Cathy Wong

Cathy Wong, elected councillor for the Peter-McGill district, is the speaker of Montreal City Council.[1] Thirty years old at her election, she is the first woman in the position, and the first opposition party member to sit in the chair. She replaces Frantz Benjamin, the first black speaker of the council.[2]

As part of her role, Wong is mandated to raise citizens' access to city hall and municipal democracy, especially for women, youth, ethnic minorities, new residents, and Indigenous people, key targets in mayor Valérie Plante's election campaign. A Montreal diversity and inclusion advisory panel was a move by mayor Plante, with a one-year deadline to recommend necessary changes at city hall and related bodies.[3]

Also under Wong's presidency, Montreal planned to rescind an historical but uncodified regulation which required male councilors to wear ties at council meetings. A city council commission supervising procedural rules and conduct, which she leads, decided to drop the rule to modernize City Hall.[4]

Wong was a member of the Équipe Denis Coderre party (before its post-election reconstitution as Ensemble Montreal) in the municipal elections of November 2017.[5]

Honours and awards

In 2016 the Conseil des diplômés de la Faculté de droit de l’UQAM presented Wong with an award for contribution to upcoming generations; Wong had earned a bachelor’s degree in civil law from UQAM.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Too late to include school in old Montreal Children's site, developer says - CBC News".
  2. ↑ "Cathy Wong named new speaker of Montreal city council". 24 November 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  3. ↑ "Allison Hanes: City hall takes a big step on long road to diversity and inclusion". 20 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "Montreal prepares to loosen unwritten rule on wearing ties at city council - CBC News".
  5. ↑ "Cathy Wong named new speaker of Montreal city council". 24 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Cathy Wong". 12 April 2017.
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