The Hot Pink Paper Campaign
The Hot Pink Paper Campaign (HPPC) is how WTC amplifies the voices of communities who are otherwise not heard in the election process. Through this campaign we hold the Mayor and council to account on their commitments to make Vancouver a city where everyone can thrive.
In the lead up to the municipal election, WTC runs deep engagement with community groups and organizations to identify the priority municipal issues for women, girls, and other equity-seeking genders in Vancouver for the upcoming election. We prioritize hearing from groups who are systematically excluded and oppressed from democratic processes. We synthesize all the important information we have heard into a list of policies asks for candidates running for Mayor and Council with the question: Will you commit to implementing this if you are elected?
We use the HPPC to challenge public discussion and debate around city issues and centre the folks who need the city to work for them most.
See our 2022 Policy Asks
As part of our Hot Pink Paper Campaign, Women Transforming Cities developed eight policy asks for Mayor and Council candidates in the 2022 Vancouver election.
2. IWG2S+ People’s Healing Lodge
3. Reducing Barriers for Affordable Housing
4. Protecting Tenants from Heatwaves
5. Alternative Models to Community Safety
6. Washrooms for All
7. Fully Fund Climate Emergency Responses
8. Affordable and Accessible Transit
A Four Year Campaign
Once elected, we keep the Mayor and City Council focused on making Vancouver a city where everyone can belong through regular engagement and monitoring of council agendas. We communicate their successes and highlight work that still needs to be done. We hold elected officials accountable to the commitments they made during the election process and make ourselves available to help support that work.
Our Watch Council group speaks at council meetings, sends letters, meets with councillors and organizes campaigns on key issues.
The Impact of the HPPC
We ran the HPPC in two previous municipal elections in Vancouver and know it works.
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The HPPC keeps issues impacting genders made-marginalized at the forefront of elections
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It provides council with the blueprints and references needed to embed intersectionality within bylaws, motions, and decision-making
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It gets results — councillors have told us that this campaign raises issues they otherwise wouldn’t have considered, and knowing that WTC is following decisions made at council holds them accountable during their term
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It helps residents make informed voting decisions by providing accessible information to rally around issues that matter the most
Our Timeline
The HPPC has seven key phases leading up to the elections in October.
Stay up to date on our campaign stages by signing up for our Hot Pink Paper Campaign mailing list.
Follow us on social media and send a message or reach out to us via hotpinkpapercampaign@womentransformingcities.org to ask any questions you may have or learn more about this process.
WTC has also developed a five step toolkit that walks you through how to put on your own intersectional municipal campaign for an election. Visit the links below to see the toolkit!
