Mayor and Council

Mayor's Town Hall - Community Safety Part 2 - September 18, 2023

Mayor Liggett, Cambridge City Manager David Calder, Region of Waterloo CAO Bruce Lauckner and WRPS Chief Mark Crowell hosted part two of the Community Safety Town Hall.

Mayor's Town Hall - Community Safety Part 1 - July 13, 2023

Mayor Liggett and Council hosted the first of a two-part Community Safety Town Hall to allow the public to ask questions and share their concerns surrounding safety in Cambridge. 

 Mayor's 2024 Winter Levee - February 17, 2024

In 2012 Councillor Donna Reid, with the approval of Council, began the Cambridge Celebration of Women. The purpose of this program is to highlight significant Days in the history of women in Canada and the World. Those 3 days are:

**Important: 2024 will be the final year for this program through The Office of Mayor and Council. In order to increase accessibility and transparency of city funds, and to offer the opportunity for larger grants, starting in 2025 this program will be rolled into our Community Grants program. Please see the link below for more information and policy.

https://www.cambridge.ca/en/your-city/resources/Committees-and-Boards/Community-Grants-Program-Policy.pdf

March 8th – International Women’s Day,

International Women's Day, which began in 1911, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements or rally for women's equality. 

Marked annually on March 8th, International Women's Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to:

• celebrate women's achievements
• raise awareness about women's equality
• lobby for accelerated gender parity
• fundraise for female focused charities
• support female lead businesses

April 17th – Charter Day,

On April 17, 1985, Canadian women successfully urged the Federal Government to include women’s rights into the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This was 3 years after the Charter was brought home.

Queen Elizabeth signed the new Charter giving Canada the right to control our own destiny on April 17, 1982. But including our equality rights took another 3 years. The government was not interested at that time in enshrining women’s rights in this document.  Significant politicized women took action.

Doris Anderson, who had resigned as President of the federal Status of Women Committee over the disregard of the government of women’s rights, invited women from across Canada to Ottawa.  Women of all ages flocked to Ottawa to assure the government that we meant business. Feminists, activists and ordinary women came together and used their strong voices to persuade the government to include clause 28 into the Charter.

It reads: Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female persons.

We celebrate this day in remembrance of our foremothers who brought us this right and freedom. Without their actions and perseverance, women in Canada would not have their rights and freedoms protected. We are more fortunate than our sisters in the United States of America as they were unsuccessful in passing their Equal Rights Amendmnet.

Join with the Cambridge Celebration of Women program and celebrate with a friend on April 17^th. Celebrate the courageous women who have come before us that fought for our futures. Celebrate the women of today who continue to ensure that our Charter Rights and Freedoms are respected.

October 18th – Person’s Day. 

Persons Day is an annual celebration in Canada, held on October 18. The day commemorates the case of Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General), more commonly known as The Persons Case – a famous Canadian constitutional case decided on October 18, 1929, by the Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy Council, which at that time was the court of last resort for Canada. The Persons Case held that women were eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada.

Persons Day originated with The Famous Five- Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards. Emily Murphy, who led the case in 1927, was the first woman in the British Empire to be appointed magistrate in 1916. McClung was the first woman on the CBC Board of Governors and a representative to the League of Nations. McKinney was the first woman sworn into the Alberta Legislature and in the British Empire. Parlby, who was also in the Alberta Legislature, helped pass 18 bills, which helped women and children, and was also the second female cabinet minister in the British Empire.  Edwards is known for establishing the National Council of Women in 1890.

 The Cambridge Celebration of Women Program (CCWP) will raise awareness and support for measures that address gender inequality.  Grants in the amount of $1,000.00 are available for each of the 3 days to a group or person in partnership with the City of Cambridge, provide community awareness, education and support for gender equality. 

Past State of the City addresses

View State of the City addresses from previous years.