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français Resources   Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Founded in 2006, the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights is a group of over 25 regional and national women’s organizations that have come together to monitor and advocate for federal government leadership on gender equality in Canada. For more information, please visit About Us.   Ad Hoc Coalition Information        •  Open Letter International Women's Day 2010: This Is Not What Equality Looks Like!  - March 8, 2010  •  Fundraising Campaign Prorogation H(arper)  - February 22, 2010  •  Letter to the Editor Stop the Harpocracy on Women's Progress  - February 22, 2010  •  Media Release Stop Playing with Women's Lives  - February 22, 2010  •  Media Release Gun Registry Critical To Stop Domestic Violence Murders - February 11, 2010  •  Media Release Live-In Caregivers Left Behind in Pink Book - February 11, 2010  •  Media Release Single Parent Fired Due To Child Care Obilgations - February 11, 2010  •  Media Release Women's Voices Silenced Yet Again - February 8, 2010  •  Media Release Forty-Year Anniversary of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women - February 8, 2010 •  Media Release A Bad "Day" for Canada - February 8, 2010  •  Open Letter Women Stand in Solidarity with the Ottawa Museum Workers - December 9, 2009  •  Letter to the Party Leaders Women and Employment Insurance - October 7, 2009  •  Pay Equity Stephen Harpers' Index: Pay Equity - June 16, 2009  •  Media Release Women Less Than Stimulated by Harper's Economic Update - June 12, 2009  •  Letter to Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Liberal Party Dear Mr. Ignatieff, On behalf of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights - April 23, 2009  •  Video I'm not a feminist, but… what? Am I a feminist?  International Women's Day 2009 Video  •  Open Letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper Dear Mr. Harper, In anticipation of the upcoming budget, the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights would like to call your attention to budgetary measures that would strengthen our economy by strengthening the equality of women in Canada. - January 20, 2009  •  Media Release This Coalition Government is Good for Women - December 4, 2008  •  Media Release Conservatives wrong to call for protest against coalition government on day to end violence against women, say women's groups - December 3, 2008  •  Media Release Representatives of women's organizations across the country want to send a message to the new Parliament which opens today: women are watching - Nov. 18, 2008 •  Media Release "This Award Wasn't Designed for Him": Women's Groups Concerned that Status of Women Canada awarded Historic Feminist Honour to Male Fashion Entrepreneur  - Nov. 7, 2008  •  Media Release Leaders debate must address women’s concerns -  Oct. 2, 2008  •  Media Release Women Call for New Budget Priorities  - Feb. 24, 2008  •  Media Release Women's Organizations Denounce the Harper Government, Call for a National Leaders Debate on Equality Issues  - Dec. 10, 2007  •  Media Release Women Across Canada Call on Harper to Put Equality Back on Track  - Mar. 8, 2007  •  Media Release Cuts and Changes to Status of Women Threaten Equality  •  Media Release National Childcare Program is Vital to Women's Equality  •  Media Release Women in Canada Are Still Paid Less Than Men, Three Years After Task Force Report Recommending Pro-active Legislation  •  Media Release Abolition of the Court Challenges Program Undermines Justice TOP               Pay Equity Ad Hoc Coalition: Stephen Harpers' Index: Pay Equity Janet Bagnall, Montreal Gazette, Wednesday, December 3, 2008:  The sweater comes off: Harper curbs pay equity TOP               Bill C-484 Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ) Considers Bill C-484 May Eliminate Decades of Social Consensus and Jurisprudence - media release TOP               Child Care Canadian Labour Congress: Why A Child Care Program Is Important TOP               Mother's Day Inter Pares’ Mother’s Day campaign: Take Back the Day TOP               Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO) •  Evidence - Thursday, October 5, 2006 •  NINTH REPORT - Recommendations in response to the Funding Cuts announced September 25, 2006 and the new mandate of the Status of Women Canada effective September 27, 2006. (Adopted by the Committee on October 19, 2006; Presented to the House of Commons on November 3, 2006) •  TENTH REPORT - Recommendations in response to the Cuts to Status of Women Canada (Adopted by the Committee on November 7, 2006; Presented to the House on November 22, 2006) •  Evidence - Wednesday, December 6, 2006 •  Evidence - Wednesday, December 13, 2006 •  Evidence - Thursday, February 1st, 2007 •  Evidence - Wednesday, February 7, 2007 •  Evidence - Wednesday, February 14, 2007 TOP         Submissions to the Standing Committee and Media Releases •  Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women Brief - Download the Brief in Word Format •  Coalition of Provincial and Territorial Advisory Councils on the Status of Women •  National Action Committee on the Status of Women •  Native Women’s Association of Canada •  Public Service Alliance of Canada •  UN Platform for Action Committee Manitoba •  UN Platform for Action Committee Manitoba •  Women's Future Fund Brief - Download the Brief in Word Format TOP       Fact Sheets •  CRIAW "Reality Check"   TOP         Promises Made, Promises Broken •  CEDAW pledge •  Letter from Harper   TOP         Media Coverage of Funding Cuts & Cuts to Status of Women Canada •  CBC Tories shutting Status of Women offices •  CBC Tories to cut off funding for women's lobby groups •  The Dominion New cuts and conditions for Status of Women Canada •  hour Conservatives "de-fanging" women •  Chatelaine Harper's no ladies man •  Trent "Arthur" Status of Women Offices to be Shut Down •  View Magazine Prime Minister Harper Declares War on Women •  Epoch Times Is inequality a thing of the past? •  The Tyee.ca The Montreal Massacre and The Status of Women   TOP     The Anti-Feminist Agenda •  Montreal Gazette - Janet Bagnall The sweater comes off: Harper curbs pay equity; The real PM is revealed as he uses the economic update to attack women - December 3, 2008 (Click on the link above to read this artlcle on the Montreal Gazette website or click here to read it on this web page.) •   CBC - Heather Mallick Attack on feminism hurts women here and overseas - June 30, 2006 •  Dykes Against Harper How anti-feminism betrays women - March 7, 2006 •  Canadian Labour Congress Fighting The Blues •  Disabled Women's Network Ontario (un)R.E.A.L. Women of Canada WATCH •  Status Report.ca The scoop on REAL Women •  Rabble.ca Women's Work: Done •  Globe & Mail Liberals ask for defence of Status of Women Canada •  REAL Women of Canada www.realwomenca.com/newsletter/2008_jan_feb/article_12.html   TOP         Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Open Letter Monday, March 8, 2010 THIS IS NOT WHAT EQUALITY LOOKS LIKE! Welcome to International Women’s Day 2010. The day to celebrate women and to reflect on the gains (and losses) made in women’s progress. While gains have been made by women, there is still much work to do. World-wide, women make up 70 per cent of the worlds’ poor, do 66 per cent of the world’s work and produce half of its food. By contrast they comprise 51% of the world’s population but possess only 10 per cent of its wealth and one per cent of its property. And there is more: according to the United Nations, over two thirds of women experience violence in their lifetime, most commonly at the hands of an intimate partner. In Canada, where the term “equality” has been repeatedly deleted and re-inserted  into the Status of Women’s mandate, women earn 30 cents less than men per dollar earned make up 22 per cent of members of Parliament and are disproportionately represented amongst Canada’s poor. Statistics Canada reports almost 1.5 million adult women lived in poverty in 2003, the most recent year figures are available. Average earnings are lower too. Again in 2003, according to Statistics Canada women who worked full-time full year earned 70.5% of their male counterparts. When all incomes are taken into account (part-time, part-year and full-year incomes) women are even worse off earning 63.6% of men’s. Half of Canadian women experience one (or more) incidents of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16 according to the Canadian Women’s Foundation. One to two women are murdered by a current or former partner each week in Canada. For other marginalized women, the situation is far worse.  In Canada in the first decade of a new millennium - 520 Aboriginal women go missing and to date there has been no national inquiry. This is NOT what equality looks like! The recent budget announced by Jim Flaherty will serve to further entrench and intensify these economic and social inequities. Job creation in the Budget was largely restricted to generating employment in male dominated work sectors. These include marine fleet facility improvements, building projects to renovate and repair federal buildings, improvements to colleges and universities, improvements to Atlantic ferry services and repairs to bridges in Montreal. There was little spending on social infrastructure projects like social services, child care, health and education – which employ women and benefit women directly. Notably, Budget 2010 included no plan to address child care despite a study in October 2009 by the Centre for Spatial Economics in Toronto indicating that a national child care program, would increase Canada’s Gross Domestic Product by $2.30 for every dollar spent, and create four times more jobs than investing similar amounts in the construction industry. Access to affordable and high quality is essential to women’s economic equality and to children’s development. A resurgence of opposition to women’s gains has also happened under the Harper Government including a rehash of arguments on abortion, pay equity, child care and talk of “family values.”  At the International Women’s Day breakfast held by the National Democratic Party on March 8, the infiltration of U.S style tactics in the Canada’s abortion “debate” were discussed and the need for women’s value to be restored – an urgent issue for Aboriginal women, worn down by a toxic combination of sexism and racism. Of concern, Melissa Haussman was the trend of the “transmission of US prolife tactics into Canada.” These include mergers with religious based hospitals with public ones, infiltration of pro-life propaganda in medical schools (reducing the numbers of graduates able to perform abortion) and the prevalence of pro-life pregnancy counseling. Harper’s announcement that Canada’s maternal health initiative at the G8 Summit in June, would not include abortion or contraception, adds to Canada’s growing pro-life record.  With 75% of Conservatives and 25% of Liberals identifying themselves as pro-life, a woman’s right to choose is at risk. Wait times for abortion are growing in Canada. Ottawa has the longest wait time in the country at six weeks, according to Haussman. Jennifer Lord, Community Coordinator of Sisters in Spirit, an initiative in response to the 520 missing and murdered Aboriginal women, stated historically based racism and sexism fuels violence against Aboriginal women. Aboriginal women only “received” the right to vote in 1960. Aboriginal women are five times more likely to die violently and three times more likely to experience violence than non-Aboriginal women. Of concern, was the lengthy period of time taken to investigate missing and murdered Aboriginal women. Police take 3-4 years to locate a murdered Aboriginal woman after the time the disappearance is reported. It takes Lord said between 6-10 years for a criminal trial to be held, if one is held at all. As Lord stated at the breakfast, feminism is about valuing women. Women and the feminine in Aboriginal culture were traditionally valued and upheld.  Clearly, this value is needed to be restored to Aboriginal women – and to all women in Canada and around the world before equality happens.  In a few short years, the gains of the second wave of feminism are being eroded. In 2004, Canada ranked seventh in the World Economic Forum Gender Index. In 2009, Canada ranked 25th. On International Women’s Day, let women’s voices be heard – and their value as women restored.   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Fundraising Campaign Monday, February 22, 2010       PROROGATION H(arper) Instructions: TO BE USED WHEN DEMOCRACY BECOMES TOO PAINFUL (use as often as required.) Stephen Harper has told Canadians where they can put their democratic rights. When he shut the doors of Parliament for two months he shut down the voice of the Canadian people. But he is used to doing that, especially to women. In 2006, Canada was ranked Number FOURTEEN out of 150 countries the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index WE NOW RANK NUMBER THIRTY ONE. What happened? Prime Minister Stephen Harper happened. Since 2006 he has:   •  Cut funding to women’s advocacy by 43%   •  Shut 12 out of 16 Status of Women offices in Canada   •  Eliminated funding of women and minority groups’ legal voice, the National Association of Women and the Law and the Courts Challenges Program In 2010:     •  Canada ranks 52nd in the world in female Parliamentary representation (on par with Ethiopia and Pakistan)   •  Canadian women working full-time earn 70.5% of the amount men do.   •  Women aged 16 and over earn $24,400 and men aged 16 and over earn $39,300. The Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights, comprised of 30 organizations, was created in 2006 to end the assault on women’s equality.  But it needs cold hard cash to keep the message out there – GET EVEN WITH STEPHEN!   