There is currently one woman on city council. Donna Brothwell thinks there should be more – and that one of them should be her. Billing herself as the new female voice with experience, Brothwell is one of three women running for council this October.
Brothwell believes being a woman with experience within the community is what sets her apart from the 24 other names on the ballot. A former Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, she says she was the voice of business before, and can be a voice for business as a council member.
“I do know some of the issues that are at the forefront, being business taxes, infrastructure, roads and those type of things... My family has been in business with Parkland Tire since the day we got here, when I was two, so I grew up on small business, I grew up in that environment.”
One of the issues Brothwell sees as being front and centre for the next four years is infrastructure. She wants to see things happening more rapidly, and says we should be further along than the modeling stage when it comes to tackling the city’s drainage problems, noting that she does not want to see annual flooding on west Broadway anymore.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re still only at the modeling stage when it comes to fixing those problems. And yes, council has been working on it, but I think we need to move forward and come up with some solutions.”
Having a long-standing desire to be a council member, Brothwell says it’s the right time for her, as her work and family now give her the time to give council the attention it deserves.
With 24 names standing for council, Brothwell hopes that this also means voter turnout in this election will trend upwards. She reminds people that they don’t have to fill out a full ballot, but that if they want new faces on council, it’s not going to happen if they don’t vote.
“If people want change, they are going to have to vote... Don’t take it for granted, don’t say ‘we know her, she is going to get in easy.’ We need every single vote that’s out there for us,” Brothwell says.
“People want change, that’s so clear. When you have 24 people running for council, four for mayor, it’s so clear. And it’s not just Yorkton... People want change, they want to see a different voice on council to give direction, to be able to come up with some different ideas, to be better able to communicate.”
