Rebecca Johnson was elected to City Council in Thunder Bay in 2003. She has also served as a Trustee and Chair of the Lakehead Board of Education, Co-Chair of Diversity Thunder Bay, President of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, COO of the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce and two-time chair for the United Way.
Rebecca is a career community activist who has sat on numerous boards and committees promoting diversity, racial harmony, economic development, gender equality, waste reduction, and community beautification. The list goes on and on.
She had more than her share of hard times, losing her husband at the age of 25 with three young children to care for and a beef and swine farm to run in Slate River, west of Thunder Bay, but she learned to stand on her own two feet.
In this interview, she tells us she was able to overcome the challenges she faced by believing in herself, being prepared to take risks and taking advantage of opportunities that came her way.
A seasoned municipal politician, she offers a wealth of advice on the effective operation of municipal councils. “You don’t have to always agree, but you have to respect each other,” she tells us. It’s also important to focus on policy, not operations, to get along with city staff, to reach out to your constituents and know the pulse of your community.
Community activism isn’t a one-man or one-woman show. An activist can’t accomplish anything in isolation. The key to making things happen is to round up like-minded people to sit around a table and work together to pursue a goal.
One of Rebecca’s favourite causes is increasing the number of women serving on municipal councils and boards in northwestern Ontario. Women in Politics, an organization she co-founded in 2013, holds workshops, brings in speakers, operates a mentorship program and works to elect women running for municipal council, band councils and elected office at the provincial and federal levels.