Please make out cheques to “The Canadian Federation of University Women” and send them to: The Canadian Federation of University Women, Attention: Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights 251 Bank Street, Suite 305, Ottawa, ON, K2P 1X3 (ALL DONORS WHO DONATE $25.00 OR MORE RECEIVE A COPY OF “THE COOK BOOK FOR WOMEN’S EQUALITY”.)   Disclaimer: The Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights is a not-for-profit organization. It is not however, a registered charity. We are unable to issue tax receipts for donations received.   LET’S WORK TOGETHER TO END THE HARPOCRACY!   If you would like to download the Prorogation H(arper) information as a PDF, please click here. TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Letter to the Editor Monday, February 22, 2010 STOP THE HARPOCRACY ON WOMEN’S PROGRESS The Alternative Report issued in response to the Federal Government’s report on women’s progress in Canada fifteen years after the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is a refreshing counterpoint to the Harper Government’s manipulation of the facts. The Alternative Report will be submitted by women’s groups at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March. The Commission will discuss progress on women’s rights made by world governments including Canada since 1995. The Government of Canada should hang its head in shame. In 2006, Canada was ranked number 14 out of 150 countries (90 percent of the world’s population) by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. It now ranks number thirty-one. Women have been bound and gagged for the past four years. Held at knife point are pay equity, advocacy, universal child care, Aboriginal women and women in poverty – the Conservatives scrapped 134 women’s programs in 2006. Twelve of sixteen Status of Women’s offices were shut, Canada’s universal day care plan abandoned and the Courts Challenges Program defunded as was Federal funding to women’s equality groups. The Alternative Report cites “senior policy advisors within the office of the Prime Minister with strong links to anti-feminist organizations,” as one explanation for the attack on pro-women groups. The official Government Report is nauseating reading. Take this gem: “Canada remains firmly committed to working with Aboriginal women to bring real improvements…to ensure Aboriginal women…feel safe and empowered. The Government isn’t firmly committed enough to investigate the 520 murdered and disappeared Aboriginal women in Canada – the Conservatives continue to stall discussion on the issue. Or this one: “Canada recognizes that families are the building blocks of a society and that child care is a priority for Canadian families.” The Conservative’s scrapping of a universal child care program for a $100.00 a month beer and popcorn allowance to parents with children under six would indicate otherwise. Refreshingly, the Alternative Report entitled “Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) On the Occasion of the 15th Anniversary of its Adoption (2010): A Canadian Non-Governmental Response says what is really going on: “there has been a sharp decrease in institutional and political support by the Government of Canada for the promotion and protection of the human rights of women and girls during the period 2004-2009.” Fifteen years after Beijing, being born female in Canada is to born a second class citizen. You earn $0.72 to a man’s dollar and live in a country that ranks behind Somalia in its representation of women in Parliament. If you are female and Aboriginal, elderly, disabled or from a visible minority, you are really out of luck. The poverty rate for Aboriginal women is 36%; for women of colour 29% for women with disabilities 23% for single women over 65 it is 17%. This has to stop. This International Women’s Day on March 8, 2010. Make your voice be heard. Help end the Harpocracy.  - Claire Tremblay, Coordinator, on behalf of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Monday, February 22, 2010 STOP PLAYING WITH WOMEN’S LIVES Ideological game playing by the Harper Government in excluding abortion and contraception in an initiative to improve maternal health at this year’s G-8 summit will cost lives, states the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights. On February 10, 2010 International Cooperation Minister, Bev Oda confirmed abortion and contraception will not be included in the plan. Harper stated he would “champion” the issue of maternal health at the G-8 summit hosted by Canada in June this year. Excluding abortion and contraception flies in the face of a United Nations study in December 2009, stating access to modern contraception and safe abortion could prevent up to 40% of maternal deaths worldwide. The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) study in Guinea Bissau showed a significant drop in maternal deaths when ten percent of women had access to reliable birth control. One in thirteen women dies in childbirth in Guinea Bissau. The United Nations estimates that half a million women die every year around the world from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth leaving around one million children without mothers. A lack of access to safe abortion also forces women in the developing world to continue with pregnancies that are unwanted, unsafe or the result of incest or rape. Harper’s decision to leave out contraception and abortion in his initiative is consistent with Federal funding cuts. Days after Harper’s sudden interest in maternal health, he cut 99 percent of funding to the Canadian Federation of Sexual Health. The Federation is Canada’s member of the International Planned Parenting Federation which supports abortion and contraception. KAIROS (Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives) one of Canada’s oldest aid agencies also took a hit when the Federal Government’s flag ship international aid agency Canadian International Development Agency withdrew its funding. KAIROS, a church based non-governmental organization provides contraception funding as part of its international social justice work. Previous to the funding cut, CIDA had funded KAIROS for more than three decades. Giving women in the developing access to modern contraception and abortion is more important than ever. Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD) reports 201 million women worldwide have an unmet need for contraception.  The decision not to fund groups that provide funding to groups that espouse contraception is also contrary to the Millennium Development Goals signed by Canada in 2000. The MDG’s are committed to ending extreme poverty worldwide and includes the target of”universal access to sexual reproductive health by 2015.” Canada was one of 189 countries to sign the MDGs.  “These Harper-led funding cuts that hurt women in Canada and in the developing world smack of Bush era politics which banned federal funding to international groups that performed abortions,” said (x) of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights. “Ideologically driven funding cuts based on religious beliefs that attack a woman’s right to choose, have no place in Canada. “ These funding cuts have come at a time when the anti-abortion issue has again made headlines in Canada. In 2006, the year Stephen Harper was elected, six major newspaper in Canada published editorials or opinion pieces calling for new anti-abortion legislation. In the same year, two bills were introduced by anti-abortion MP’s – one to bestow personhood on fetuses, paving the way for a ban on abortion and another to make abortion after 20 weeks illegal. More recently, the introduction of a private members bill, “Unborn Victims of Crime Act” (C-484) would have given a fetus legal status, opening the door to questioning the legality of abortion. The bill would have made the death or injury of a fetus an indictable offence, separate from a crime against the mother. Despite, overwhelming evidence that access to abortion and contraception could save hundreds and thousands of lives, Harper is instead relying on clean water, better food and inoculations to do the job. Harper recently outlined his plan to promote maternal health in an opinion piece in the Toronto Star. Unfortunately, even this half-hearted policy doesn’t extend to Harper’s own backyard.  The day prior to Harper’s maternal health expose, two major studies showed the Inuit infant mortality rate to be four times the Canadian average while 70 percent of Inuit preschoolers don’t have enough food at home. In one town, Nunavik in northern Quebec, the infant mortality rate is 18.1 per 1,000 babies born – almost the same rate as in Mexico. Inuit children have the highest rate of hospital admission for lower respiratory tract infections in the world. The rate of premature delivery is three times what it is in the south. In 2000, the average maternal mortality rate for Canadian women was 5.8 deaths per 10,000 births. The National Aboriginal Health Organization estimates the rate is double for Indians and Inuit – a rate closer to that of some developing nations. As for Canadian women, it is doubtful that Harper’s sudden interest in championing women in the developing world will wash. They have heard those words before. Shortly after taking power, Harper broke his pre-election promise to “take concrete and immediate measures…to ensure Canada upholds its commitments to women.” He removed the words “equality” out of the Status of Women’s mandate, closed 12 out of 16 SWC offices, abandoned a Universal childcare program and killed off the Courts Challenges Program. The program subsidized Constitutional test cases for finally disadvantaged groups including women. A major beneficiary of the program was the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) that intervened in over 150 constitutional equality cases including violence against women, sexual assault and pay equity issues. The cutbacks have contributed to Canada’s increasing gender gap in the conditions men and women experience in Canada. “Harper’s hypocritical stance in claiming to be a champion of women and children in the developing world while engaging in four years of attacks upon women in Canada is a disgrace,” Claire Tremblay of the Ad Hoc Coalition stated. “Harper is no champion of women in the developing world or in Canada instead he has proven himself to be a bully that uses ideology to cheat women out of their human rights.”   - 30 - TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Thurday, February 11, 2010 GUN REGISTRY CRITICAL TO STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MURDERS A repeal of the long gun registry by the Harper Government would destroy millions of gun registry records and put the lives of Canadian women at risk, the Ad Hoc Coalition of Women’s Equality and Human Rights stated this week. The registry has enabled police to revoke 9,000 licenses since its introduction in 2003. The Private Member’s bill (C-391) to end the long gun registry (hunting rifles and shotguns) could become law as soon as early this year. The bill sponsored by Conservative Candice Hoeppner passed its second reading November 5, 2009. The bill was put on ice during Harper’s prorogation of Parliament but will be reopened when Parliament starts on March 3, 2010. If the bill passes its third reading in Parliament, the bill will become law. Last week, it was revealed the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is pressuring Liberals and the NDP to appoint anti-gun registry MP’s to a Public Safety Committee considering the bill. The Committee comprised of six government and six opposition MP’s will review the bill in March. Recommendations from the Committee will be presented to Parliament. Repealing the registry would destroy eight million firearms records. This means Canadian police who query the Canadian Firearms Registry Online more than 10,000 times a day will no longer know the whereabouts or ownership of millions of guns in Canada. The registry is a critical tool for police responding to cries of help from domestic violence victims or persons at risk of suicide. It allows police to check if a house contains long gun arms. Statistics show where a gun is involved in domestic violence a woman is 12 times more likely to be murdered. The Domestic Violence Death Review Committee found access to firearms was present in 47% of domestic homicides in 2007.  “The Ad Hoc Coalition is alarmed at the Conservative government’s attempt to abandon a critical method of gun control,” Susan Russell from the Ad Hoc Coalition said. “Abandoning the gun registry will seriously undermine the ability of the police to prevent crime and to intervene in dangerous situations such as domestic violence and attempted suicide.” The gun registry is supported by the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs, the Canadian Police Association, the Centre for Suicide Prevention, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and more than 40 women’s groups. Average Canadians also support gun control; an Ipsos Reid Poll in 2006 revealed three out of four Canadians want stricter, not looser gun controls. “It is a small step for a gun owner to register his or her gun, “said Susan Russell of the Ad Hoc Coalition. “It is a one-time, free of charge filing procedure. Every day Canadians register cars, employees, charities and even newborns. It makes no sense to exclude owners of long guns from their duty as citizens.” Compliance with the gun registry has been high. More than 90% of Canada’s two million gun owners have registered their guns. Partly as a result of the registry, 333 fewer Canadians have died from guns since 1995. The number of suicides and domestic violence deaths by firearms has also gone down significantly. Harper announced his intention to repeal the registry in December 2009, days before the 20th anniversary of the Montreal gun massacre. During the 1989 massacre, fourteen young women were shot to death by a lone gunman at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique. The gun registry was set up in response to public outrage over the massacre. Since 1989, the year of the Montreal tragedy,  there have been 5 school shootings in Canada and over 60 school shootings in the United States. Most recently, eight people were shot by a lone gunman in Virginia on January 20, 2010. “Announcing the repeal of the registry at a sad moment in Canada’s history is an insult to victims of gun violence, their families, and friends and to all Canadians concerned about violence in this country,” said Susan Russell of the Ad Hoc Coalition. This legislation cannot be allowed to become law.”   - 30 - TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Thurday, February 11, 2010 LIVE-IN CAREGIVERS LEFT BEHIND IN PINK BOOK The 40 page Pink Book Volume III released in October 2009 by the 39 Liberal female Members of Parliament and Senators outlines the Liberal Party’s policies to address “women’s issues” including childcare. Missing in the analysis on childcare are the more than 2,000 live-in caregivers who come to Canada each year under the Temporary Foreign Worker program. Canada’s TFWP Live-in Caregiver Program has come under scrutiny by Amnesty International for the vulnerability it places women in. Ninety-five percent of the workers who come to Canada under the program are women. Three-quarters of women under the program come from the Philippines. Of concern is the requirement that workers must live in their employer’s home for 24 months to 36 months. If the worker fails to meet this requirement they may be deported. If the worker completes the time requirement, the worker may apply for permanent residency to Canada. The threat of deportation and the lure of remaining in Canada make temporary foreign workers vulnerable to exploitation, sexual harassment and violence. Although TFW’s under the Live-in Caregiver Programme have the right to report abuses, this is difficult in practice. A worker who complains about their employer, or who flees their employer’s home due to violence, risks being unable to meet the requirements to remain in Canada. Discussion of the creation of a new Universal Child Care Program in Canada is incomplete without taking into account the Live-in Caregiver Program. Canada needs to create a high-quality Universal Child Care plan that does not include exploiting vulnerable women from the developing world.   - 30 - TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Thurday, February 11, 2010 SINGLE PARENT FIRED DUE TO CHILD CARE OBLIGATIONS A recent British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ruling that upheld the dismissal of a single parent who refused overtime due to child care obligations is a backward step for working parents. The decision could negatively impact the lives of working single parent families, 83% of which are headed by women. Mr. Falardeau was fired in 2007 for refusing to work a furniture removal shift that started at 4pm. Working overtime would have incurred significant financial penalties for Mr. Falardeau. His son had access to child care until 6:00pm. After this time, Mr. Falardeau's child care provider charged ten dollars for each minute of childcare after 6:00pm. Mr. Falardeau, who had sole custody of his son, argued the requirement that he work overtime under such circumstances was unreasonable. The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal dismissed the complaint, ruling Falardeau failed to establish a prima facie or plausible case of discrimination based on family status. In its decision, the Tribunal stated prima facie discrimination occurs where an employment condition "results in a serious interference with a substantial parental or family duty or obligation of the employee." It went on to state, "in a vast majority of situations in which there is a conflict between a work requirement and a family obligation it would be difficult to make out a prima facie case." The Tribunal's finding flies in the face of a Federal Court decision in 2007 overturning a similar family status ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. In Johnstone v. Canada (Attorney General) a full-time customs inspector at the Canada Border Security Agency was unable to find child care that matched her husband's shift schedule. Johnstone requested a change in work shifts to enable her to schedule child care when she was not at work. The request was denied and Johnstone was forced to accept a lower paid part-time position. The Court criticized the Tribunal for setting "an unduly restrictive threshold" to establish family status discrimination. It concluded the Tribunal had applied a higher standard of proof to demonstrate family status discrimination than for other types of discrimination. It is the Coalition's position that being fired for not working over-time hours (without employer accommodation) that interfere with child care obligations is prima facie discrimination. The decision in Falardeau hurts an already vulnerable group in society - single parent families. The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal reports female-led single parent families are the most likely of all family types to suffer persistent low income. In 2004, Statistics Canada reported 38% of single mothers lived in poverty, compared to 13% of lone father families and 7% of two-parent families. Female-led single parent families from racialized communities face even greater disadvantage. The need to meet basic family care giving obligations should not result in job loss or economic penalties, particularly for Canada's most vulnerable. - 30 - TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Monday, February 8, 2010 Women's Voices Silenced Yet Again Who could have imagined Canada would need a pro-democracy movement? That thought was expressed at the January 23 Parliament Hill rally to protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s two month prorogation of Parliament. By shutting down Parliament, Harper shut down the voice of the people of Canada. Silenced yet again, are Canadian women. As if slashing funding to women’s advocacy groups and eliminating the Courts Challenges Program wasn’t enough, Harper has shut down women’s yet voices again - this time on the disappearance of Aboriginal women and a bill to address Canada’s homelessness crisis. These issues of vital importance to Canadian women would have tackled on a national scale Canada’s homelessness crisis and the disappearance and murder of more than 500 Aboriginal women since 1970. Canada is the only country in the G-8 without a national housing strategy. The New Democratic Party’s Bill C-304 “an Act to ensure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for Canadians,” would have forced Parliament to establish one. The bill introduced by New Democratic Party MP Libby Davies would have achieved a National Housing Strategy through consultation between the Minister for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, provincial ministers, municipalities and Aboriginal Communities. The bill passed its second reading in November 2009, upon a successful third reading the bill would have become law. The recession makes affordable housing an issue that can no longer wait. More than half a million jobs were lost in Canada and more than 150,000 Canadian households have been evicted since the start of the recession. Worse, Canada’s housing supply deficit (the difference between the number of rental seeking households and rental units available) is growing at 220,000 households annually. Prorogation stopped progress on this important bill. Closing the doors of Parliament means up to 300,000 Canadians are spending another winter on the streets. Another three million Canadians – nearly 15% of the Canadian population - live in unaffordable housing. More than 705, 165 households subsist in over-crowded housing. (Figures from the Wellesley Institute – Submission on Bill C-304.) Why is Bill C-304 important to women? A Canadian Medical Association study published in April, 2004 stated homeless women in Toronto are dying at ten times the rate of non-homeless women aged between 18 to 44 years of age. In the same year, a Statistics Canada study showed 20% of homeless women in Toronto had been sexually assaulted or raped in the last 12 months. This compares to 3% of women in the general population. For Aboriginal women, the situation is even more desperate. There are an estimated 3,000 homeless women and their children in Canada’s North, where the temperature can dip to –60 degrees Celsius. Greater Vancouver has an Aboriginal population of 2%, while Aboriginal people comprise up to 30% of the City’s homeless population. “It is simply unacceptable that Canada’s most vulnerable citizens – women and children living in absolute homeless have to endure two more months of fear and human degradation due to prorogation of Parliament,” said Jessica Notwell from the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights. “Harper needs to get back to work and allow Parliament to discuss and hopefully turn into law this urgently needed bill.” Homeless Canadian women and their children will now suffer the indignities of homelessness for more weeks to come - all because Stephen Harper decided he wanted a break from work. The homeless have waited a long time for their voices to be heard. The Harper Conservatives have obstructed two other bills (Bills C-382 and C-509) calling for a national housing strategy which date back to 2005. Through prorogation of Parliament, Stephen Harper has made it clear that homeless women and their children don’t count. “Canada ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which includes the right to adequate housing, Stephen Harper needs to open the doors of Parliament immediately to allow Canada to meet its international obligations under this Covenant,” said Jessica Notwell from the Ad Hoc Coalition of Women’s Equality and Human Rights. Stephen Harper has also made it clear that Aboriginal women don’t count. Since 1970, 520 Aboriginal women have been murdered or gone missing – almost half of them in the last decade. Of that number, 67 percent were murdered and 24 percent are still missing. Fourteen percent of the missing girls were under 18 years of age. Many of the missing Aboriginal women and girls disappeared along the Highway of Tears in the interior of British Columbia. Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville has repeatedly called for the Conservative Government to launch a comprehensive and national investigation into the missing Aboriginal women. Time and again, the Conservatives have failed to take action on the matter. In May 2009, the Liberals asked for a full investigation in the House of Commons. A reply was received in June from the Conservatives that did not address the request for a national investigation. The most recent request was made by Ms. Neville on January 29, 2010. In August 2009, the Manitoba Government intervened and announced it would investigate unsolved cases in its provinces. While welcome, this falls short of a national investigation. Prorogation by the Conservative Government has further delayed democratic discussion on this important issue. “Despite the Harper governments so called law and order agenda, the Conservatives have conveniently ignored the issue of the disappearance of Aboriginal women in Canada,” said Jessica Notwell of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights.  “It is completely unacceptable for 520 women in Canada to go missing or murdered and for there to be no national investigation into the matter. This is just another example of the Conservative Government treating women as if they do not count.” Ironically, while prorogation has stopped a national investigation into violence against Aboriginal women, Bill C-391 to repeal the gun registry will proceed. The private members bill passed its second reading in November 2009. Upon return of Parliament on March 3, the bill will be revived to the stage it was at prior to prorogation. That means it will be subject to a third reading when Parliament resumes its next session. If the bill passes its third reading, the long gun registry set up in response to the Montreal massacre of 14 women will no longer exist. Repealing the registry would destroy eight million firearms records. This means Canadian police will no longer know the whereabouts or ownership of millions of guns in Canada. The registry is a critical tool for police attempting to assist domestic violence victims – the vast majority of whom are women. It allows police to check if a house contains long gun arms – critical knowledge as a woman is 12 times more likely to be murdered if their abuser has a gun. The Domestic Violence Death Review Committee found access to firearms was present in 47% of domestic homicides in 2007. The delay prorogation has caused in investigating the deaths of Aboriginal women and a national housing strategy adds to the pain women have felt under the Harper Government. Since coming to power, Harper removed the pursuit of equality” from the mandate of Status of Women Canada (SWC), closed 12 out of 16 SWC offices in Canada and cut $5 million dollars of funding to the already underfunded Status of Women. Any women’s groups that advocated for women’s equality had their funding removed completed. The Harper Government abandoned the Liberals’ plan for universal child care, put pay equity on hold and cut funding to women’s advocacy groups. The Court Challenges Program that subsidized test cases under the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms was killed off. The program allowed financially disadvantaged groups to assert their constitutional rights. A major beneficiary was the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) which intervened in over 150 constitutional equality cases including violence against women, sexual assault and pay equity issues. The prorogation