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Veer takes message of integrity and ethics in politics to Ottawa

Jul 25, 2018 | 4:00 PM

Red Deer’s mayor was in Ottawa this week to speak at the conference of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians.

Tara Veer missed Monday’s city council meeting in order to attend, a decision she says she didn’t make lightly because her focus is always on the home front.

But Veer believes being able to speak to hundreds of other Canadian and international female politicians in the nation’s capital was an important opportunity.

“The theme of this year’s conference was around government and elected officials being held to a higher standard. In order to establish that standard of integrity and ethics, we need to create workplace practices that support those things,” she says.

On whether things are improving in that respect, Veer says, “We are shifting public policy in the right direction and I think the public has elevated expectations in those areas. Government has some catch up to do but at The City of Red Deer, we’re moving in the right direction.”

City council finalized a revised version of its own code of conduct this week, something Red Deer was ahead of the game on compared to other communities in Alberta having first introduced it in 2013.

Veer adds that there was plenty of interest in Red Deer’s provincial and national profile at the conference, noting she fielded many questions regarding our city’s diversifying economy and the 2019 Canada Winter Games.

Founded in 1989 by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians was built on the need to increase women’s representation in political institutions.

Veer is proud to say that Red Deer has long been a strong supporter of having women at the table.

“The Red Deer experience is a bit of an anomaly compared to what other municipalities or elected bodies,” she says. “Red Deer has always looked favourably upon women serving in elected office and has a very strong history in that.”