Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

International Women’s Day 2007

Since its inception, International Women’s Day (IWD), March 8th, has been a day of revolutionary struggle for the rights and freedom of oppressed and exploited women in the context of world-wide struggle against imperialism and war. Every year since our founding in 1995, Grassroots Women has mobilized on March 8th. By doing so, we connect with the tradition of working class women who have mobilized on this day for nearly 100 years, from the garment workers of New York City at the turn of the century, to the wives, daughters, and mothers of soldiers and armament workers in Russia who helped spark the Russian Revolution, to the women of movements for national and social liberation in the Third World.

In 2007, Grassroots Women will mark IWD by holding events under the following theme:

• Strengthen Women’s Resistance
• Oppose Imperialism’s Intensifying Attacks!
• Assert Women’s Basic Human Rights!

Please join us for a march and rally on Thursday, March 8th 2007, beginning at 5:30 pm at Chinatown Memorial Square (NE corner of Keefer and Columbia) and ending with refreshments at the Grassroots Women office.

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Promise made.

“Yes, I’m ready to support women’s human rights and I agree that Canada has more to do to meet its international obligations to women’s equality. If elected, I will take concrete and immediate measures, as recommended by the United Nations, to ensure that Canada fully upholds its commitments to women in Canada.” - Stephen Harper - January 18, 2006

Promise broken.

Since coming into office, the Harper Conservatives have

• closed more than half of the Status of Women of Canada regional offices
• have changed the funding criteria for women’s groups and have removed the word “equality” from the SWC’s list of objectives
• eliminated support for equality rights test-cases (the Court Challenges Program)
• refused to adopt proactive pay equity legislation and have canceled funding to the Canada-wide child care program.

The Harper Conservative have consistently dismissed equality rights for women. They will continue unless we speak up!

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Press Conference in Honour of International Human Rights Day Friday, December 8, 2006

• 9:00 am
• SFU Harbour Centre
• 515 Hastings Street, Vancouver
• Room 1415

In honour of International Human Rights Day Women’s Groups will host a press conference for equality rights & access to governments and the courts. Join us to hear a panel of women renounce:

• cancellation of child care agreements,
• closures to SWC regional offices,
• elimination of the Court Challenges Program
• refusal to implement pro-active pay equity
• federal government’s disregard for its promised commitment to improve women’s human rights in Canada

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The B.C. Federation of Labour invites you to: National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women

• Wednesday, December 6, 2006, 7:30 am
• Women’s Breakfast
• Days Inn Hotel, 9850 King George Hwy., Surrey, BC

There is no charge for this event but those wishing to attend must RSVP to the Switchboard at the B.C. Federation of Labour - 604-430-1421.

Rally Against Violence Against Women, hosted by Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.

• December 6th, 6:30-8 p.m.
• Vancouver Public Library - north side, 350 West Georgia.
• Info (604) 872-8212

Regional Executive VP Kay Sinclair drafted the resolution below for the BCFL Convention last week. It hit the floor on Friday and was passed.

Emergency resolution #12 - Status of Women Canada

Because the Conservative government is cutting the budget for Status of Women Canada by $5 million dollars and announced this week it is closing 12 regional offices including Vancouver and Toronto - the two largest; and

Because the cuts and closures will result in the loss of workers’ jobs and the important community and social development work in support of women’s equality;

The Federation Will, with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), condemn the actions of the Harper government in cutting funding for the Status of Women, call for the immediate cancellation of the cuts and closures and the reinstatement of the community liaison and equality work; and

The Federation Will call for the immediate resignation of Bev Oda, Minister responsible for Status of Women Canada, and call upon Harper to appoint a woman Minister who actually understands women’s issues and supports women’s equality (someone from outside of the Conservative government), who is supported by feminist and equality-seeking women’s groups.

PSAC

December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l’Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. They died because they were women.

As well as commemorating the 14 young women whose lives ended in an act of gender-based violence that shocked the nation, December 6 represents an opportunity for Canadians to reflect on the phenomenon of violence against women in our society. It is also an opportunity to consider the women and girls for whom violence is a daily reality, and to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence. And finally, it is a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls.

Violence against women remains a reality in our world. Federal funding for equality-seeking women’s groups is inadequate and threatened. Two dollars for every woman and girl in our society should be allocated for women’s equality. It is not too much to ask.