of Parliament and the loss of democratic discussion on these two key issues is another assault by the Harper Government on Canadian women’s democratic rights. The Harper Government’s prorogation represents the most recent attempt to shut down female voices in Canada. The Coalition strongly believes women in Canada won’t be so easily silenced. - 30 -   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Monday, February 8, 2010 Forty-Year Anniversary of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women Forty Years Later and we haven’t come that far baby… “Women aren’t quite sure of what their status is,” wrote Canadian Senator Florence Bird in 1970. Bird made this comment while Chairperson of Canada’s first Royal Commission on the Status of Women instigated by then Prime Minister Lester Pearson. The report of the Commission found Canadian women to be second-class citizens. In 1970, 3.9% of managers in Canada were women. Two-thirds of welfare recipients were women and although eight out of ten provinces had equal pay laws, women were paid less than men. Flash forward forty years to 2010 and Bird’s comments still apply. Women still aren’t quite sure of what their status is in Canada. Many of the 167 recommendations of the report to promote equality still stand. To achieve equality women, the 1970 report stated women needed universal day care, equal pay, more equal representation in Parliament, more Federal Court judges and equitable pensions for women. Canada still does not have universal day care, or equal pay for women and its Parliamentary representation of women is on par with that of Pakistan and Ethiopia. The Liberal Women’s Caucus forum on Parliament Hill on January 27 highlighted just how far we haven’t come. Representative from Canada’s women’s and anti-poverty groups participated in the forum organized by the Liberal Party of Canada. Speakers included Charlotte Thibault, the former co-president of the Feminist Alliance for International Action, Hedy Fry Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre, Maria Minna, Ellen Gabriel of the Quebec Native Women Inc., Alexa Conradi President of the Federation des femmes du Quebec, Kathleen Lahey Queen’s University Law Professor, Wendy Robbins Professor of Women’s Studies and English at the University of New Brunswick, Martha Friendly, Founder and Executive Director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, Leilani Farha Executive Director of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation, and Patty Ducharme, National Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Anita Neville, the official opposition critic for the Status of Women directed the forum. Statistics from Wendy Robbins, Professor of English and Women’s Studies at the University of New Brunswick showed just how unequal women still are forty years on in Canada. In 1967, women received approximately 20% of national income. In 1985, only 36% of national income belonged to women. Women in 1960 report earned 54 cents to a man’s dollar. In 1998, this increased to 72 cents. In 2010, this fell to 70 cents. Diana Majury, Associate Professor of Law at Carleton University spoke of the “get tough on women era” of the Harper Government. Under the Harper regime, the most marginalized women – the poor, the racialized and the disabled - are being pushed even further to the margins. Majury stated women still don’t have access to adequate day care for their children, one of the primary recommendations of the 1970 report. Adequate day care, the Pearson era report stated was necessary for women’s economic development. Conservative bills such as the presumption of joint custody in divorce cases under Bill C-442 was part of the Harper Government’s “equality with a vengeance,” mandate. Access to abortion had declined under Harper’s watch and the waiting period for abortion services in Canada has crept up to 16 weeks. As part of the equality as vengeance mandate, women who are poor, mentally ill or drug addicted are increasingly being criminalized instead of being assisted. Majury ended her discussion by stating women “cannot wait another 40 years” for equality and to continue to receive “lip service and tokenism” from Governments. The plight of Aboriginal women was also highlighted at the forum. Ellen Gabriel, President of Quebec Native Women Inc. stated 2% of Vancouver’s population is homeless. Out of this percentage, 30% of Vancouver’s homeless are Aboriginal. Aboriginal children were up to six times more likely to be removed from their families. Vicious stereotypes of Aboriginal women, Gabriel said had contributed to these statistics. She raised the question as to why there was a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Residential Schools but no inquiry into the murder of Aboriginal women.   Patty Ducharme, National Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada stressed the United Nations view of pay equity as a human right. Ducharme called for the Harper Government to implement the recommendations of the pay equity taskforce to resolve gender based pay inequity. Pensions were part of pay equity. Attempts to achieve pay equity by unions had effectively been criminalized with unions being penalized up $50,000.00 for breaches under Harper’s proposed Equitable Compensation Act. Martha Friendly, Founder and Executive Director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit highlighted the need for urgent action on childcare – a refrain repeated by feminists for decades. Friendly stated the privatization of child-care by big business was a growing trend in Canada. The undervaluing of “women’s work” through the low pay received by child-care workers also needed to be urgently addressed. A growing lack of child-care for working families was part of the democratic deficit in Canada. Other issues such as the decline of women’s participation in “male” professionals such as engineering and the construction and the trades and the need for female equality in housing were also discussed at the forum Concluding the morning session of the forum, Hedy Fry emphasized the need for more women in Parliament. Only 20% of Canada’s Federal cabinet ministers are women.  This puts Canada on par with Ethiopia and Pakistan for female representation in Parliament. Sweden and Norway, the world leaders in female Parliamentary representation has 40% and 39.4% respectively. “Government needs to be hit in the head with a two by four from time to time. “ said Fry. “We can’t simply put band aids on the problem.” - 30 -   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release February 8, 2010 A Bad "Day" for Canada The swift promotion of Stockwell Day by Stephen Harper to Treasury Board president signals a new era of punitive public spending for a Canadian public still hurting from the world recession according to the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights. As Treasury Board president, Day will be in charge of the Federal public service and much of the daily operation of the Canadian government expenditures. Specifically, Day will play a key role in the negotiation of labour agreements with the public service unions including wage increases and layoffs. Judging from Day’s past record in Alberta, the Canadian public can expect punitive funding cuts to the Federal public service. “Putting the Federal public service into the hands of a politician who gleefully slashed the great swathes of the public service in Alberta during the last major recession in the 1990’s, can only mean potential job losses and funding cuts to the Federal public service at a time when Canadians can least afford it,” Susan Russell of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights stated. Day was promoted into the Treasury Board role last Tuesday after a serving as Minister of International Trade and four years as Federal Public Works and Safety Minister. Day, the evangelical pastor to politician also served in Albertan Premier Ralph Klein’s ministry in the 1990’s making deep cuts into the public service and welfare benefits for Albertans. As Minister of Labour, Day oversaw massive layoffs in the civil service and the introduction of a regressive flat tax in Alberta. Day presided over a 20 percent cut of government services during the Klein era. Essential public services including health were privatized prompting wildcat strikes.   Prime Minister Stephen Harper signalled Stockwell Day’s appointment to Treasury Board president heralds a new era of fiscal conservatism.  Harper stated Day would play a “critical role in monitoring government expenditures” as part of the Conservatives economic action plan to reduce the deficit.  Day justified the massive layoffs of civil servants in Alberta in the 1990’s as a necessary measure to reduce Alberta’s budget deficit. Apart from his notorious fiscal conservatism, Day made a number of expensive gaffes as Albertan Treasurer. Of note, he cost Albertan taxpayers $792,000 in legal fees in a libel suit after criticizing lawyer Lorne Goddard for defending a man accused of child pornography. In the editorial, Day also accused Goddard of supporting child pornography. It is also doubtful that Day, a fundamental Pentacostalist who publicly stated the world is 6,000 years old and that humans and dinosaurs roamed the earth together, will divorce his religious beliefs from his fiscal responsibilities. Day has openly opposed abortion and homosexuality.  In August 1997, Day demanded a Red Deer museum return $10,000 in lotteries money spent on a study of homosexuality.  “Judging from Day’s record in Alberta, Canadians can expect a decline in public services, job losses and the potential privatization of essential services, ” said Susan Russell from the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights. “Further, Day seems incapable of separating his religious beliefs from his role as an elected politician. It is essential that political decisions particularly in regards to public funding be based on the separation of church and state.” Day’s appointment as Treasury Board President can only add to the pain women have felt under the Harper Government. Under Harper’s watch, the Liberal’s plan for universal childcare was abandoned, pay equity was put on hold and funding was cut to women’s advocacy groups.   Of note, Harper cut short thirty years of lobbying for universal and accessible childcare. A Universal childcare program agreed to by the previous Liberal government and the provinces was replaced by a $100.00 a month limited cash payment to parents with young children.   The Court Challenges Program that subsidized test cases under the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms was killed off. The program allowed financially disadvantaged groups to assert their constitutional rights. A major beneficiary was the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), which intervened in over 150 constitutional equality cases including violence against women, sexual assault and pay equity issues.   Adding insult to injury shortly after taking office Harper broke his pre-election promise to “take concrete and immediate measures...to ensure that Canada fully upholds its commitments to women.” When in office, Harper removed “the pursuit of equality” from the mandate of Status of Women Canada (SWC), closed 12 out of 16 SWC offices in Canada and cut $5 million dollars of funding to the already under funded Status of Women. Any women’s groups that advocated for women’s equality had their funding removed completed.   The promotion of Stockwell Day to portfolio of Treasury Board President is the next chapter in the Harper saga – one that will continue to push Canadian women back into the Dark Ages where men and dinosaurs roamed the earth. - 30 -   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Open Letter December 9, 2009 Women Stand in Solidarity with the Ottawa Museum Workers The vast majority of low-paid, part-time, contract and temporary workers in this country are women. As a result, women working full-time all year earn only 70% of what men earn working under the same conditions. Those who cannot find full year employment, are often ineligible for Employment Insurance since they can not accumulate enough hours of work to qualify. And, when it comes time to retire, women’s retirement income is only 60% of men’s. Workers at the Museum of Civilization and the War Museum in Ottawa have been on strike since September to challenge these conditions. The majority are women, who find themselves trapped in insecure employment. Many are long-term employees who live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether or not their yearly contracts will be renewed. The underlying issues of this strike should be of concern to us all. Over the past decade, there has been a growing trend for employers, including the federal government and its agencies, to contract out work to individuals who have little security and few benefits. Statistics Canada data indicate that all workers in non-standard employment have significantly lower earnings, fewer benefits, and are at higher risk of unemployment. After 11 weeks on strike, the employer presented the workers with a final offer – which failed to address the central issue of contract jobs. The workers voted 96% to reject the offer. Here’s what they said:                       We love our jobs and the work that we do. We want to go back to work, but not at any price.                       We are resolved, all of us, to see this process through to its conclusion. We seek to protect our jobs. Given that the Corporation's                       offer was final, given the response of our co-workers and given that we are in the eleventh week of our strike, we are fully prepared to                       turn our dispute over to an arbitrator for resolution.                       