Colleen James: Honesty key for women in the municipal space
Colleen James has more than 15 years of experience in municipal government, but her latest accolade is receiving an honourary mention in Municipal World’s 2024 Women of Influence in Local Government Award. Photo: Colleen James
2024 Women of Influence in Local Government Award Honourable Mention
Colleen James is rather accustomed to the municipal space. After all, she has more than 15 years of experience in municipal government. Her career includes serving on several local boards and committees. Most recently, James was also elected to Region of Waterloo council in October 2022.
But even with all that experience behind her, she was still surprised to receive an honourable mention for Municipal World’s 2024 Women of Influence in Local Government Award. Sheilagh O’Leary, deputy mayor for the City of St. John’s, Nfld., is the 2024 award recipient. Diane Ballantyne, a council member in Wellington County, Ont., is the other 2024 honourable mention.
James admits she was caught off guard by the recognition.
“It was a thought of just, wow. And thinking about all of the people who were probably nominated and then to know that I was one of the honorable mentions, it kind of hit in a different way,” James said. “When you sign up for this work, you do this work, it’s really not about self. To know that there are people who recognize what goes into this role … it was really feeling just grateful and thankful.”
Recognizing Women in Politics
James, whose career was built upon supporting the community, never intended to be recognized for her efforts. That said, and taking herself out of the picture for the sake of argument, James believes it is important to recognize the work being done by women in municipal government.
James said it is always good to recognize people’s efforts as it acts as reinforcement that they are on the right path. Not recognizing someone’s work often happens, James said, because their efforts are taken for granted. And that, she adds, can silence and diminish that effort, particularly for women.
“People like to be recognized in different ways. It can be the simple kind of thank you. Sometimes it doesn’t need to be as public,” James said. “I appreciate being recognized because there are days where you question even doing what you’re doing. To be recognized, for me, it means a lot. It fuels me, it keeps me going. It really does.”
An Experienced Perspective
Karen Redman understands this perspective all too well. And she should, given Redman’s own political career spans two decades. Redman served as an MP for Kitchener Centre (1997-2008) before her election to Waterloo Region council in 2014. She became council chair in 2018.
Redman said James is “very deserving” of recognition for a lot of reasons. One of the strengths that James has, according to Redman, is that she’s been on both sides of the desk. She’s been a key staff person to a former mayor. She’s also been a professor at Conestoga College. And she has led many important community conversations, in particularly, around the time of the murder of George Floyd.
That leadership helped lead to policy changes and new programs at the region. Redman said James stepping up was she did was “pivotal” to the region being able to lean into the EDI file with some authenticity.
All of this, and many other reasons, are what Redman said make James a natural choice for recognition.
“Colleen is a Black woman in a leadership position, who has been a professor. I think that that’s a steeper hill to climb. I relate to a woman in politics, but I think that added aspect, it is wonderful to see that young women in our community can look to her and see that we can be diverse,” Redman said. “It’s really, really important to see credible women take their place that represent the diversity of our community. And Colleen does that in spades.”
Woman of Influence
Redman lauded James for her leadership abilities. One could see that being recognition of her being a woman of influence.
Ironically, James admits to struggling with that notion. Everybody has an ability to influence people, James said, regardless of if it’s a public role or it’s the people who are on the grassroots doing things.
And while she didn’t necessarily see herself as a person of influence, she did recognize how she is able to influence people. How she leverages that ability is what’s key.
“Are we influencing people to create changes that benefit everybody. It’s recognizing that influence, using that influence to encourage and create positive outcomes,” James said. “So, in short, no, I don’t see myself as influential. But reflecting on this role, I do know that I’m in an influential position. How I use that influence is more important than just being influential.”
Challenges Women Face
When it comes to women running in politics, James is quick to encourage it. However, she is also “really real” about the realities. James is quick to acknowledge how difficult it can be for women in the local government space today. In fact, she often refers to it as “fresh hell.”
James emphasizes the importance of recognizing the realities women face when running for public office, and that women campaign within a political system not originally designed for them. There is misogyny. It is a patriarchal system. But the other side to that is there are women who’ve been in the that system for a long time. As such, women are not alone.
“Look at the way politics is now for anybody in there. It’s very polarizing. It can be very divisive,” James said. “But at the same time … what is important when encouraging women to run is that there is a support system. Not just to encourage and get people to run, but what happens then when you’re in. When I speak to women who want to run, it’s just you’re not going to be alone once you’re there. That’s part of it, too.”
Standing Up, Speaking Out
James said one of the biggest challenges in the political space today is that women who are in powerful positions are sometimes seen as a threat. James deals with that unfortunate reality by recognizing that it’s not her obstacle, but rather the other person’s problem.
Another obstacle is being able to see through whether something is a personal attack or an objective criticism. Sometimes people can’t separate the two, and that’s one of the things James admits is not easy for her to do at times.
She can be sitting in a meeting room and all the men are speaking to the other men in the room. And then, she goes to speak, or another woman goes to speak, their points are often tuned out or are ignored completely.
Some days, James said she doesn’t know how to get through it. Well, she does admit to cursing from time to time. But again, it’s recognizing that this isn’t something she needs to take personally. But it is something that shouldn’t be ignored either.
“I think that’s a big piece of the conversation too, we can’t take it personal. But at times as well, we do need to call that out,” James said. “I think that’s part of how you can disrupt some of that ongoing systemic, historical, misogynistic behavior. Sometimes you just have to call that out.”
Inspirational Recognition
James has been in the political realm for many years now and has accomplished quite a bit.She has had a front seat to change and has been part of creating it. But she has also had to stand up against the injustices many women, and women of colour in particular, face on a daily basis.
That said, James hopes the recognition of women within the municipal space will serve to inspire other women to get involved. Her own recognition, she said, is seen as inspirational and encouraging to others as it is to her. To James, it signifies that if she can do it, others can too.
“I guess the other thing to me is feeling seen and valued because this role can be a very thankless job,” James said. “I recognized that even when I was a staffer paying attention. So it just kind of reinforces to me that yes, there’s value in the work that I’m doing, how I’m doing it, and people are seeing that. It’s not for nothing.” MW
✯ Municipal World Executive and Essentials Plus Members: You might also be interested in Sean Meyer’s article: Rowena Santos: Take your place and own it with style and grace.
Sean Meyer is digital content editor for Municipal World.
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