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RoyalCommissionSW40years
Fortieth Anniversary of the Royal Commission on the Status of
Women
In 1970 the Report on Royal Commission on the Status of Women
chaired by Senator Florence Bird found that Canadian women were
second-class citizens, and that only 3.9 percent 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. The report called for universal day care, equal
pay, more equal representation in Parliament, more Federal Court
judges and equitable pensions for women. The Report produced
167 recommendations to promote equality for women.
Forty years later women in Canada still lack a pan-Canadian
childcare and early learning system, equal pay, or equal
representation in Parliament. Pensions are in need of an
overhaul. Affordable housing must be addressed.
In 1967, women received approximately 20 percent of national
income. By 1985, 36 percent of the national income belonged
to women. In 1960 women earned 54 cents to a man's dollar.
In 1998, this increased to 72 cents falling in 2010 to 70
cents. The statistics for aboriginal women are far worse.[1]
The poor, the racialized and the disabled, are sliding further
to the margins. Bills such as C-442 presume joint custody in
divorce. Access to abortion has declined and the waiting
period for abortion services has increased to 16 weeks. Women
who are poor, mentally ill or drug addicted risk being criminalized
instead of being assisted[2].
In Vancouver 2 percent of the population are homeless and 30
percent of Vancouver's homeless are aboriginal. Aboriginal
children are up to six times more likely to be removed from their
families; an inquiry into the murder of Aboriginal women[3] has yet to happen.
Pay equity is a human right[4].
Implementation of the Pay Equity Taskforce Report could help to
resolve gender based pay inequity along with a review and reform of
pensions.[5] Canada needs to take action now
on childcare and reject the privatised child-care offered by big
business. Childcare workers are undervalued and underpaid[6]. Canada has dropped from first place on
the human development index to
While women have made some progress in "male" professions such
as engineering, construction and the trades - these workplaces are
not friendly to women. Affordable housing remains a huge
issue with many unmet needs.
And in the House only 20 percent of Canada's Federal cabinet
ministers are women on a par with Ethiopia and Pakistan for female
representation in Parliament. Sweden and Norway, the world leaders
in female Parliamentary representation has 40 percent and 39.4
percent respectively.
At a one-day forum for a broad spectrum of national women's
groups hosted by the Liberal Women's Caucus on Parliament Hill on
January 27, representatives from Canada's women's and anti-poverty
groups revealed these and other troubling facts and statistics.
[1] Dr. Wendy Robbins, Professor of
English and Women's Studies at the University of New Brunswick
[2] Diana Majury, Associate Professor of
Law at Carleton University
[3] Ellen Gabriel, President of Quebec
Native Women Inc
[4] United Nations
[5] Patty Ducharme, National Executive
Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada
[6] Martha Friendly, Founder and
Executive Director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit
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