We remain hopeful that the Corporation will do the right thing and agree to this, so that we might finally bring an end to the on- going                       labour strife between us and our employer. Yet, the federal government has done nothing to help resolve this dispute. The federal Minister of Labour, Rona Ambrose, offered to appoint an arbitrator to settle the strike. The Union agreed to arbitration, the employer refused – and the Minister backed down at the employer’s insistence. There is not even a pretense of impartiality here. The striking PSAC workers have taken a courageous stand against the insidious practice of cheap temporary work. Women who care about women’s equality stand in solidarity with them. We fully support their demand to the federal government to appoint an independent arbitrator to settle the issue and to get the Museum workers back to work.   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Open Letter October 7, 2009 Women and Employment Insurance: A Letter to the Party Leaders Dear Mr. Harper, Mr. Ignatieff, Mr. Layton, Mr. Duceppe and Ms. May: We are concerned that the proposed changes to the Employment Insurance Program do not address the significant problems facing working women.  When women lose their jobs, they have a very difficult time qualifying for Employment Insurance.  At the time of the last recession, in the late 1980s, almost 83% of unemployed women got benefits.  Now, according to the report, “Women’s Poverty and the Recession” by Monica Townson, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, only 39% of unemployed women are receiving employ­ment insurance benefits.  In contrast, 45% of unemployed men are receiving EI benefits.  In some parts of the country, coverage is much lower. This denial of temporary income support has serious consequences for women and their families — not just in terms of current income, but also for their future finan­cial security when they are older. Many women in paid employment are no longer working full-time for a full year.  They are working in part-time jobs; employed through temporary help agencies; on call or working in casual jobs; or they’re technically self-employed, working on their own. These are precarious jobs. About 40% of women, compared with 30% of men in paid employment, are now working in these kinds of jobs.  These women are less likely to have access to EI benefits. The proposed legislative changes address certain problems with the EI system, but they ignore the fundamental problem –that of access to EI benefits in the first place. The Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights urges you immediately to address the underlying problem in the EI system –that is, lack of access to EI benefits. The Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights represents a number of organizations including the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Canadian Federation of Students, the Canadian Labour Congress, the National Association of Women and the Law, Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada, and the YWCA of Canada. We await your reply.   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Fact Sheet June 16, 2009 Stephen Harpers' Index:  Pay Equity Number of years since Canadian women first demanded equal pay 102 Average earned by Canadian women in 2006 for every dollar their male counterparts make 71 cents Average amount of pension received by Canadian women for every dollar in pension received by their male counterparts due to lifetime inequity in pay 64 cents Amount earned by an Aboriginal woman in Canada in 2006 compared to every dollar earned by the rest of the population 46 cents Number of years since Canada officially guaranteed pay equity as a fundamental human right 32 Number of Days following Barack Obama’s inauguration as U.S. President before signing the Fair Pay Act which removes an important obstacle to pay equity claims 9 Number of days the Pay Equity Task Force Report, commissioned by the federal government to address Canadian obstacles to pay equity, has sat on the shelf 1863 and counting (as of June 16, 2009) Number of years it took to settle the Bell Canada pay equity case due to fierce opposition on the part of the employer 14 Percent of private employers in Québec who said that they would never have made pay equity happen without provincial proactive pay equity legislation 82 Percent of Québec businesses where the total cost of implementing pay equity was $5000 or less 70 Estimated average amount in dollars that Canada Post has spent per year fighting its pay equity case 2 million Number of years the Canada Post pay equity case has lasted 26 and counting Number of women working in Canada 7.2 million Average wage in Canada in 2000 for a full-time full-year female worker 34,892 Average wage in Canada in 2000 for a full-time full-year male worker 49,224 Amount of lost wages this gap translates to over 50 years of full-time work 716,600 Amount in dollars of Canada’s surplus when the Harper government was elected in 2006 26 billion Amount in dollars of Canada’s surplus after three years of the Harper government -1.1 billion Amount of projected deficit for 2009 Over 50 billion Number of working women who will benefit from the reforms introduced by Harper’s Public Service Equitable Compensation Act 0 Amount that the Conservatives are supposed to be saving taxpayers by rolling back pay equity rights for women ? Canadian women have done the math, Mr. Harper.   TOP   Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Friday, June 12, 2009 Women Less Than Stimulated by Harper's Economic Update OTTAWA, June 12, 2009 - The Conservative government's economic plan fails to provide the infrastructure that women in Canada need to weather an economic crisis, according to a broad coalition of women's organizations. "Yesterday's economic update is just more evidence of how out of touch the Harper minority government really is with families across Canada - otherwise we would have heard more about social infrastructure and initiatives that make a difference for women," said Jody Dallaire of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, speaking for the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights. "The reality is that traditional infrastructure projects like bridges and roads tend to create jobs in male-dominated sectors. There is no part of this economic update that places women in these non-traditional jobs." The update also fails to identify areas of social infrastructure that not only create jobs for women, but create a stronger social safety net. Investments in child care and social programs, for example, would get working families on a better footing to participate in the labour market. Canadian families are currently facing a massive national child care crisis because the Conservative government dismantled child care agreements and federal funding transfers for child care are now drying up. "Putting money into a public childcare plan would create thousands of jobs in a female-dominated sector and ensure that women are not penalized for bearing children by providing access to the labour market" said Sue Calhoun of the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. The Conservatives' refusal to implement significant Employment Insurance reform, at a time when unemployment rates are soaring, means that women who have lost their jobs in the recession continue to be far less likely than men to be able to access EI. Two out of three women who pay into EI aren't eligible to receive it. Nor are most women in a position to qualify for Conservative tax cuts and incentive measures that claim to stimulate economic recovery, such as the home renovation credit. Furthermore, the Conservatives' recent passage of Bill C-10 has eroded the right to pay equity for public sector workers. "This will not help women as they struggle with the economic crisis, on the contrary!" said Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition. "We've said it before: this government's track record shows it deliberately opposes measures to advance the economic equality of half the population."   - 30 - TOP Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Open Letter April 23, 2009 Letter to Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada   Dear Mr. Ignatieff, On behalf of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights, I want to extend our sincere thanks to you and your colleagues, Maria Minna and Anita Neville, for the opportunity to participate in the roundtable held on April 2nd. We very much appreciated the openness and respect with which the roundtable was conducted, and we benefited from the contributions of so many voices around the table. Following your opening remarks on the gun registry, child care and pay equity, you took time to listen to the numerous participants who shared their expertise and experience on aspects of women’s inequality. You were able to address a number of these issues in your closing remarks. However, there were some concrete requests for commitments and action on your part to which we received no direct response. At this point, we would like to underscore four women’s equality issues to which we are requesting a specific response on your part.   Gender audit of the federal government’s Economic Action Plan: We proposed that as part of your pledge to put the federal government on probation, and the required accountability to Parliament on the initiatives in the Economic Action Plan, that the Liberal Party requests a gender impact analysis of these measures. We need to know if and how these measures will advance women’s equality. We repeat our offer to share the Ad Hoc Coalition’s expertise on gender budgeting and gender equality indicators. We believe that accountability for gender equality should go hand in hand with investments, and that taking steps towards gender equality should be a key factor in “passing” probation. Specifically, requiring a gender audit of the Economic Action Plan would express a concrete commitment on the part of your party to at least measuring the extent of some of the inequalities that we need to redress.   Proactive federal pay equity legislation: We acknowledge your comments on the introduction of a proactive federal pay equity law that recognizes pay equity as a fundamental human right. We would ask that you put this commitment in writing. Specifically, we request a commitment, if your government is elected, to implementing the recommendations of the 2004 federal Pay Equity Task Force Report.   Child care as a public service: As you pointed out, there is a legitimate role for the federal government to provide child care spaces, and if elected, your party would introduce an early learning and child care strategy. We are seeking a commitment that your party will view child care as a public service, similar to education and to libraries, and that the Liberal early learning and child care strategy will focus on publicly delivered, not-for-profit child care services.   Domestic mechanisms to access the human rights entrenched in international obligations: There are currently no effective mechanisms by which Canadians can exercise the human rights that are agreed upon by Canada in international treaties and conventions, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Enforcing international economic and social human rights is particularly problematic. Will your party commit to developing effective mechanisms here in Canada to monitor and enforce international women’s and human rights, thereby restoring Canada’s global leadership on human rights?   As you remarked during the roundtable, it is critical for an opposition party wanting to become a good government to listen. To this end, the roundtable was a chance for you to hear our issues and concerns as they relate to women’s equality. That being said, and given the context of a minority government, it is also vital for Opposition parties to make concrete commitments and to take action accordingly. We hope you will respond favourably to our requests for action outlined in this letter, and that we will have the opportunity to discuss these and other issues with you at another meeting in the near future. Sincerely, Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights / La Coalition spéciale pour l'égalité des femmes et les droits de la personne C.C. Maria Minna, Anita Neville - 30 - TOP     Video for International Women's Day 2009 March 8, 2009 I'm not a feminist, but… what? Am I a feminist?   The Ad Hoc Coalition was proud to join organizations such as Amnesty International, Oxfam Canada, Peacebuild and the Nobel Women's Initiative, among others, to plan a big event celebrating International Women's Day 2009 in Ottawa. "I'm Not a Feminist But... " was a huge success. Over 400 people showed up to talk about feminism, watch the Femmy Awards and get inspired.   Check out the short film that was produced for this event! http://www.peacebuild.ca/work-groups-gender-pb-e.php   I'm not a feminist, but… what? Am I a feminist?  What does it mean to be a feminist?  This video presents a thin slice of the range of thoughts and feelings folks have about the word feminism  –  from institutional transformation to 'Mom'.   