City of Vancouver honours first female councillor on International Women’s Day

To honour Vancouver’s first female city councillor, the city has unveiled the Helena Gutteridge Plaza on International Women’s Day this year.

Chair of the City of Vancouver’s women advisory committee, Miranda Mandarino, said Helena Rose Gutteridge was more than a politician. Elected in 1937, Mandarino said she was a trailblazing activist.

“Helena was a true pioneer, working hard for women’s rights, fighting for affordable housing, pushing for equal pay for equal work.”

Mandarino said it’s important the city continues on that path, promoting opportunities for women to fully participate in the political, economic, and social life in Vancouver.

“We are still fighting for the same rights Helena was fighting for in the early 1900s. Equal pay for equal work, affordable housing, eliminating violence against women and girls.”

Mandarino feels the city is beginning to take steps in the right direction, with the updated 10-year women’s equity strategy being passed earlier this year.

City Coun. Andrea Reimer said she’s been working on honouring Gutteridge for quite some time.

“As a woman city councillor, it’s a great day. This is the first plaza in the city named after a woman anywhere.

“We’ve been trying to figure out where to get Helena’s name at city hall, and I said, ‘Why not that plaza?'”

Reimer said as a woman, she’d love every day to be Women’s Day.

Mayor Gregor Robertson said it’s been a long time coming to get this level of recognition for women in Vancouver. He added there’s still a long way to go, but he feels hopeful in the age of #MeToo.

“All the women, men, people standing up to harassment, assault, brutality, that have thrown the doors open on this systemic discrimination, and fear and loathing that has plagued women for too many generations, we need to support them,” he said.