News Release: Women lose as advocacy organizations close
Published by Patrick September 20th, 2007 in PSAC news releases, Womens Issues Tags: news-release, women.OTTAWA – In spite of election promises by Stephen Harper, women’s groups who track women’s inequalities and advocate for change, such as the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) are being forced to close their doors, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).
“During the last election campaign, Harper promised to do more to meet Canada’s international obligations to women’s equality,” says PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President Robyn Benson. “Less than a year after forming the government, then Minister responsible for the Status of Women Bev Oda declared women equal, closed most of the Status of Women Canada (SWC) regional offices and cut funding for research and advocacy.”
“Now, one by one, women’s organizations who lobby for change are being forced to shut down. Today, NAWL’s offices are closing and others are expected to follow.”
Women’s inequality in Canada is still very much an issue. Women are more likely to be poor and almost half of Canada’s poor children live with a single female parent. Women’s earnings are still 71% of men’s earnings and average incomes for Aboriginal, disabled and racialized women are even lower. Women make up 51% of the population but still only hold 20% of the seats in the House of Commons.
“Most women are not in a position to hire paid lobbyists to put their case before our elected representatives”, says Benson. “Groups, such as NAWL, play a critical role by researching and documenting the situation of women and proposing and lobbying for concrete, systemic solutions to make women’s equality a reality.”
The PSAC is joining with NAWL and other unions and women’s organizations across Canada in calling on Status of Women Minister Josée Verner to take immediate remedial actions, including providing emergency funding for NAWL, reinstating “equality” and “political participation” as objectives of SWC’s Women’s Program and re-opening the SWC offices that have been closed.
According to Benson the 2007-08 budget for Status of Women Canada’s is a $19.8 million. That’s a mere 0.009% of total federal government spending or $1.30 per woman.
“Women deserve more. We want a government that is prepared to take leadership on women’s issues through adequate funding, including support for a strong network of women’s groups who advocate for women’s equality,” says Benson.