Monday was International Women’s Day and I had a chance to celebrate women in politics across party lines. One very young NDP MP, our current Liberal Finance Minister and one retired Progressive Conservative. You might not be able to find three women in politics as different from each other as are Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, Chrystia Freeland and Pat Carney. All have faced additional obstacles because they are women. Former Senator Pat Carney, who is now one of my constituents, accomplished much in a very male dominated world. It is clear to me that the progress of women everywhere must be celebrated by women everywhere. I had been tempted to focus on the Green Party and all of our “firsts” – first woman leader of a federal party (1988 Kathryn Cholette), only party to ever elect more women than men to a caucus (federal and Prince Edward Island!) and, of course, first party with a woman black leader- 2020 Annamie Paul). But women need to support each other across party lines. Here it is in 70 seconds:     www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RUJlCFM14kWorld

And with my once a month chance to ask a question in Question Period, I was torn about what my largest priority should be. I really couldn’t escape the reality that virtually all of Question Period had been dominated by questions about our Minister of Defense and what he has known – or not known – about the charges of serious sexual misconduct by former Chief of Defense Staff General Vance. Is that the most important issue? No one had asked about the death of another Indigenous man killed by RCMP during a “wellness check”,  and that gave me a chance to remind parliament about the death of Chantel Moore.

We had a big Green Party first on Wednesday as Paul Manly achieved unanimous consent on his motion in support of UK pensioners resident in Canada. I have tried for unanimous consent and never achieved it! Paul did a lot of work lining up support across party lines. But still, I held my breath. All it would take was one MP saying “nay!” and the motion could not have passed. There was a lot of cheering – me at home on my own! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U9c5FmbaU0

My Wednesday morning started early (4:30AM) with an inspiring meeting of the Global Greens COP26 Working Group. I had the worst time zone issue- Australian Greens were joining after midnight, and we had participants from Burundi, Kenya, Egypt, Lebanon, Colombia, Venezuela, the US, UK, Sweden, Germany, India and so many more! It was a far more focused discussion of the climate crisis than once parliament opened. On Wednesday afternoon, we had our first return to debate on the Climate Accountability Act, C-12. It had not been on the Order Paper since December. Choosing a Wednesday (with only half day sittings) means that we are still far short of the number of hours we need before the bill goes to a Second Reading vote. After that, it will go to committee for study. As of now, I have not had any opportunity to speak to the bill. Nor have Paul or Jenica. My only way to participate is through debate in very brief questions. Brevity led to being very blunt in this question. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLwt9A7GYuE

Thursday was the one year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID19 a pandemic, so governments around the world marked the day with sombre memorials. In parliament, each leader spoke and I had my turn as parliamentary leader of the Green Party. I implored my colleagues to act as though we were operating in a proportional representation country – to act as though there were no political parties. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AnV72VDPJM

With only one question a month in Question Period, I have to look for other ways in debates to raise issues on behalf of constituents. On Friday, we were debating changes to employment insurance to improve benefits in light of COVID. I have been trying to find a way to raise the issue of the lingering illnesses of many who are no longer experiencing acute COVID symptoms but are not well – generally described as “long haulers.”  One of their concerns is that the EI rules require they be looking for work which they are too sick to do, so I seized on that connection to explain the issue and press the government for answers. And I mentioned the petition I am sponsoring for a constituent, herself a long hauler. Unfortunately, and comically, the parliamentary secretary somehow misunderstood the question and thought I was asking about long-distance truckers! On my zoom screen I watched as my colleagues began to laugh. They all knew what I was talking about. The next MP to speak, pointed out that my question had been about the many Canadians who may no longer test positive for COVID, but are not recovered. (Because that was Friday, I do not have video of it yet. Maybe I’ll share it next week.) Being a long-hauler is no joke, but that was a pretty unbelievable exchange. Here’s the petition again. Please sign! https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3229

Meanwhile, in the real world beyond the zoom world of parliament, some good news. Thanks to UBC’s Dr. Tara Martin who spotted the significance – ecological and cultural — of a nearly 10 acre island near Sidney Island in the Haro Strait. SISȻENEM has been restored to Indigenous ownership. The W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council made it possible. The Land Conservancy played a key role, as did the anonymous donor found by Dr. Martin.  Inspiring! https://news.ubc.ca/2021/02/26/sis%C8%BCenem-transfer-to-w%CC%B1sanec-first-nations/

Lastly, I am very happy to ask you to sign and share this petition. I have written in GSM about the Canadian oil company ReconAfrica with its plans to frack and disrupt one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, the Okavango Delta along the Namibia-Botswana border. Please help us get this petition widely distributed. And Thanks to Vicky Husband for her work as the petition’s sponsor!

