP and Cabinet Minister Karina Gould who, despite being extraordinarily busy, went above and beyond to engage with attendees. Catherine Fife, MP from Kitchener Waterloo, was also excellent. Emma noted the friendships made with young w om en from every part of Canada were amazing. She struck up a special friendship with a partially-sighted Daughter and this opened her own eyes to accessibility problems. One memorable highlight was organized At high school she participated in a program with Girls 20, Bootcamp for Brain where she was encouraged to apply to Equal Voice. She explained that Milton is an environment where ideas can be discussed but this experience gave her the opportunity to share her own knowledge and experience and hear from others and it has changed her world-view. At the gala dinner with MP' s she sat with Milton MP and Conservative Party leadership candidate Lisa Raitt and discussed politics. Hafsah is not a Conservative, but found Lisa Raitt very open to the exchange of ideas. For Hafsah the highlight of taking her seat in the House was w hen one of Indigenous Daughters sang Strong Woman in that historic setting. Tarini Sharm a was the Daughter for Oakville North-Burlington She recently graduated from McGill and volunteered at MP Pam Damoff' s office. She felt the m ost powerful thing about the whole experience was the Daughters themselves. They were a very diverse group with so many different perspectives and experiences. The final session which gave them time to talk about allyship was very powerful. The four delegates explained Equal Vote covered all the costs so the experience was accessible for all delegates. The program created a platform for exploring the role of w om en in politics and eliminating unequal gender representation in governments and institutions in Canada and around the world. The first two days covered policy issues with politician keynote speakers, a plenary session with members of the House of Commons Status of W omen Committee, as well as policy roundtables with experts from fields ranging from Democratic Engagement to International Developm ent and Foreign Policy. In Ottawa the delegates had their own W om en' s March to the House. On International W om en' s Day, March 8, the 338 young w om en representing every riding from across Canada took their seat in place of their MP in the House of Commons. Making history as the largest external party ever to have entered the House, they had the honour of being addressed by Speaker Geoff Regan, the Right Honourable Kim Campbell (who was the first female prime minister of Canada), as w ell as all party leaders/ designates: Prime Minister (Liberal) Justin Trudeau, as w ell as interim Conservative Party Leader Rona Ambrose, N ew Democrat Party Leader Tom Mulcair, and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. Every delegate also had the chance to have lunch with her MP and later attend Question Period. The highlight of the day was the period in the House of Commons w hen delegates individually stood up to address Parliament and speak of issues that each felt passionate about and that they believe the government should play a role in combatting. The opportunity that delegates were given to ask pressing and direct questions to Trudeau and demand that answers be provided was representative of the program' s incentive to encourage them to hold the government accountable at all times. The rest of the week focused on professional development with speakers, a keynote luncheon, a politician panel, and leadership workshops with themes ranging from pathways to politics to community engagement. Issues discussed included eliminating the gender wage gap that still plagues societies around the world, the lack of mental health services in Indigenous communities, the need for condemnation of Islamophobia at the government and societal levels, the importance of immigrant rights and services across Canada, the effects and consequences of racism and racial profiling, the lack of representation from minority groups in all levels of government, the toxicity of homophobia and the lack of LGBTQ+ support in society, and many more. Equal Voice is still determining what the follow-up will be. The Daughters of the Vote have a fouryear term and they are asked to share their experience with at least 50 youths in the community. -- submitted by Tina Agrell, Advancement of Women Halton