Transcript Document

We See Diversity, But Is It
Really Represented?
Erin Tolley
Metropolis Project
8th National Metropolis Conference
Vancouver, British Columbia
25 March 2006
The opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of Metropolis, Citizenship and
Immigration or the Government of Canada.
Overview
• Comparative project
• Elected officials at three levels of
government in 11 Canadian cities
• Key questions:
– Do elected officials “mirror” the
population?
– Any explanations? Patterns?
– And why might it matter?
Patterns Observed
• Not a “mirror” on the population
• Under-representation of ethnic and racial
minorities, women, non-Christian
religions, young people, blue collar
backgrounds
• Elected officials have lived in communities
longer than general pop’n and tend to
identify more frequently with a religion;
European heritage, well-educated
Three Categories of
Possible Explanations
• Social, economic and human capital
(eg. money, networks, education)
• Numbers, time and space (eg. critical
mass, residential concentration)
• Processes and systems (eg.
institutional barriers)
Our “Strangely
Successful” Capital
• Ottawa is a case study of a “strangely
successful” city
• Profile of elected officials is not
representative of the general population
• And yet, policies are generally inclusive
and responsive to diversity
Diversity in Ottawa
Immigrants
19%
Visible minorities
18%
Aboriginal
1%
Christian
72%
Muslim
Non-official language
as mother tongue
5%
20%
Source: 2001 Census
Figures expressed as a percentage of the population.
Diversity in Ottawa (cont’d)
Ethnicity
% of pop’n % change
(2001)
(1996-2001)
Canadian
35
37
English
24
-13
French
21
-8
Chinese
4
44
Filipino
1
35
Russian
1
34
East Indian
2
22
Source: 2001 Census
Elected Officials in Ottawa
• 38 elected officials in Ottawa at
three levels of government
• Numerical under-representation of
most groups: women, immigrants,
visible minorities, Aboriginals,
religious minorities
Elected Officials (cont’d)
•
11% immigrants
(compared to 19% in general population)
•
3% visible minority (compared to 18%)
•
22% women (compared to 51%)
•
None of non-Christian faith (compared to 8%)
•
7% with no religious affiliation (compared to 15%)
•
Ethnicity largely consistent with patterns in general
population
Elected Officials (cont’d)
• Well-educated; almost all have
a university degree
• Most have lived in Ottawa for at
least 15-20 years
• 62% have prior electoral
experience
So Why
“Strangely Successful?”
• Policy record is better than profile of
elected officials might suggest
• Number of initiatives to ensure diverse
viewpoints included. For example:
Equity and Diversity Advisory Committee
Community and Police Action Committee
Ottawa 20/20 consultations
Employment equity and audit
And Does Representation
Really Matter Then?
• Of course it does!
• Democratic and legislative imperatives
• Pragmatic reasons too (eg. improved /
more efficient decisions, increased
“buy-in,” decreased apathy / civil
unrest, promotion of “Canadian model”)