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3256

Have a great week! Stay well and safe!

Love,

Elizabeth

PS

Please join me on March 18^th for a 350.org Town Hall on Just Transition! https://350.org/canada/jt-townhall/

Policy magazine asked me to do a book review of Bill Gates’ new climate book so here you go, https://policymagazine.ca/can-billionaires-save-the-world-what-bill-gates-gets-wrong-and-right-about-climate-change/

But now I am reading Michael Mann’s new book, The New Climate War, which is far FAR better!

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On Monday, Elizabeth, Jenica, and Paul celebrated International Women’s Day. They participated in the United Nation’s #ChoosetoChallenge social media campaign, and Jenica and Elizabeth both made speeches in parliament to commemorate the day. Jenica responded to the Minister’s statement calling for more action to support women and gender diverse Canadians across the country, and Elizabeth took the opportunity to celebrate women in politics.

Following the tragic news that another Indigenous man was killed by RCMP during a “wellness check”, Elizabeth asked the government to launch an inquiry into these killings, and to take responsibility to stop them.

In a historic Green win, Paul Manly put forward a motion that received the unanimous consent of the House of Commons to press the UK government to index the frozen pensions of UK pensioners in Canada. The UK does not provide annual indexed increases for the approximately 136 thousand UK pensioners residing in Canada, effectively “freezing” their pensions at the original rate when they were first claimed. This represents a significant economic loss to Canada.

In adjournment proceedings, Paul revisited a debate on Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that there was not enough coordination between the provinces, territories and federal government, and pointed to examples of other countries where better coordination led to lower death rates and shorter lockdowns. In his question on Thursday, Paul pressed the government to protect endangered old growth ecosystems on Canada’s west coast, stop the destruction of the Boreal forest, and ban unsustainable forestry practices.

In debate on Thursday, Elizabeth again pointed out the weaknesses of the Government’s Net-Zero Climate Accountability Act. Quoting Greta Thunberg, she underscored that choosing 2050 as a target year and ignoring the imperative for increased near-term action amounts to a surrender. Significant reductions in emissions must be made by 2030 with a first milestone year in 2025.

Thursday also marked the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elizabeth replied to the prime minister’s speech reminding her colleagues that parliamentarians are at their best when working and collaborating as though in a country with proportional representation and not a First-past-the-post voting system. Paul participated in a press conference with Green Party Leader Annamie Paul to discuss the anniversary of the pandemic, and the issue of affordable housing.

Jenica participated in an all-party press conference on ALS, following a landmark petition signed by over 25 000 Canadians calling for the government to approve life-saving treatments.

​

MPs participated in the United Nation’s #ChoosetoChallenge social media campaign for International Women’s Day

Key Moments

• Paul Manly: The government could have taken the pandemic as an opportunity to set up permanent supports like GLI
• Paul Manly: EI could be improved permanently to support people after the pandemic
• Paul Manly achieves unanimous consent to recognize UK pensioners in Canada
• Elizabeth May: We should consider a target of carbon neutrality by 2050 as a surrender
• Elizabeth May: According to climate science, 2025 must be a milestone year for reducing emissions
• Elizabeth May: We must take action against slavery in supply chains
• Elizabeth May: Lack of reliable ground transportation linked to MMIWG

Question Period and Member’s Statements

• Elizabeth May’s statement on International Women’s Day
• Jenica Atwin’s statement on International Women’s Day
• Elizabeth May: When will the government take responsibility for Indigenous people killed during “wellness checks”?
• Paul Manly: Coordination between federal, provincial, and territorial governments was insufficient to stop the spread of COVID-19
• Elizabeth May makes a statement on the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Paul Manly: We must protect old-growth ecosystems

Press Conferences

• Green Party Leader Annamie Paul discusses pandemic anniversary, affordable housing – March 11, 2021
• All-party press conference on ALS

In Their Own Words​

• Elizabeth May: Good Sunday Morning – March 7
• Elizabeth May: What Bill Gates Gets Wrong, and Right, About Climate Change (Policy Magazine)

