Former Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek and former Ward 1 councillor and mayoral candidate Sonya Sharp returned to Calgary city hall chambers for a conversation about their impact on Calgary politics Thursday evening.
The event was hosted by Ask Her YYC, which celebrated 10 years of advocating for and training women to engage in civic leadership.
To mark the occasion, Gondek and Sharp spoke about their time at city hall and the memorable aspects of their careers.
It was weird to be back at city hall on the other side of the chamber, but it was nice to unwind and look back on her time in office, Gondek said.
She reflected on her time in office and shared the best and worst parts of the job, balancing family and work, and how she has spent the last eight months out of office.
Gondek also discussed what led her to run for office as a councillor, how sushi Play-Doh played a role in her decision to run for mayor and even a tattoo she got while in office.
“Life is hilarious now that I’m not mayor anymore,” she told the panel.
“I’ll see someone at the grocery store, and they’ll say, ‘I voted for you. I’m so sorry you lost,'” Gondek said. “I also get, ‘Wow, your hair is much longer.'”
For young girls looking to get involved in politics, Gondek said there are multiple ways to get involved, but the best thing they can do is take the time to figure out how to go about it and seek out different perspectives.
“If politics is something you want to do, there are multiple ways to do it,” Gondek said. “Give yourself time to figure out what you want and find those perspectives.”
With a small female presence on the current city council, Gondek said there is data showing women face challenges when running for office.
A study conducted during her mayoral campaign found women are more likely to have the legitimacy of their position questioned.
“There’s now proof that (women) get treated differently,” Gondek said. “And for all the people who say there’s no more racism, gender disparity, and just don’t go on social media, it’s not that easy.”
Sharp spoke about her decision to run for council, bouncing back from losing the mayoral election, negative comments on social media and a possible return to city hall.
She felt right at home in council chambers, she told attendees as questions began firing off.
It was an honour to share her thoughts about her tenure and the impact she had at city hall, she said.
“Now I’m not a sitting politician, so to be someone that was a sitting politician and was a candidate running for mayor, I think I did shape things a little bit differently in the last four years when I was on council,” Sharp said. “So they wanted my perspective, and I was happy to be here tonight to share it.”
