A local councillor and candidate will be hosting information sessions for prospective women who are looking to run in the Municipal Election.
Amherstburg Councillor Patricia Simone and Windsor Ward 1 Candidate Darcie Renaud are teaming up to host two information sessions for women in Windsor and Essex County.
The two women will be able to provide general information to those attending and also answer any questions they may have about running in a municipal election.
Their goal is help encourage more women to run, as women account for less than 30 percent of elected positions in local government across Canada.
Simone, who was first elected in 2018, is the only woman on Amherstburg's seven-member council.
In Windsor, where Renaud is running in Ward 1 for the second time, only one of ten councillors is a woman.
Darcie Renaud ran in the last municipal election and came second to Fred Francis.
She says what she's hoping to accomplish while helping women during the sessions.
"I'd like to talk to them about what it's like, the steps you need to take, even down to the details of the types of forms you're going to have to fill out. And, during the campaign itself, kind of what the main components and the main things you need to think about when you're running your own campaign are."
Patricia Simone hasn't yet announced her intentions for the upcoming election.
She says her and Renaud have already received messages about the sessions coming up.
"We've received a lot of inquires on how they can register, if they can just submit questions if they're not able to attend, so it's been good so far because we also posted it on Facebook. So, it has been interesting having those initial conversations."
Simone says what some of the questions asked have been from women who are interested in running in the election.
"A lot are concerned about 'how do I raise money', and 'what do I need to do', so those are just questions that we're hoping we can help them answer. And if that's the only things stopping them from putting their names forward, I think those are easy questions we can answer."
The sessions will take place on Saturday, July 23 at 10:30 a.m. and Tuesday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. via zoom.
To register or for questions, participants can email Patricia Simone at pdsimone@hotmail.com or Darcie Renaud at darcierenaud@gmail.com.
The Municipal Election will be held on October 24.
-with files from AM800's Rob Hindi