Marking the last day of International Women’s Month on Tuesday (March 31), Maryam Monsef’s organization ONWARD hosted “A Conversation About The Status of Women In Our Community”, an event held in honour of the late Ann Farquharson, at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough.

The event, presented in partnership with the Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce and sponsored in part by kawarthaNOW, featured 16 female speakers engaging in conversation on important issues related to women’s health, resilience, and leadership.

Ann Farquharson, who passed in late 2025, was a lifelong civic leader and advocate in Peterborough. Her work included a career as a lawyer, time as a city councillor, and a board and committee member for numerous not-for-profit organizations.

Monsef, who was Peterborough-Kawartha MP and a federal cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021 (including Minister for the Status of Women) prior to founding ONWARD, explained that her organization and the Chamber had chosen to host the event in Farquharson’s honour to recognize her impact on women in the local community, and then shared some of her own memories with Farquharson.

“I miss her rants,” Monsef said fondly.

Known for being an outspoken activist, Farquharson consistently engaged with elected officials at all levels of government and advocated for progress and change.

“She didn’t just complain — she did something about it,” Monsef added.

Noting it was her commitment to action that made Farquharson such a prominent and influential figure in Peterborough, Monsef encouraged attendees to take their lead from Farquharson.

In addition to being the final day of International Women’s Month, March 31 also marked the international Day of Trans Visibility.

Joy Lachica, Town Ward councillor for the City of Peterborough, gave an impassioned speech about how “tyranny is too close” and the importance of standing as allies with trans individuals.

Senator Marilou McPhedran, member of the Senate of Canada and a lawyer and human rights advocate, spoke about her experience working on the 1981 drafting of Section 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which establishes women as being equal to men in the eyes of the law.

She explained that, if she had the knowledge then that she has now, she would have ensured protections for trans people as well.

Almost all of the women on stage spoke about the concept of resilience.

For Darlene Weales, senior manager of commercial solutions at Kawartha Financial Services (formerly Kawartha Credit Union), being a woman in a male-dominated field has forced her to learn to how to keep going in the face of double-standards and systemic issues.

Wendy Morgan, co-founder of Red Oaks Pathways, continued the conversation about resilience and how individual women are being made to carry the burden of system failures.

“We are holding up the system with our bare hands,” said Morgan.

For Morgan, the systems need to better support women who are facing burnout, discrimination, and isolation. Rather than celebrating people surviving in broken systems, the focus should be on creating systems that work for everyone.

“We call her ‘girl boss’ and then send her back in,” Morgan quipped.

The illusion of resiliency is also faced by other marginalized groups such as Indigenous and racialized peoples.

Kylie Fox-Peltier, principal consultant and co-founder of Indigenize, expressed the need to rebuild broken systems to actively support and work for Indigenous peoples. She said she no longer will accept being “expected to be grateful just for being in the room.”

All of these women demonstrated that, when systemic barriers remain in place, there is no opportunity for true inclusion and access.

One area of systemic barriers that was discussed involved the experiences of women accessing healthcare.

Dr. Sonia Anand, associate vice president of global health and professor of medicine and epidemiology at McMaster University, spoke about her work on health inequities created and exacerbated by social determinants.

“There are systemic barriers to thriving in Canada,” Anand said, highlighting socio-economic status, gender, immigration status, and access to a primary healthcare provider.

As demonstrated in a November 2025 report of the Standing Committee of Health in the House of Commons, entitled Women’s Health in Canada: Closing the Gender Gap, there is less funding and research dedicated to health issues primarily affecting women and to care and treatment.

Tiffany Arcari, community builder and host of The Tiffany Show, spoke about her journey accessing healthcare for fibroids, a common non-cancerous tumour of the uterus. Arcari said there needs to be more education and openness about women’s health.

“The things that are too much and too personal are the things that other people are carrying too,” said Arcari, who has shared her healthcare journey on her talk show and has empowered other women to advocate for themselves.

Throughout the event, there was much conversation about the importance of collaboration among women in creating change.

Monsef shared that ONWARD is committed to hosting more events that promote conversation and create space for women to gather together.

Tanya Fusco, president of Soroptimist International Peterborough, emphasized the importance of collaboration among women in making change, describing the origins of groups like Soroptimist that formed during a time when women were excluded from community organizations such as business networks.

“It’s our time to build now,” said Fusco.

A number of the speakers expressed how collaboration through mentorship and leadership from women such as Farquharson has supported them in their achievements. Attendees were reminded that they all have the capacity to be mentors to other women.

Lynn Zimmer, a founder of Canada’s first crisis shelter for women fleeing domestic violence, the former long-time executive director of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, and a member of the Order of Canada for her work and advocacy to prevent violence against women, expressed her desire to see more women involved in local politics and being involved in change-making positions.

Zimmer even told aspiring candidates for public office that she would like to help some wise women to get elected or re-elected.

Considering Anand’s research demonstrating the impact of personal finance on health and quality of life, it is unsurprising that the number of speakers discussed financial independence and empowerment for women.

Weales shared the history of women’s financial rights in Canada, such as laws existing until 1964 that prevented women from opening a solely owned bank account. She explained how credit unions’ history of leadership in women’s banking remains important to her work at Kawartha Financial Services.

Retired teacher Cathy Ferreri described the importance of financial education and empowerment for women. Her personal experience as a single mother and educator inspired her to write a book to teach people how to manage their money and support their family.

