Women’s Leadership Circle seeks equality in business
An advocacy group utilized an MPs visit to discuss the government's role in promoting equality in the professional world.
Reported by Kathryn Tindale
Advancing gender equality in the business world should be a priority for the federal government, according to a local women’s leadership group.
“We see women and men across this country pushing for gender parity in the places that we work,” Marsha D’Angelo said.
D’Angelo, a member of the Women’s Leadership Circle, moderated a fireside chat with Marco Mendicino, who visited Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Richmond campus on Tuesday. Mendicino, a Liberal MP representing Ontario, was visiting the campus on behalf of the infrastructure and communities ministry. D’Angelo used the visit as an opportunity to discuss women’s roles in business.
Equality a priority for Trudeau’s government
Mendicino said that the federal government’s initiatives are part of an ongoing commitment to increase inclusion of women in the workplace.
“We, as a federal government, introduced Bill C-25 to encourage the private sector to show leadership when it comes to including women on board and look for ways to measure success,” Mendicino said. “We want to see them at the table. We want to see them on boards. We want to see them starting businesses. We want to see them in STEM.”
Mendicino said that Sue Parish, CEO of the Digital Technology Supercluster, is an example of progress already being made. He said Parish is responsible for ensuring the competitive edge while leading the company through the challenges of a global market.
Vancouver leaders in gender equality
The Women’s Leadership Circle exists within the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, and aims to promote women in business and host events featuring their success.
“We’re here to support women in our community, our business community certainly, but in a larger way, through mentoring [and] through support,” said Leanne Walsh, a member of the committee.
Parveen Sidhu, who is also a member of the committee, said the focus is to engage with women in the community.
“It’s the dialogue. It’s sessions like this that empowers people,” Sidhu said.
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