Send an email message to your MP to raise awareness.

Ottawa–Canadians are outraged at the $5M cuts to Status of Women Canada (SWC) and the changes in the guidelines which saw the elimination of funding for research and advocacy for women’s equality rights.

To add insult to injury, under the guise and premise of “achieving efficiencies” at SWC, the government has decided to eliminate almost half its workforce across the country.

“How can Minister Oda expect Canadians to believe that she and her government are acting in the best interests of women? We are calling on this Minister to resign. She simply cannot profess to represent Canadian women, nor can she claim she is defending women’s equality” stated Robyn Benson, PSAC Officer responsible for women’s rights.

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Women in Canada Want Answers

(Vancouver - November 22, 2006) Women in want to know details of the $5 million cut to Status of Women. There is growing concern that regional offices may be closed and that regional staff may be pink slipped. The fate of the long established, independent research fund also remains unknown.

Since the announcement in September 2006, women across the country have not been informed about which parts of Status of Women’s functions will be cut. “We know that Minister Oda has been presented with some options, but the women of Canada have had no input,” says Alison Brewin of West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund. “It seems that the ways in which women’s equality will be protected and advanced in Canada is being decided without any involvement of women themselves.”

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The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 402 has established, through the BC Federation of Labour, a memorial scholarship for a union woman to attend the “Women In Leadership” course at the Canadian Labour Congress Harrison Winter School, January 21 - 26 2007.

The scholarship will cover the costs of tuition, accommodations and meals for this event.

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Women’s History Month represents an opportunity to highlight women’s contributions and to recognize the achievements of diverse women as a vital part of our Canadian history. This year’s theme is “Aboriginal Women”. A series of fact sheets highlighting the realities of Aboriginal women as well as their contributions to their communities and families and the unique challenges they face is being produced by the Women’s program.
Visit the national website for:

• Factsheet 1: Violence Against Aboriginal Women: the fight-back
• Factsheet 2: Aboriginal Women: a reality check - Part 1
• Factsheet 3: Aboriginal Women: a reality check - Part 2

Women’s History Month represents an opportunity to highlight women’s contributions and to recognize the achievements of diverse women as a vital part of our Canadian history. It also represents an opportunity to show how we all benefit from the efforts of our foremothers in our on-going quest for equality and represents an ideal opportunity to instill a sense of pride in our collective accomplishments.

This year’s theme is “Aboriginal Women”.  The PSAC will be posting a series of fact sheets (one every week) highlighting the realities of Aboriginal women as well as their contributions to their communities and families and the unique challenges they face.

Visit the national website for fact sheet #1: Violence Against Aboriginal Women: the fight-back

Low-income women in Canada face increasing inequality in terms of their health, according to a report just published by the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW).

The fourth in a series of CASW reports on women and poverty, The Declining Health and Well-Being of Low Income Women in Canada: A Preventable Tragedy explores the connectionsbetween the income of women and their health and concludes that the health of low-income women is being compromised.

“The socio-economic links to health are well documented nationally and internationally,” says Veronica Marsman, president of CASW. “This paper finds that significant differences exist in the life expectancy, onset and intensity of illness, and frequency of violence in the lives of low income Canadian women.”

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Ottawa: FAFIA, a pan-Canadian alliance of women’s and human rights organizations, is denouncing the $5 million cut to the federal department of Status of Women over two years. These cuts will be taken from its modest annual budget of $13 million. The grants and contributions arm ($11 million) of the department was not affected.

“These cuts will critically affect the federal government’s own capacity to live up to its equality commitments to women,” said Shelagh Day, Co-Chair of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA).

FAFIA is also dismayed by the elimination of the Court Challenges Program. “This Program has provided women in Canada with their only access to the use of their constitutional equality rights,” said Shelagh Day. “Equality rights have no meaning in Canada if women, and other Canadians who face discrimination, cannot use them.”

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PSAC - Okanagan Regional Women’s Committee, Minutes of Meeting – June 23, 2006, Perkins Restaurant, Kelowna

In Attendance:

• Susan Yaciw UTE 20003
• Maria-Luiza Romano AGR 20027
• Jennifer Leenhouts CEIU 20972
• Ruth Eisworth UTE 20026
• Kareen Stanich AGR 20043
• Kelley Megyesi
• Darrell-Lee McKenzie AGR 20043
• Linda Woods NAT 20140
• Roberta Gourlie CEIU 20915

The meeting was called to order at 7:25 p.m. with Jennifer Leenhouts in the chair.

