Nine women attended the Women in Politics gathering, learning what being a public servant all entails.

The event was led by Morden Councillor Heather Francis, who says it was an open discussion focused on women in municipal politics. She notes the representation of women in office is incredibly low.

"We're currently at 18 percent in Manitoba of female representation, so we need to work on getting that higher for sure," she says. "The UN statistic is 30 percent as a minimum for ensuring that women's interests are represented at the table, so we have a lot of work to do."

Francis says seeing a number of women attend the event was encouraging. Even if they had no intention of running, she says it's still important to see women having a vested interest in the inner workings of the community. During the event, Francis discussed what is all required of a councillor, the sacrifices a person needs to make including time commitments, and the process of running for office.

Francis says for those wanting to make a difference in their community and become a councillor, she has these suggestions for driven candidates: "Do your homework, research the issues at hand; get to know exactly what the job entails, it be better for all candidates to go into it with a full expectation and realization the amount of time and work it takes to be on the council."

People shouldn't feel bogged down by a fear that they aren't qualified Francis says. She notes people should double down on the desire to educate themselves and be informed on the issues facing the city.

Winkler council candidate Karina Bueckert attended the evening as an opportunity to learn about what it means to be a city councillor. She says the evening was informative and was an opportunity to have a discussion on politics and hear different opinions from women from different areas in the Pembina Valley.

"It was nice to have my eyes opened again to the unified stance that the next generation is taking in Morden, Winkler, and the RM of Stanley. To have that unified stance talked about so often is very encouraging."

Informative sessions for general candidates will be held in Morden July 25 and September 5 for anyone interested in learning more about the position as a councillor.