Evident from the March 31 event is the desire for women to gather in conversation in a place where they feel their voices are being heard. However, as noted by a number of speakers, women often feel they do not have the capacity or ability to participate in action.

Ashley Safar, executive director of the Peterborough Community Health Centre, said she almost didn’t attend the event due to work commitments and pressure to always be doing more.

“It’s not because this (event) doesn’t matter, but because everything else does too,” she said.

Overall, the event sparked passionate conversation among not only the speakers, but also audience members.

During an open mic session, a number of attendees shared their own stories of misogyny in the workplace, in healthcare, and in the wider community.

Other speakers at the event included Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Brenda Whitehead, Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area executive director Nour Mazloum, Peterborough MP Emma Harrison, London-West MP and Deputy House Leader Arielle Kayabaga, Curve Lake First Nation singer-songwriter and artist Missy Knott, and Mehrangiz Monsef, registered immigration consultant at Monsef Immigration.

The original version of this story has been updated to clarify a comment attributed to Lynn Zimmer.

More than 100 residents gathered at Market Hall in downtown Peterborough on Tuesday evening (March 31) for a free seminar on running for public office in the upcoming municipal election on October 26 — including several people who have either already declared their intention to run or who are considering it.

Presented by the City of Peterborough along with the eight townships of Peterborough County, the seminar — entitled “So, You Want to Run for Council – Candidate 101 Information Session” — was led by Nigel Bellchamber, with several city and county staff also in attendance.

Bellchamber, who is leading similar seminars for municipalities across the province, is an experienced municipal governance trainer from London, Ontario who has worked with elected officials and senior staff across Ontario since 2002.

After being introduced by Peterborough city clerk John Kennedy, Bellchamber covered key issues such as the roles and responsibilities of municipal councillors, the impact of elected office on one’s personal and family life, and council codes of conduct and confidentiality.

Beginning by asking audience members to call out responsibilities of council, Bellchamber highlighted the complex and multifaceted role that councillors must play.

Audience members highlighted the key topics they consider when thinking about municipal government, including transit, emergency services, water and sewage, waste management, and roads.

Bellchamber said that those interested in running for municipal office “can’t be a one-issue councillor; you have to do it all.”

He explained that councillors are responsible for strategic guidance on all municipal activities, although they do not manage day-to-day operations. As such, they must be able to comprehend and engage with areas of government that are outside of their personal or professional interest and experience.

Bellchamber also spoke about the significance of strong mayor powers, which allow heads of council of single and lower-tier municipalities with councils of six members or more to support shared provincial-municipal priorities, such as encouraging the approval of new housing and constructing, and maintaining infrastructure to support housing including roads and transit.

Under strong mayor powers, these heads of council are also responsible for presenting a municipal budget by February 1, and can also propose certain municipal by-laws if they believe that the by-laws could potentially advance a provincial priority identified in regulation. Council can then pass those by-laws if more than one-third of all council members vote in favour — a departure from the usual majority vote required to pass a by-law.

This year’s municipal election is the first during which municipalities with councils of over six members will be voting for a head of council that has strong mayor powers. When the provincial government began granting strong mayor powers to municipalities, starting with Toronto and Ottawa in 2022, they came during the term of the existing head of council.

Peterborough mayor Jeff Leal has used his strong mayor powers for the city’s 2025 and 2026 budgets, and also to expedite Brock Mission’s proposed transitional housing project, which would see a six-story building constructed in the middle of a residential neighbourhood, by amending the city’s zoning by-law and exempting the project from the city’s site plan requirements.

Bellchamber said strong mayor powers will impact the dynamic of both the campaign period and the mayoral term. He suggested that some candidates may run with the intention of using strong mayor powers as a general practice.

Speaking directly to aspiring candidates, Bellchamber explained how being elected to public office “will change your life” and “requires total commitment,” noting that candidates often become public figures within the community from the start of their campaign.

With the expectation that elected officials are constantly available to respond to constituents, he said it was important for candidates to set personal and professional boundaries.

While Tuesday night’s session did not include information about the nomination process or campaign finance rules, another session will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday (April 8) at the Cavan Monaghan Community Centre in Millbrook to cover those topics and more.

Hosted by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, “Candidate and Third Party Advertiser Training” will provide information about who is eligible to run for council or advertise for a campaign, how the nomination process works, the roles and responsibilities of council members, and campaign finance rules and requirements.

Following the presentation, election staff representing the City of Peterborough and each township in the county will be available to answer questions and share election information specific to each municipality.

The session is free, but advance registration is required at www.cavanmonaghan.net/candidateinfo.

The audience at Tuesday evening’s session included two people who have confirmed they are running for Peterborough city council: incumbent Ashburnham Ward councillor Keith Riel who will be running for mayor, and incumbent Town Ward councillor Joy Lachica who will be seeking re-election in the ward.

Also attending the session were several people who have publicly stated they are considering running for Peterborough city council, including potential mayoral candidates Neil Morton and Michael Eamon, potential Northcrest Ward candidates Phillip Jolicoeur and Gavin Muir, potential Monaghan Ward candidate Ashley Flynn, and potential Ashburnham Ward candidate Ashley Bonner.

The nomination period for candidates in the October 26 municipal election opens on May 1 and continues until August 21.