Petitions

• e-3184 Make Bill C-12 a world-class climate law (closes March 20)
• e-3177 Condemn discrimination in Poland (closes March 20)
• e-3058 Ban fracking, transition to renewable energy (closes March 21)
• e-3206 Include long-term care in the Canada Health Act (closes April 25)
• e-3014 Modernize the complaints review panel of the Canadian Judicial Council (closes May 7)
• e-3075 Halt all transfer of Canadian made weapons to Saudi Arabia (closes May 27)
• e-3138 Make Election Day a paid holiday when it falls on a weekday (closes May 29)
• e-3159 Ban new strip mines in the Rocky Mountains (closes June 5)

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-03-08 14:01 [p.4659]

Mr. Speaker, happy International Women’s Day to all of us in the House of Commons. We have now made history. As of October 2020, there are 100 women to celebrate in our Parliament across all party lines.

Today I want to celebrate the Daughters of the Vote. It was only four years ago that Daughters of the Vote first occupied the Centre Block chamber in person. They are in Ottawa virtually now. Let us celebrate across party lines the hon. member for Nunavut, who was among Daughters of the Vote just four years ago and now sits in this place and does this chamber such honour.

I want to celebrate our colleague, the first woman Minister of Finance. I am celebrating that a minister of finance is, at long last, a woman. Now I also want to celebrate some former colleagues. I want to celebrate my friend, the Hon. Pat Carney, who served as a cabinet minister, negotiated the first Atlantic accord, negotiated the first free trade agreement and is now one of my constituents.
I thank them all. Let us hold each other up and give Daughters of the Vote a future to look forward to, one with more women in the House.

An hon. member: Hear, hear!

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Tomorrow is both Commonwealth Day and International Women’s Day – as well as the birthday of two dear friends – so a shout out to Amelia Clarke in Waterloo and my dear adopted mom Dorothy Cutting on Salt Spring Island!

International Women’s Day changed my life.  Forty-one years ago, March 8, 1980, my best friend, Liz Archibald Calder (now of White Rock, but then in Whycocomagh) convinced me we could do an amazing thing – and actually drive all the way into Sydney, Cape Breton to go to the pub for a big feminist party.   That’s a four-hour round trip and I did not routinely, or ever actually, visit pubs or, on reflection, do anything fun.   I had just run for parliament, starting the “small party” that was to become the Green Party.  I had spent the last five years of my life fighting the pulp mill and its plans to spray our forests with toxic insecticides. The pub! In Sydney! This was an amazing idea.

The headliner of the night was Rita MacNeil. In those days, Rita was not THE Rita MacNeil. She was a politically radical singer with a small fan base of radical feminists- all the way to Toronto where people loved her.  It would be a number of years before she became the more grandmotherly CBC Christmas special version of herself.  That night she was barefoot on stage and belting out, “Tell it like it is, Sisters.”

At some point in the festivities, a slightly inebriated woman lawyer introduced herself saying she had heard me debating the pulp company executives in the media. “You know, you should really be a lawyer- go to law school.”  And I said the truth – that I had always wanted to be a lawyer, but that I didn’t even have an undergrad degree and I was pretty stuck waitressing and cooking in my parents’ restaurant.

And what she said next was what changed my life – “You don’t need an undergrad degree…at your age and with your work fighting budworm spraying, you should apply as a mature student.”

The next day I phoned Dalhousie Law School and spoke to the admissions department. I had only two weeks to pull together an application.  By September, I was sitting at a desk in a lecture hall – still waitressing and cooking in the summers. as I worked my way through law school.

I sometimes wonder what course my life would have taken if not for that International Women’s Day celebration. Not to mention that if not for the women’s movement, it is unlikely law schools would have opened the door to mature students.  It was an innovation intended to increase the number of women in a mostly male profession.

Now I am one of 100 women MPs in Parliament.  It took 100 years to reach the first hundred women MPs, with Agnes McPhail being the first in 1921. Since October 2020, we have one hundred all serving together!

Changing my celebratory tone, apologies for more bad news.  In reflecting on the last week, I am drawn back to the perennial, inescapable reality of systemic racism in Canadian law enforcement. I have been following the shocking story of the brutal treatment of a young doctoral student from Guinea, falsely arrested by the Montreal police. Thank God they didn’t kill him – but given the abuse Mamadi Fara Camera endured, they well might have done.

