Jan Reimer was first elected as an Edmonton alderman in 1980 — a mere six years after Canadian women were first allowed to have their own credit cards and mortgages. In 1989, she became Edmonton’s first (and only) female mayor, leading our city’s first female-majority council, the members of which were then still called “aldermen.”
“I tried to change it to ‘councillor,’ but it never happened during my tenure,” she says.
Reimer has seen a lot of change since running campaigns and councils that focused on environmental and women’s rights issues, and the change hasn’t all been good.
“Sometimes it feels now we’re going backwards, particularly when you see the influence that’s happening from the United States and how that’s impacting women in a country that has the Violence Against Women Act,” Reimer says.
Recalling a recent speech she gave to a convocation of University of Alberta students — and a time when all political parties worked together to fix the hole in the ozone layer — Reimer says today’s students have a lot resting on their shoulders because of things that should have happened, but never did.
“It’s really disheartening to see now the disbelief in climate change, because it’s our children, my grandchildren, that are going to bear the brunt of what’s coming. And I think it’s the same for violence against women.”
Despite what she sees coming, Reimer shared with those students the message of “If you don’t speak up, you’re never going to be heard,” and since leaving office she’s used her voice to protect and uplift women through Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS).
“In addition to the trauma and harm, violence against women is a huge cost to society, whether it’s the health-care system, the loss of work, policing costs, income support — these have profound impacts on the community, because everybody knows somebody who’s been impacted by domestic violence. And if you don’t know someone who has, it’s only because they haven’t told you.”
Reimer says the good news for people who wish to protect women (and the environment) is that they have facts on their side, the most robust of which were compiled by ACWS and repeatedly sent “to the top of the piles” of ministers’ desks.
“I’ve been very proud of how we developed a common database of what’s happening with women shelters, the violence that occurs, what is happening for the survivors and the staff. Because working there for 23 years [Reimer stepped down as executive director in September 2024], I know how much the staff is rarely recognized — and poorly compensated.”
With a firehose of information spewed by billionaire oligarchs, and a never-ending bombardment of bills, Reimer understands how the public can feel too overwhelmed to fight for the society she sees slipping away. But she reminds us that, no matter how helpless we may feel, we can’t afford to lose our political will as well.
“You can resist, you can speak truth to power — and you can vote,” she says. “One of the messages I gave to the convocation was: You should never give the power of your vote away to some-body else and double their power by not taking yours. I think that many people wait for that perfect candidate, but there will never be a perfect candidate — I certainly was not a perfect candidate knocking on the door — but you’ve got to find candidates that you believe will listen, and then make your voice heard loud and clear.”
As we leave her neighbourhood cafe, Reimer, picking up on her interviewer’s frustration and fear, shares yet another great quote, this one from another great Canadian woman, Margaret Atwood: “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”
This article appears in the Jan/Feb 2025 issue of Edify
