Leadership Féminin Prescott-Russell (LFPR) is campaigning to have more women in the 2026 municipal election campaigns across the region.
On May 27, Marie-Noelle Lanthier of LFPR described the campaign to United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) Council.
Currently, there are no female candidates for mayor in any of the eight UCPR municipalities. One municipality has no women on its current council, and three municipalities have only one woman on council. Two municipalities, one with a five-member council and the other with a seven-member council, do not have more than two female councillors, and two municipalities with five-member councils have three female councillors.
LFPR’s goal is to have gender parity on municipal councils across the UCPR. The current campaign also aims to double the number of female candidates in municipal elections across the region in 2026 from the 2022 elections. This means the goal is to have 50 female candidates.
Lanthier said LFPR wants not only more women as candidates, but also greater engagement with women voters. She said a municipal council should represent the diversity of the municipality and a healthy democracy.
“Women know their communities and we invited them to represent,” Lanthier said.
She explained that women compose 50 per cent of the population in Prescott-Russell but only 25 per cent of the municipal elected officials are women.
Lanthier outlined barriers to women entering politics but also explained how becoming involved in municipal politics has many advantages. Those include the ability to influence municipal decision making, political involvement without pausing their existing career, expanded personal networking, developing new skills, and the opportunity to contribute to inclusive decision making.