Closer to home, another indigenous man was killed last weekend on a “wellness check.”

The killing at the hands of Tofino RCMP happened on Meares Island in the Opitsaht community within the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation. That is the same nation devastated by the June shooting of Chantel Moore by Edmundston, N.B. police.  Chantel Moore was also killed in a “wellness” check.  The investigation into her killing by the Quebec police oversight body was given to the New Brunswick government in December. The family has been denied any details.

I have been working with Judith Sayers, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, and a group of Senators to try to open a set of committee hearings into the killing of indigenous peoples during “wellness checks.”

Paul Manly, Jenica Atwin and I are determined to get answers.   It is beyond unacceptable that more people in the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation have been killed by police than due to COVID.

Closing with some good news. (My daughter wrote me that she had found the last GSM particularly depressing – apologies to all!)

In response to my rant last week about the fake “big win” on climate, Christa Grace Warwick from Pender sent me this real “big win”: The Ktunaxa Nation and environmental groups have succeeded in a 30 year fight to stop an appalling ski resort. Instead, a new Indigenous Conserved and Protected Area (ICPA) has been established over a larger area of the Purcell Mountain range. Thanks to Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson for a $16 million boost to make this a reality!

Good news too on the Fairy Creek forest protectors and the injunction threat. The threat remains, but the judge refused to grant the loggers an injunction. Instead, she has given the protectors’ lawyers three weeks to better prepare their case.

Lastly, this citizen, volunteer effort to explain why Bill C-12 is so inadequate really cheered me.  Please watch the YouTube and help share this excellent piece of work far and wide.

Happy International Women’s Day!

And for Commonwealth Day, later today you can watch their Trees for the Wild event. (See details below).

Much love and rock on sisters!

Elizabeth

P.S.  Please sign and share this e-petition to the Parliament of Canada to support the COVID “long haulers!”

1. Recognize and label long COVID as a health syndrome;
2. Create a registry system for long COVID patients, include this data in Health Canada’s daily case count, and consider these patients “Unrecovered” or “Not Infectious”;
3. Swiftly fund robust, targeted research of COVID-19 and long COVID; and
4. Establish clinics for diagnosed long COVID patients, whether COVID-19 tested or not, to address medical, cognitive, psychological, rehabilitative and employment issues.

“Trees in the Wild” ZOOM event on the Great Bear Rainforest on Sunday, 07 March 2021 2:00 p.m. (PST)…….registration is available on EventBrite.

Tickets

Tickets for Trees In The Wild – A Conversation About The Great Bear Rainforest can be booked here.

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And Happy International Women’s Day!

March 8, 1980 was a huge day for me in finding my path. I had always wanted to be an environmental lawyer, but my parents’ decision to move us to Cape Breton Island had resulted in big financial reversals. From 1973, when we moved, until 1980, I was waitressing and cooking in our family restaurant on the Cabot Trail, unable to afford university. The business was seasonal so in the off-season, through the winters of 1975-1979, I worked to stop aerial insecticide spraying of the forests. Our campaigns were largely funded with my waitressing tips.

It was at an International Women’s Day event in Sydney (the other one – in Cape Breton!) that I learned that law school was a possibility. A local woman lawyer told me I didn’t need an undergraduate degree and that, with my reputation as an environmental activist, I could apply to law school as a mature student. The option to go to law school after years out of school was created by the women’s movement, to increase opportunities for women who had been unable to go to university. The next day I telephoned Dalhousie law school in Halifax. I was just under the wire to get in my application, write my LSAT, and yes! start law school in the fall of 1980.

I have been part of the women’s movement for all my life and the first wave feminists changed my life. In a sad note for celebrating progress toward women’s equality was Elizabeth Warren’s announcement this week. All US presidential candidates who are women, and originally there were six, have dropped out of the race. The full list included two long shots, author Marianne Williamson and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, but four had the heft and credentials to be taken seriously – Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and, the last being the woman who was once the front runner, Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Elizabeth Warren has a terrific track record, is widely admired, and knows her policy and detail down to the decimal point. She was likeable and credible. Could it be maybe just this once that a breakthrough was possible?

And then, just as it seemed most possible, her lead evaporated. She came third in her own home state. And she withdrew on Thursday. That is a hard blow.

