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Kelowna council celebrates social, economic, cultural, political achievements of women

Today is International Women’s Day
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(File photo)

Kelowna council took a few moments at the end of Monday’s (Mar. 7) regular meeting to reflect on International Women’s Day.

“I would like to acknowledge my council colleagues who are leaders and role models for women of all backgrounds in our community,” said Mayor Colin Basran. “On behalf of council I want to express our gratitude and admiration for the many outstanding women who work in our community in so many leadership capacities.”

Basran added this is also a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, and noted it is a call to action to accelerate women’s equality around the world, calling Kelowna a city that advocates and facilitates diversity and inclusivity.

“I hope everyone takes a moment to think about and praise the influential women in your lives and the inspiring women around the world for influencing positive change in our society.”

Councillor Loyal Wooldridge singled out two women who work within the city.

“Patricia Holloway and Martina Stewart helped organize a cohort of City of Kelowna folks to do that walk (Gospel Mission Stride to End Homelessness) on Saturday,” said Wooldridge. “Often we don’t get to see a lot of the folks that work within city hall, in the organization, so I wanted to do a big shout out to Patricia and Martina for organizing that. Gospel Mission raised over $50,000 on Saturday at that walk.”

Councillor Luke Stack said the women on council show strong and dynamic leadership.

“They’re are valued members of our communities, so congratulations for the work you do, and I’m so impressed with all the women I have the privilege of working with,” said Stack.

According to Wikipedia, International Women’s Day was spurred by the universal female suffrage movement that had begun in New Zealand and originated from labour movements in North America and Europe during the early 20th century. The earliest noted “Women’s Day” was organized by the Socialist Party of America in New York City on February 28, 1909. This inspired German delegates at the 1910 International Socialist Women’s Conference to propose a special Women’s Day be organized annually, but without a set date. After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917 International Women’s Day was made a national holiday on March 8. It became a mainstream global holiday following its adoption by the United Nations in 1977.

Read More: COLUMN: Celebrate all women this International Women’s Day

Read More: March 8 is International Wonder Women’s Day


@GaryBarnes109
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com

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Gary Barnes

About the Author: Gary Barnes

Recently joined Kelowna Capital News and WestK News as a multimedia journalist in January 2022. With almost 30 years of experience in news reporting and radio broadcasting...
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