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Open Letter on the Budget   Office of the Prime Minister Dear Mr. Harper, In anticipation of the upcoming budget, the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights would like to call your attention to budgetary measures that would strengthen our economy by strengthening the equality of women in Canada. Women across the country are extremely concerned about Mr. Flaherty's proposal in the November economic statement to make pay equity a bargaining chip between employers and unions. To date, the government has not yet rescinded this proposal. The Ad Hoc Coalition urges you to oppose any such proposal in the upcoming budget. In the 21st century, women's equality is not, and should never be, a bargaining chip. It is irresponsible to continue to impose discriminatory wages upon half the population by ignoring the remedy, particularly in a time of economic crisis. Equal pay for work of equal value is one of the "fundamentals" of a healthy economy. This can be attained by implementing a pro-active pay equity law, as the 2004 federal Task Force recommends. Canadian parents need a national child care program that meets the "QUAD" principles (Quality, Universal, Accessible, and Developmental). A faltering economy can only benefit from improving people's access to the labour market, which would be greatly facilitated by having dependable child care services. Currently, soaring child care costs and lack of spaces keep many women who choose to work unemployed or underemployed. A monthly handout cannot substitute for a child care program that allows real choice. We can and should do better for our families. The Ad Hoc Coalition urges you to consider the long-term stability of the economy in supporting a quality child care and early childhood education program that meets our children's developmental needs. Women are particularly vulnerable in the current economic crisis as we do not have adequate access to Employment Insurance and what access there is cannot sustain us through a period of unemployment. Although women pay into EI, most women don't qualify for benefits. 70% of part-time workers are women and almost two thirds of minimum wage earners in Canada are women. With wages far below the poverty line already, many women can't live on 55% of their salary, even for a short period of time. To stimulate the economy and prevent poverty, improve access to EI and increase the level of benefits for part-time, contract and self-employed workers in the upcoming budget. Finally, the Ad Hoc Coalition strongly encourages you to ensure that the stimulus package includes investment in social infrastructure. Social infrastructure investments stimulate the real economy, not the speculative economy, by creating jobs, not giving CEOs bonuses or across-the-board tax cuts. Social infrastructure can provide affordable housing and anti-poverty programs, support green technologies and environmental incentives, and improve conditions for First Nations in their territories and Aboriginal people across the country, in particular Aboriginal women, who disproportionately suffer from poverty and violence. Any stimulus package that does not take social infrastructure into account is short-sighted and short-changes Canadian taxpayers. Social infrastructure creates jobs and strengthens economies, not only during this period of financial crisis, but for the future. On behalf of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights, thank you for your consideration, CC : Michael Ignatieff Jack Layton Gilles Duceppe Elizabeth May Helena Guergis Maria Minna Nicole Demers Irene Mathyssen   -30-   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Thursday, December 4, 2008 This Coalition Government is Good for Women OTTAWA, Thursday, December 4, 2008 - Advocates for women's equality confirmed that they endorse the coalition government as rallies in support took place across the country today. "We've carefully read their Policy Accord to address the economic crisis and listened to what the parties had to tell us about their plans," said Gisèle Pageau of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. "We can confidently say this coalition government is good for women." The proposed Liberal-NDP coalition government, with the support of the Bloc, has made several commitments on policies of particular concern to women that were either curtailed or ignored during the Harper minority government. These policies include: - Improving child benefits and an early learning and childcare program - Eliminating the two-week waiting period for employment insurance and a guarantee that all revenue from EI premiums goes to provide benefits and training for workers - Spending on infrastructure, including in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities - Income support to older workers transitioning into retirement - Support for culture, reversing the Harper budget cuts "After fighting the Harper government's anti-equality agenda for two years, we're thrilled to see these policies proposed," said Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights. "Currently, women are less able to access EI, are more likely to be in precarious work and are penalized in the job market when child care is not available. These measures will give women some much-needed protection from having to bear the brunt of the economic crisis." While pay equity was not specifically mentioned in the coalition government's accord, women's advocates say they have earlier commitments from all three opposition parties to move ahead on implementing Pay Equity Task Force recommendations from 2004. The Harper government's proposal in its economic statement to prevent women from making pay equity claims has appalled many Canadians. After taking power in 2006, the Harper minority government moved quickly to cut Status of Women funding and dismantle child care agreements with the provinces, despite a pre-election pledge to uphold the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). When they were invited by women's organizations to renew their CEDAW pledge in 2008, all opposition parties signed. Harper's government did not bother to respond. For these reasons, women's advocates express little surprise at the current posturing of the PM. "Speaking as a child care worker, I see a boy who can't share the sandbox and who wants to bully the other kids, especially the girls," said Rachel Besharah of CUPE. "Women simply do not have confidence in Harper's ability to work with others because of his track record with us." The Conservatives' frequent allusions to "getting into bed with separatists" have also angered women's groups. "Hopefully Canadians will not fall for these divisive attacks on the Bloc," said Jessica Notwell of the Canadian Women's Community and Economic Development Council. "We welcome the opportunity we now have to stand up for a government that doesn't constantly threaten women's equality rights." - 30 - TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Wednesday, December 3, 2008 Conservatives wrong to call for protest against coalition government on day to end violence against women, say women's groups OTTAWA, Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - Women's groups are indignant that protests in support of the Harper government are being scheduled on December 6th, which is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. "This is a timely reminder that a coalition government will be better for women," said Jessica Notwell of the Canadian Women's CED Council. December 6th marks the murder of fourteen young women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989 by a man who targeted "feminists." Established by Parliament in 1991, December 6th represents an opportunity to reflect and act against violence against women in our society. The Conservative plea to support Harper on this day leaves many women shaking their heads. While the majority of rallies in support of the proposed coalition are taking place on December 4th, pro-coalition events are also planned for December 6th in Montreal and in Toronto. However, women say there's no conflict with the coalition. They have a problem with attempts to prop up a government that has deliberately and methodically set out to derail equality rights for women. "This is the government that gutted Status of Women, eliminating all funding for women's advocacy and removing the word `equality' from the Women's Program mandate," said Gisele Pageau of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. "This is the government that scrapped a universal child care program and now intends to roll back pay equity when women still earn an average of 71 cents on the dollar. They don't deserve our support." "If we're serious about ending violence against women, let's recognize that we need strong advocacy, affordable housing, fair pay and a child care system we can depend on," said Rhonda Roffey of Women's Habitat. "And we know Stephen Harper just won't do that." The coalition composed of the Liberals and NDP, with support from the Bloc, has committed to support the implementation of the Pay Equity Task Force's recommendations as well as access to EI for women. Furthermore, the accord signed by the parties specifically mentions the need for further government intervention to improve child care. "We believe a coalition will take steps to repair significant damage caused by the minority Harper government," said Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights. "That is why you will see women's organizations out in favour of the coalition this week. The prospect of a coalition government means that things are definitely looking up for women."   - 30 - TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Tuesday, November 18, 2008 Representatives of women's organizations across the country want to send a message to the new Parliament which opens today - women are watching OTTAWA, Tuesday, November 18, 2008  -  "Stephen Harper claims to have bridged the gender gap at the same time as the World Economic Forum index shows women in Canada falling behind" said Susan Russell of the Canadian Federation of University Women. Canada recently plunged dramatically in the WEF analysis of the gender gap between men and women in 130 countries, slipping from 18th place to 31st, four behind the United States. "Putting a few more women in the Cabinet makes Harper look good, but that doesn't help solve the inequality of women in Canada," said Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights. The WEF scores Canada's gender gap at 71 percent, which is the average percentage that Canadian women earn for every dollar that their male counterparts make, according to a federal task force report that has been shelved since 2004. Ignoring pay equity is only one of the many acts that have angered women since the Conservative minority government first took power in 2006. The Harper Conservatives also cancelled child care agreements that would have led to a universal child care program and slashed funding at Status of Women Canada, removing the word "equality" from its mandate. "With the global economic crisis on everybody's minds, we can't forget that the failure to implement adequate child care and the refusal to address pay equity are economic decisions," said Sue Calhoun of Business and Professional Women Canada. "How can we trust this government to weather an economic crisis when its track record shows it opposes measures to advance the economic equality of half the population?"   - 30 - TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Friday, November 7, 2008 "This Award Wasn't Designed for Him": Women's Groups Concerned that Status of Women Canada awarded Historic Feminist Honour to Male Fashion Entrepreneur OTTAWA, Nov. 7, 2008 - Women's organizations across Canada are expressing concern upon learning that this year's Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case designated for a youth has gone to Ben Barry, CEO of the Ben Barry Agency Inc., a Toronto model agency. Mr. Barry is the first man to receive the honour since the Awards were established in 1979 (the Youth Award was introduced in 2000). The Awards mark the historic fight of the "Famous Five" to have Canadian women legally declared persons. Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy and Henrietta Muir Edwards won a decisive victory for women's rights in 1929 when the highest court in the land stated: "to those who would ask why the word 'person' should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?" The Person's Case is celebrated by Canadian feminists as paving the way for important equality rights, such as the rights to vote and hold public office. For this reason, many question the decision of the Status of Women Canada Selection Committee to include Mr. Barry with the women activists who received the Award this year. One objection is that Mr. Barry's work does not advance women's equality in the sense that the Person's Award is intended to honour. According to the call for nominations, the Awards are supposed to "recognize those that work tirelessly to promote the equality of girls and women in Canada. " "The word 'equality' did not factor into his conversation," said Bonnie Diamond, past Award recipient, of an interview that Mr. Barry gave to the CBC following the announcement. "I have yet to hear a woman receive this award and not talk about the history of the Person's Case and the larger struggle for women's rights." Another concern voiced is that the Selection Committee has ignored young women activists in favour of Mr. Barry. "What about the founders of (women's history in high-school education advocacy group) Miss G.?" asked Susan Russell of the Canadian Federation of University Women. Pamela Harrison of the Transition House Association of Nova Scotia agreed. "I find it extremely difficult to believe that there are not hundreds, perhaps even thousands of young women who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of women in Canada." Mr. Barry's selection may be linked to the changes in Status of Women Canada made by the anti-feminist Conservative government under Stephen Harper. In 2006, Harper's government outraged women across Canada by removing the word "equality" from the agency's mandate and replacing it with "participation in society." To many women, Mr. Barry's selection is yet another example of how Status of Women Canada has been undermined by the Harper cuts: a decision which gives the lie to Harper's claim to have bridged the gender gap in the last election. "This is less about commemorating the Person's Case and more about advancing the agenda of the Harper government to try to make women's inequality invisible and deny feminism a future," said Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights, an umbrella organization of women's groups that was formed in opposition to the cuts. "We don't dispute the principle that a man can work for women's equality. But this award was not designed for the purpose to which Harper's New Status of Women Canada is trying to bend it. Mr. Barry has justly received much recognition for his work elsewhere. This particular recognition really doesn't suit him."   - 30 - TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Thursday, October 2, 2008 Leaders debate must address women’s concerns Ottawa, October 2, 2008—Advocates for women’s equality expect leaders’ to discuss issues raised by women across the country in the leaders’ debate tonight. “We will be assessing the leaders’ positions on childcare, pay equity, funding for feminist research and advocacy, and funding for the Court Challenges Program”, says Kate McInturff of Peacebuild, speaking for the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights. The coalition is releasing today a series of fact sheets for women in the upcoming election, available at www.womensequality.ca . The Coalition has also submitted a series of questions on key issues for women to the leaders of all federal parties. “This debate will lose validity if it fails to deal with issues important to 51% of the population – women,” said Jessica Notwell, of the Canadian Women’s CED Council, for the Coalition. Women have been systematically under-represented in Parliament. It is time that all political parties take measures to address this gap and ensure that issues of key importance to women are addressed. In the last few months, women have been very concerned over several private members bills that would introduce restrictions to abortion rights. “We were dismayed that Bill C-484 passed second reading, with the support of almost all Conservative MPs, last March”, said Bonnie Diamond, of the Feminist Alliance for International Action, speaking for the Coalition.“A law and order approach is not an answer to violence against women.” “Women need equality enhancing policies and social and economic programs that bolster their autonomy and allow them to leave abusive partners without being forced to live in utter poverty,” says Bonnie Diamond. Representatives of several women’s organizations will be gathered at 260 Dalhousie, room 303 in Ottawa on October 2 to watch the leaders’ debate. They will be available to provide comments to the media. -30- The Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights is an umbrella group of 25 organizations representing women from across Canada. It came together in 2006 to fight the actions against women’s rights taken by the Government of Canada.   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Sunday, February 24, 2008 WOMEN CALL FOR NEW BUDGET PRIORITIES Ottawa, ON – Women across the country are calling for new government priorities that reflect the realities they face, not the Conservative cuts to programs that have characterized government action in the past year. “Budgets are all about choices,” says Pamela Cross, Director of Advocacy and Public Policy for YWCA. “The federal government can choose to continue down the same destructive path that favours cuts to critical programs and funding of questionable wars, or it can choose balanced funding that responds to real needs of Canadian women and their families.” A report from TD Economics released before the 2007 economic update estimated that the federal surplus would be  $14.5 billion in 2007-08, rising to $27.5 billion by 2012-13. In spite of the nation-wide housing crisis, the struggle parents face in finding affordable childcare, and the rising cost of post-secondary education, the Harper government has made the decision to whittle away the surplus through massive tax-cuts ($60 billion over 5 years), an aggressive debt reduction plan ($10 billion), and huge increases in military spending ($7.2 billion in Afghanistan alone). Any new tax cuts revealed in this budget will likely require even more cuts to critical program spending. These measures have eaten into surpluses, putting critical programs at even greater risk in the event of an economic slowdown. It is clear that Canadian women are being left out in the cold by the federal government’s current strategy. Instead of choosing more of the same approach that ignores the well-known realities of women, the Harper government would do well to finally set the kind of budget priorities that would deliver substantial benefits to Canadian women and their families: Affordable housing. With 1.5 million Canadian households (many with children) at risk of homelessness, the time for a National Housing Policy with supporting federal funding is long overdue. High-quality, affordable, accessible child care. Over the last three years, more than $2 billion in federal child-care funding has flowed into a virtual accountability void.  Less than 20% of Canada’s children and families have access to regulated early learning and child care services.  Fees have gone up and families are struggling to find care for their children in the current patchwork system. The government must restore multi-year federal funding for childcare through dedicated capital transfers to community-based, not-for-profit childcare services to assure that child care is available for all children and families that need or want it. Accessible post-secondary education.  Unmanageable student debt risks making post-secondary education a luxury that is out of reach for most women. In addition to restoring and increasing federal funding transfers to the provinces, this budget must clearly articulate a plan for moving Canada’s expensive and unfair student loan system to a grants-based funding formula. A commitment to women’s equality. Increase Status of Women Canada’s budget to $50 million and the re-open regional offices and improve training of government departments on gender-based analysis. Increase funding to the Women’s Program at Status of Women Canada to provide grants to women’s organizations that provide research and advocate for women’s interests. Appoint a Gender Equality Commissioner to ensure that Canada fully upholds its equality commitments under domestic and international law. This government refuses to acknowledge the heavy costs of tax cuts and military spending. By cutting taxes, bankrolling a war and funneling public funds into debt reduction, the Harper government is choosing family instability, homelessness, student debt, and gender inequality in Canada. It is no wonder that there was a 9.5% “gender gap” in the Conservative vote during January 2006 election – women do not trust Conservative priorities. It’s time for women’s voices to be heard and for families to become the true priority in government spending – what’s good for women is good for everyone. __________ Founded in 2006, the Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights is a group of over 25 regional and national women’s organizations that have come together to monitor and advocate for federal government leadership on gender equality in Canada.   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release December 10, 2007 WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS DENOUNCE THE HARPER GOVERNMENT, CALL FOR A NATIONAL LEADERS DEBATE ON EQUALITY ISSUES OTTAWA, ON - On Human Rights Day, women's groups from across Canada once again stand united to strongly condemn the Harper government's track record on women's equality and human rights in Canada and to call for a national leaders' debate prior to the next federal election. One year ago today, thousands of women, men and children rallied across the country to protest the sweeping cuts and changes made by "Canada's New Government" to Status of Women Canada and to other programs. "Abolishing the pan-Canadian child care agreements, refusing to act on proactive pay equity legislation and eliminating the Court Challenges Program clearly demonstrates this government's repressive attitude towards women," said Paulette Senior of YWCA Canada. Many women's groups have been forced to close their doors or scale back crucial services and projects since they no longer qualify under the new Status of Women Canada funding criteria. Their research and advocacy work disqualifies them from the SWC Women's program. The Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights is calling for a national leaders' debate prior to the next election on key issues of importance to women's equality. The Coalition includes representatives from national, provincial and grassroots equality-seeking organizations. Hundreds of groups and individuals signed the Statement for the December 10th Campaign for Women's Equality and Human Rights organized by the Coalition, which calls upon Stephen Harper to respect his own election promises. A national leaders' debate on women's equality would also assist with the upcoming United Nations' review of Canada's performance under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Before the 2006 election, all the leaders of the major political parties, including Mr. Harper, signed a pledge to uphold Canada's CEDAW commitment to women's equality. The Coalition is conducting an ongoing survey of how the changes brought to Status of Women Canada are hurting women's groups. "Action needs to be informed by research and analysis," said Senior. "And action on women's equality doesn't tend to happen without advocacy from women's groups. How do we eliminate discrimination without research to show the impact of discriminatory policies on women and advocacy to change bad decisions?" Stephen Harper's recent rhetoric on the 18th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre further angered Coalition representatives. "This is the perfect example of how this government is out of touch with the reality for women. Funding may have been boosted for Status of Women, but fewer groups qualify" said Amanda Aziz of the Canadian Federation of Students in response to Harper's claim that his government addresses violence against women. 14 Status of Women regional offices closed in the spring of 2007, making it more difficult for women's groups to access services in their communities. According to the preliminary survey results, frontline women's shelters, crisis centres and transition houses have been hit especially hard by Conservative government policies. "This government's track record on policies that will ensure real equality for women is abysmal" says Lise Martin of CRIAW. "Women in Canada deserve more than empty and broken promises. We demand to know what will be done by our political leaders to make equality a reality, not just a slogan." TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release Thursday March 8, 2007 WOMEN ACROSS CANADA CALL ON HARPER TO PUT EQUALITY BACK ON TRACK OTTAWA – On International Women’s Day, women across Canada continue to call for a reversal of the federal cuts to Status of Women Canada (SWC). These calls are renewed following Status of Women Minister Beverley Oda’s announcement that $5 million will be “reinvested” into the SWC Women's Program. “This is a stopgap measure that will not replace the word ‘equality’ and the need for advocacy and research” says Lise Martin with the Canadian Research Institute on the Advancement of Women. Minister Oda is visibly absent from this year’s United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the international gathering of governments devoted to women's equality where the priority issue of discussion is discrimination against the girl-child. Most women’s groups were also excluded from a recent consultation on the budget that was held by Minister Flaherty. REAL women, an explicitly anti-feminist organization that objects to childcare, pay equity and a woman’s right to her own body, was invited to attend. “The Harper government has consistently refused to address the concerns that have been expressed in the last few months by thousands of women, social justice organizations and trade unions from Québec and the rest of Canada, says Paulette Senior for the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights. “ But women won't go away. We're going to keep calling on Mr. Harper to put equality back on track!” Over the past months, the Harper government has implemented decisions that undermine women’s equality, including eliminating the national childcare program, cancelling funds for the Court Challenges Program, refusing to take proactive action on pay equity, slashing the already slim budget of Status of Women Canada (SWC) and has ended all funding for advocacy and research. 12 out of 16 regional SWC offices are set to close. In addition, the government has removed the word “equality” from the SWC mandate. Women across the country have been vocal in resisting these regressive measures. In Vancouver, and in St. John’s, women have occupied offices and buildings where the SWC is slated for closure. “The Conservative government sends police to evict us, instead of agreeing to finally listen to us and discuss our concerns” says Joyce Hancock of the Newfoundland and Labrador Feminist Coalition. “Throughout the last 31 years, the presence of the SWC office has been critical for women's equality and equity seeking organizations throughout NL”. Beverley Oda finally did meet with the women who occupied the Vancouver SWC office but did not agree to reverse the closures. Hundreds of events are taking place in communities across Canada to mark International Women’s Day.   - 30 -   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release CUTS AND CHANGES TO STATUS OF WOMEN THREATEN EQUALITY OTTAWA, ON – Recent federal cuts and changes to the Status of Women Canada (SWC) mandate are having a devastating effect on women’s groups across Canada. The Federal government has removed the word “equality” from the Status of Women mandate, blocked funding for research and advocacy on behalf of women, and made huge cuts to the agency, shutting down regional offices and laying off staff. Women’s groups across the country are struggling for funding and are being forced to stop any “political” work – but without advocacy and research, there can be no equality for women. These changes to SWC will effectively silence women’s groups in Canada, preventing them from doing the critical research and advocacy needed to ensure women’s equality. The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality urgently calls on the federal government to uphold its commitments to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by reversing the cuts and mandate changes it has made to SWC. To make real progress on women’s equality in Canada, SWC needs sustainable funding ($2.1 billion, or 0.01% of the federal budget) and the powers of a full-fledged department with a senior minister whose primary responsibility is to ensure women’s equality. __________ The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights is a group of over 25 women’s organizations from across the country that have come together to fight actions against women’s rights taken by the government of Canada, specifically: The cancellation of the child care agreements with the Provinces; Refusal to take action on Federal Pay Equity Legislation; The abolition of the Court Challenges Program; and Harmful changes to the mandate and funding of Status of Women Canada.   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release NATIONAL CHILDCARE PROGRAM IS VITAL TO WOMEN’S EQUALITY OTTAWA, ON – Families across Canada are desperately in need of a quality, affordable, accessible national childcare and early learning system. Quality child care is widely recognized as being fundamental to women’s equality, as a cornerstone for a healthy society, and as vital for a functioning economy, but the federal government has moved Canada backward by canceling the childcare agreement with the provinces. Over the last three years, more than $2 billion in federal child-care funding has flowed into a virtual accountability void. Child care spaces are disappearing as centres close. Fees have gone up. Communities, provinces and businesses across Canada have spent months telling the government its promised capital funding for 125,000 new spaces won't work. Not one space has been created. While Canada is among the wealthiest nations on earth, we currently rank dead last among OECD countries in spending on early learning and childcare. While 70% of mothers with pre-school age children are in the workforce, there are licensed child care spaces for only 20% of pre-schoolers. The time has come for the federal government to stop making excuses for breaking its promises to Canadian families. The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights calls on the government to restore multi-year federal funding through dedicated capital transfers. This money must go to community-based child care services so that the provinces and territories can begin building these critical child care systems. Harper’s “Universal Child Care Plan” isn't universal, and it isn’t child care. Because it’s taxable, people will get different portions of that small amount each month; $100 a month before taxes only covers a tiny fraction of the costs associated with child care. There is no regulation to ensure quality, safety and a good learning environment for our children. It’s time to stop taking short cuts with our children’s future by building a quality, affordable, accessible national childcare and early learning system. __________ The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights is a group of over 25 women’s organizations from across the country that have come together to fight actions against women’s rights taken by the government of Canada, specifically: The cancellation of the child care agreements with the Provinces; Refusal to take action on Federal Pay Equity Legislation; The abolition of the Court Challenges Program; and Harmful changes to the mandate and funding of Status of Women Canada.   - 30 -   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release WOMEN IN CANADA ARE STILL PAID LESS THAN MEN, THREE YEARS AFTER TASK FORCE REPORT RECOMMENDING PRO-ACTIVE LEGISLATION OTTAWA, ON –  More than 30 years since the adoption of the Canadian Human Rights Act, women in Canada still earn 29% less on average than men regardless of their occupation, age or education. It is beyond time that the federal government develop a new pro-active stand-alone pay equity law to address this basic issue of fairness and equality. Today, women in Canada earn an average of 71 cents for every dollar earned by a man.  This wage gap is even greater for Aboriginal women, women of colour and women with disabilities. It is now three years since the Pay Equity Task Force made important recommendations about how to fix the wage gap, recommendations that successive governments have ignored. During the Task Force study, all participants, including employers, unions and women’s groups agreed that a new law requiring positive employer action, clear standards and an adjudicative body was required. The current complaint-based system has proven over the last 25 years to be ineffective, time consuming and costly to both employers and unions. That’s why the Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights proposes that the federal government immediately move to develop a new pro-active stand-alone pay equity law. The legislation needs to include an obligation for employers to review pay practices, identify gender-based wage discrimination gaps, and eliminate pay inequities within a specific time frame. Effective pay equity legislation should recognize the discrimination faced by Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and visible minorities as well as women. It should protect all employees, unionized or not, and recognize that pay equity is a non-negotiable human right. __________ The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights is a group of over 25 women’s organizations from across the country that have come together to fight actions against women’s rights taken by the government of Canada, specifically: The cancellation of the child care agreements with the Provinces; Refusal to take action on Federal Pay Equity Legislation; The abolition of the Court Challenges Program; and Harmful changes to the mandate and funding of Status of Women Canada.   - 30 -   TOP     Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Media Release ABOLITION OF THE COURT CHALLENGES PROGRAM UNDERMINES JUSTICE OTTAWA, ON – Access to justice is the cornerstone of democracy. The Court Challenges Program (CCP), by providing modest contributions to the cost of important test cases, has made constitutional rights accessible to Canadians. Without the Court Challenges Program, Canada’s constitutional rights are accessible only for the wealthy. By unilaterally abolishing the CCP, the Harper government has greatly limited the ability of ordinary Canadians to access justice. The Court Challenges Program’s contribution is vital – without it, important rights would remain out of reach. Without the Court Challenges Program funding many worthy cases will never be launched and constitutional violations will continue unchecked. The Government of Canada has repeatedly informed United Nations treaty bodies that it funds the CCP in order to meet its obligation to ensure equal access to the courts and to provide effective remedies under international human rights treaties. Without the CCP, women across the country won’t be able to undertake legal challenges to prevent violations of their Constitutional equality rights. The CCP has a long history of strengthening Canadian democracy. For example, the CCP provided funding for the Women’s Legal an Education Fund (LEAF) to argue against the use of sexist myths in sexual assault trials. LEAF intervened before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Ewanchuk case, where the accused argued that the way a woman is dressed for a job interview can imply that she consents to having sex with a potential employer. Fortunately, the Supreme Court agreed with CCP-aided LEAF arguments and rejected this sexist defense. This is only one of many cases where the CCP has proven vital to the defense of equality rights in Canada. Our justice system fails radically when individuals and groups whose constitutional rights are violated are denied access to justice. The Court Challenges Program must be reinstated to ensure that our justice system is fair and accessible for everyone. __________ The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights is a group of over 25 women’s organizations from across the country that have come together to fight actions against women’s rights taken by the government of Canada, specifically:      1. The cancellation of the child care agreements with the Provinces;      2. Refusal to take action on Federal Pay Equity Legislation;      3. The abolition of the Court Challenges Program; and      4. Harmful changes to the mandate and funding of Status of Women Canada.   - 30 -   TOP     The Anti-Feminist Agenda The sweater comes off: Harper curbs pay equity; The real PM is revealed as he uses the economic update to attack women Montreal Gazette Wednesday, December 3, 2008 JANET BAGNALL Ten days before the Conservatives' disastrous economic update, Canadian women's groups sent out a statement criticizing the newly elected government for doing nothing about the persistent problem of poverty among women. The Canadian Federation of University Women wanted something done about the 29-per-cent pay gap between men and women. And in case Stephen Harper thought that appointing a large number of women to cabinet made up for pay inequality, Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights was there to set him straight: The one didn't cancel the other. Did the notoriously thin-skinned Harper take exception to being criticized? Is that why he attacked pay equity in his party's economic update last week? Among other things, the Conservatives cut off the right to appeal pay-equity cases to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. It also ordered that pay equity be made a matter for bargaining in the federal public sector, thereby stripping pay equity of its status as part of a right to protection from discrimination. Among the random and irrelevant measures that made up the economic statement, the attack on pay equity doesn't stand out. But for a party with limited appeal to female voters, the Conservatives picked a revealing target. To all those people who think that Harper has a not-so-secret, hard-right-wing agenda, the mask slipped. Toronto lawyer Mary Cornish accused the Conservatives of acting out of ideology. In an interview with the Toronto Star, she said that the thing "red-meat Conservatives" hate the most is "an uppity, female, unionized civil servant who complains to a human-rights commission ... that she isn't paid enough." Faced with a coalition of opposition parties determined to throw it out of power, the Harper government has backtracked on its economic update as fast as it could. One ill-tempered measure after another has been retracted: Political parties will not be cut off from the $1.95-per-vote government subsidy. Nor will the Conservatives be suspending the right to strike for federal employees - an unlikely scenario given the economic meltdown. But on pay equity - nothing. As the country hurtles toward some kind of denouement to the Harper-inspired drama, the problem of inequitable pay fell back to its usual level of unimportance.  This will be no surprise to women's groups. Sue Calhoun of Business and Professional Women Canada was already saying of the Nov. 18 statement, "How can we trust this government to weather an economic crisis when its track record shows it opposes measures to advance the economic equality of half the population?" We can't, although it has to be said that an unwillingness to move on pay equity is not exclusive to the Conservatives. The Liberals were not demonstrably enthusiastic about instituting corrective measures, either. It has been several years since the federal Pay Equity Task Force released its findings: Pay discrimination exists and should be eliminated. (The wage gap between men and women results in part from an historic tendency to undervalue and underpay stereotypical women's fields such as clerical and nursing. Pay-equity provisions are designed, on the whole, to prevent women from being paid less than men for doing substantially the same kind of work requiring the same skill, effort and responsibility, carried out in similar circumstances in the same workplace.) Failure to eradicate pay inequality has meant that at the end of their working lives, women face an insecure, needlessly impoverished retirement. Women's benefits from the Canadian and Quebec pension plans amount to only 58 per cent those of men. With effective pay-equity measures, working women could depend on their own resources throughout their lives. But rather than acknowledge a long-standing injustice, the Conservative government deliberately misrepresented pay equity. Its economic statement complained that Canadian taxpayers have paid more than $4 billion in pay equity to female civil servants since the 1980s when, at the same time, the same women benefited from negotiated salary increases. This completely bogus phenomenon the Conservatives labeled "double pay equity." But pay equity is not the same as a wage increase, which is given to all members of a bargaining unit. Of course, pay equity seems like small potatoes when the country is lurching toward a political crisis, but that's how it's always treated. Harper just went further down this road, deliberately misrepresenting it as a mechanism whereby women unfairly benefit at taxpayers' expense. And he wonders why women don't vote for him. jbagnall@thegazette.canwest.com     TOP