I certainly can identify. I know that as a woman leader, I faced very different hurdles than a man. Sexism came in all directions, from other parties and from our news media, though nothing is as vile as the anonymous social media content with its threats of violence and general bullying and abuse.

It is not new. As Canada’s first woman mayor of a major city, first elected in 1951, Ottawa mayor Charlotte Whitton famously said, “Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Fortunately this is not difficult.”

Still, seventy years later, it is maddening that the male world of politics with all its assumptions still dominates in our culture. For the last thirteen years, often excluded but fighting to get on the stage in leaders’ debates, it was always clear that when I got there, I would be the only woman. Barring Marilyn Gladu (MP for Sarnia) winning the Conservative leadership race (and she is also facing highly biased coverage) unless the Greens choose another woman leader, Canadians will be staring at a stage of men in the next elections campaign. Now, I have no intention of endorsing candidates in the Green leadership context, and many very fine and well-qualified men are running, so let me add, speaking generically, “may the best woman win!”

Can we find a way to do politics so differently that a woman will always be on the stage- without excluding qualified men?

There is an active debate within the party about whether Canadian Greens should go to a dual-leader system. It would require a constitutional amendment, but the UK Greens recently took the plunge. While not suggesting we are limited to two genders, the Green tradition in many countries has been to have a male leader and a female leader. Such is the case in Sweden, New Zealand, Germany, the UK as mentioned, and a few others, although the majority still have single leaders with Australia, the US, Brazil, France, Netherlands, Denmark and Canada among others. Leadership candidate David Merner is raising the issue as he campaigns.

So on this International Women’s Day, I want to salute the Green women leaders who led the way. Women who were my friends – the brilliant Petra Kelly, German Green likely murdered by neo-Nazis (I do not buy the “official story,”) Kenya’s Wangari Mathai, the first person to win the Nobel Peace Prize for environmental work who died of cancer, the first Green elected in a first-past-the-post voting system, my dear friend Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion since 2010 (still the only Green in Westminster), Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Loeven, and the Brazilian former presidential candidate – who got 25 million votes – Marina Silva.

And to our own Greens – our federal caucus is the first one in the history of Canada with more women than men – with Jenica Atwin from Fredericton joining me and Paul Manly. The majority of PEI Green MLA’s, forming the Official Opposition, are also women. As a party we have strong women Green leaders from Adriane Carr in Vancouver City Council to MLA Megan Mitton in Sackville, New Brunswick. And, of course, I am so grateful to interim leader Jo Ann Roberts who is doing a fabulous job as we move through a year of transitions.

So, women, go forth and celebrate…. and a small wee word of humility. We are not always the right choice — Sarah Palin, Theresa May (not related), Margaret Thatcher…!

Happy International Women’s Day!

Elizabeth

This weekly blog is published by Elizabeth’s EDA in Saanich-Gulf Islands. You can sign up for it here.

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Today, during International Women’s Day, the Elizabeth May joins Canadians as they celebrate the achievements of women, while recognizing the challenges that lie ahead:

“As we celebrate women around the world today, we must remain vigilant on issues of gender equality. In Canada, we are finally making progress on pay equity for women,” said Elizabeth. “In October 2016, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour committed to bringing forward legislation for pay equity, and I urge the Minister to introduce this legislation as soon as possible.

“Despite progress, we must recognize that we still live in a patriarchy. The advent of Trump has created an apparent permission to be misogynist. We have to be very vigilant to step up for women’s rights.

“By embarking on meaningful policy action in government, we can advance equality and accelerate gender parity. Inequality and gender bias in the workplace must be eliminated, and the government needs to lead.”

“We also await meaningful action resulting from the national inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, and we must continue to support societal institutions that confront violence against women as a whole. There is still much work to be done.”

International Women’s Day was first recognized by the U.N. General Assembly in 1977 and is celebrated on March 8 every year.

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“Canadian women in a wide variety of roles, jobs, and lifestyles across the country deserve to be recognized for their courage, determination, and sacrifices,” said Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, MP Saanich-Gulf Islands.

