The longest-serving member of Windsor City Council and the only woman around the table has announced she will not be seeking re-election in the upcoming municipal election.
Ward 6 Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac made the announcement at the end of Monday’s city council meeting.
Gignac has served for 23 years after first being elected in 2003, and for over a decade, she has been the only woman serving on city council.
Candidates have until August 21 to file nomination papers with the municipal election set to take place October 26.
Gignac says August 21 will be her 76th birthday.
“It’s been a privilege. I have worked with some amazing people here. I’ve had the opportunity to visit people in their homes and on their front lawns and share our frustrations at the council table in terms of some of the changes we’ve seen. It’s been an amazing ride, an amazing ride,” she says.
Gignac says when she was first elected there were three women on council, but the other two have been gone a long time.
“I’m not going to say that I don’t understand why some people do not choose to participate in this arena because it is a full-body contact sport. It is a challenging, challenging position to sit in,” she says.
Gignac believes women are certainly capable of serving, and there are some amazing women in Windsor who would make excellent councillors.
The mother of two grown children says it has been an amazing experience, but it’s time to find something else to do.
“My daughter lives in London, England, and my son, of course, was in the military for years and years. They’ve been bugging me to do some of the epic trips we used to do to Egypt and Turkey and all these other places. Now I’m going to have the time, and I’m really looking forward to it,” she says.
Gignac also served as a trustee on the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, including being elected the first woman to chair the board in 1991.