A two-day workshop designed to get more women engaged in territorial politics is underway in Yellowknife.
The Status of Women Council of the NWT is organizing the event for a third time.
Executive director Lorraine Phaneuf says the council tends to hold the workshop seven to eight months before a territorial election.
Phaneuf says it’s designed to give women all the tools they need to get elected.
“It will be an exchange of knowledge where participants will learn what it’s like to be an MLA, what it’s like to canvass and everything else that will help them during a campaign.
“They’ll be learning about media training, door-knocking, financing and fundraising and what to do after an election.”
Phaneuf says as many as 40 women have registered for the skills workshop.
Though she says it’s not only reserved for women thinking of running.
“They’re also meant for women who are interested in helping other women run. Some of the workshops will focus on putting a team together and how to volunteer so it’s not necessarily just for women who are thinking of running.
“In addition to getting more women to run, we also have to boost the votes for women. That’s something we’ll be working on over the next couple of months. We need to encourage the general public to vote them in.”
“We need to educate people on the importance of having equal representation in the Legislative Assembly.”
The two-day workshop includes a tour of the Legislative Assembly and a chance for participants to sit in the gallery during Friday’s session.
As it stands, two of the territory’s 19 MLA’s are female.