The list of changes affecting women negatively since the Harper Conservatives came into power in 2006 includes:

• In 2006, Stephen Harper’s first policy announcement as prime minister was to cut Canada’s year-old, $5-billion national child-care plan, supported by all provincial governments, despite protests from child-care advocates and the provinces.
• In 2006, Status of Women Canada (SWC) funding was temporarily cut by $5 million, forcing the closure of 12 of its 16 regional offices; changing the SWC Women’s Program mandate to exclude “gender equality and political justice;” redrafting funding criteria so that advocacy groups and women’s service providers, such as rape crisis centres, are ineligible for funding.
• In 2007, offices for the National Association of Women and the Law, a well-respected organization that had made valuable contributions to improving women’s human rights in Canada, were closed.  Funding was also eliminated for other women’s organizations like the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW).
• In 2009, the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act allowed public sector employers to consider “market demand” when setting compensation levels – preserving the policy of paying men more than women for equal work
• In 2010-2011, Status of Women Canada spent just over $10 million on violence against women – an inadequate response to a serious problem which directly affects an estimated one in six Canadians and costs the economy nearly $7 billion dollars a year in missed work, medical, policing, and justice expenses.  Advocates have called on the federal government to work with the provinces and territories to develop a national strategy and action plan to combat violence against women.
• The challenges facing First Nations women are particularly worrying.  Sisters in Spirit, supported by the Green Party and others, have demanded an open, public inquiry into the alarmingly high rates of murdered and missing aboriginal women – without success.

“Not only have key programs and organizations been cut or eliminated in recent years, but there has been little or no progress in reducing violence against women and girls across Canada,” said Rebecca Harrison, Green Party Women’s Issues Critic.  “There have been few initiatives to deal with other issues facing women, including poverty, poor health, inadequate housing, and too few full-time jobs.”

In its October, 2012, gender gap ranking, the World Economic Forum revealed that Canada had slipped three spots compared to 135 other countries in terms of gender equality.   In fact, we have dropped from the world’s Top 20 countries mainly because of low female representation in politics.   Canada is now 21st – behind the Philippines, Latvia, Cuba and Nicaragua.

“As we celebrate the women of today, we should also confront the fact that, with cuts to Old Age Security and Employment Insurance, for example, women of the future will know even greater insecurity,” said May.  “Our best gift to them is to fight to protect and restore our social programs and create a more egalitarian society.”

Note: Our media advisory for Ms. May’s International Women’s Day event in Vancouver.

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11:00 a.m. – Elizabeth May will participate in a press conference with Jane Sterk, Leader of the Green Party of BC and Adriane Carr, Vancouver’s first Green Party City Councilor, on International Women’s Day to outline their current priorities to support women’s equity and leadership.

East of Main Café
223 East Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC

NOTES:

• Green Party of Canada’s release for International Women’s Day.
• The three Green leaders will be will be joined by Carrie Serwetnyk, the first woman inductee into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame and founder of Why the Women’s World Cup Matters.

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 “It is important to look at legislation through the lens of how it impacts women,” said May.  “For example, cancelling the long-gun registry hurts women at risk of domestic violence, closing Employment Insurance offices is a hardship for many unemployed women, and potential cuts to Old Age Security is a worry for senior women.  We must ensure that legislation is beneficial for women at any age.”

 “Female political representation is still lacking in Canada.  Women are still not paid equally to men.  Key programs such as the Court Challenges for promoting Charter rights have been lost.  The Status of Women Canada has been hampered in its work.  And we are still lacking adequate child care programs in Canada.  While March 8th is a good day to celebrate, we must also realize that the journey is not yet complete,” said Green Status of Women Critic Rebecca Harrison.

 Women’s rights in the House of Commons made news recently when questions were raised over the right of an MP to vote while holding her baby.  “As a woman in Parliament, I see clearly that we have a ways to go before we achieve equity,” said May. “We need more women to get involved in the political process and for that to happen, we need to have settings and procedures that are welcoming and encouraging. Women should not feel they have to choose between having a family and being involved in their government.”

 Women represent over half of the population of Canada, yet less than 21 percent of Parliamentarians are women.

 The United Nations International Women’s Day began in 1911 to coordinate efforts for women’s rights and participation in social, political and economic processes.

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March 8 is International Women’s Day and in honour of that day we’ve compiled a list of Canadian women worthy of note. Because no list is exhaustive, we know there are many names we’ve left off. Add your thoughts on who should have been included on our Facebook page.

Elizabeth May – As the current leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May is a prominent environmentalist. In the 2011 election, she became the first Green Party candidate to be elected into the House of Commons.

View the full original article >>

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