Download the Okanagan RWC minutes June 23 2006 (pdf) or continue reading below.

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PSAC - Okanagan Regional Women’s Committee, Minutes of Meeting – March 18, 2006. The Coast Capri Hotel, Kelowna

In Attendance:

• Susan Yaciw UTE 20003
• Joy Harrison UTE 20003
• Jennifer Leenhouts CEIU 20972
• Kareen Stanich AGR 20043
• Linda Woods NAT 20140
• Roberta Gourlie CEIU 20915
• Maria-Luiza Romano AGR 20027
• Ruth Eisworth UTE 20026
• Regina Brennan PSAC Regional Representative
• Patty Ducharme REVP

The meeting was called to order at 11:35 a.m. with Joy Harrison in the chair.

Download the Okanagan RWC minutes March 18 2006 (pdf) or continue reading below.

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OTTAWA - The Harper government has once again shown that it has little interest in women’s equality in the workforce, says the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

“In a response to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, the Conservatives have said there will be no new, proactive pay equity legislation, ignoring the recommendations of a Federal Pay Equity Task Force,” says PSAC National Executive Vice-President Patty Ducharme.

• Information about the Pay Equity Network at the CLC website.

The Task Force spent three years consulting with employers and employer organizations, unions, women’s groups and individuals, as well as commissioning research on the issue of pay equity. In May 2004, the Task Force issued its report calling for a complete overhaul of the current complaint-based federal pay equity law. Instead of a new law, the government is proposing increased education, specialized mediation assistance and compliance monitoring.

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This course is a follow-up from the Women at Work Part I that was held last year. Each participant or group of participants from 5 geographic areas were asked to decide on a course that would be meaningful to women activists in their respective geographic areas, and to set a date and recruit participants for this one day course. The areas were to be each location where there is an existing Women’s Committee and one location where there might be sufficient interest to start another Women’s Committee. Therefore, the areas will be: Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George, Okanagan and North Island. We agreed to hold the Vancouver training in Surrey.

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Active Geographies, Embodied Chronologies: Women And Struggle On The Left Coast

How do struggles for place connect to struggles for justice? What connects social and cultural activists across the decades? We invite your creative and critical responses to these questions of how women define our own relations over space and time.

B.C. has a longstanding history of colonization, whether it takes the form of land theft, the uprooting of culturally specific groups and underserved communities, or the effects of globalization on residents in the Downtown Eastside and Strathcona, to name a few examples.

This anthology follows up on discussions which began at a workshop entitled A Walk with Women Warriors: a re-mapping of Activism, that took place at the Strathcona Community Centre in 2004. That workshop opened up a dialogue in an attempt to bridge generations of west coast women activists, starting with but not necessarily limited to “East Asian Canadian” communities on urbanized Coast Salish land, particularly the neighbourhoods now described as Strathcona and the Downtown Eastside. Situated around the idea of space,’place,’ and time, the event acknowledged the role of women of colour and their allies in claiming place and identities in their struggle for a just world.

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Minutes of the Vancouver Regional Women’s Committee May 25, 2006

In attendance:

• Angela Marafon
• Alethea Boire
• Stephanie Oostrander
• Patricia Ganczar
• Cheryl Oenema
• Kay Sinclair
• Deanna Wilson
• Regina Brennan

Continue reading below, or download the Vancouver RWC minutes May 25, 2006 (pdf).

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Eliminating separate assistance program reduces Ottawa’s payment to most needy

OTTAWA — Low- and middle-income families will realize the smallest net benefit from the Harper government’s $1,200-a-year child-care payment in part because the Conservatives are scrapping a separate assistance program.

The Conservative plan for meeting the country’s child-care needs is to give families a direct payment of $100 a month, $1,200 annually, for every child under 6. The specifics of how that plan will be unveiled are expected to be in next Tuesday’s budget.

But the young-child supplement of the Canada Child Tax Benefit, which currently pays $20.25 a month to parents who do not claim child-care expenses for their preschool-age children, will be eliminated at the same time. The benefit is due to increase in July to $249 annually.

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