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FEDERAL NEWS ARCHIVE (2008-2010) [See current]
Number of working mothers doubles since 1976
In 2009 over 70% of women with children under the age of 16 living at home were employed.
National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)
December 9, 2010
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The number of women with children that are employed has been steadily rising during the last three decades, according to a release by Statistics Canada.
The release is based on the first section of the latest edition of “Women in Canada” which Statistics Canada publishes periodically.
In 2009 over 70% of women with children under the age of 16 living at home were employed which is nearly twice the rate in 1976.
The report, which uses data from the Labour Force Survey, indicates the employment rate for women whose children were under the age of 3 was 64.4% in 2009, which is over double the rate of 27.6% in 1976.
The number of women with a paid job in Canada was 8.1 million in 2009 and nearly three-quarters of these jobs were full time. However, women are still more likely than men to work part time – nearly 7 out of 10 part time workers in 2009 were women.
Although the majority of employed women continue to work in occupations where they have been traditionally concentrated such as teaching, nursing, clerical or sales, the release indicates that women have increased their representation in several professional fields.
In 2009 women made up 55.2% of doctors, dentists and other health occupations and the made up 72.5% of professionals employed in social sciences or religion.
Women accounted for 35.5% (or close to 1 million) of all self-employed workers in 2009.
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Federal parties unite in call for anti-poverty strategy
By Norma Greenaway
Province
November 17, 2010
OTTAWA — Conservative MPs have given a qualified nod of approval to a groundbreaking all-party report that calls on the Harper government to pursue an aggressive strategy to reduce poverty.
The report, introduced Wednesday in the House of Commons, calls for pumping more money into affordable housing across the country, as well as increased supports to parents, seniors, people with disabilities and jobless and older workers.
The Commons committee on human resources released the report after almost three years of cross-country hearings designed to develop a recipe for reducing poverty.
Liberal and New Democrat MPs on the committee cheered the support given to the final report by their Conservative colleagues. They said qualified Tory backing is a good beginning if progress is to be made toward eradicating poverty. The Bloc Quebecois also signed on.
The committee said implementation of the recommendations will contribute to the development of an effective federal poverty reduction plan that will reduce poverty rates and allow more people to work in good jobs.
"The committee agrees that the time has come to seriously address the risk factors associated with poverty, and that the federal government can work in co-operation with other levels of government, aboriginal stakeholders and community organizations to ensure that all Canadians live in dignity and can fully and actively participate in Canada's social and economic life," the report said…
Read online
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Education: A report of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing
Martin Guhn, Anne Gadermann & Bruno Zumbo
October 2010
Download Report Highlights
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Ottawa rejects Senate plan to fight poverty
Toronto Star
2010/09/28
By Laurie Monsebraaten
The Harper government has refused to adopt any of the 74 poverty-fighting recommendations that were part of a sweeping Senate report on homelessness and poverty.
Instead, the government’s response Monday night to the Senate’s 300-page report was a 20-page list of Ottawa’s current programs and a commitment to “take the committee’s recommendations under advisement as it continues to find ways to help Canadians succeed.”….
Among the report’s 74 recommendations is a call for Ottawa to set a goal of “poverty eradication” and to work with the provinces to create a national child-care system, a federal housing strategy and to ensure income support for people on welfare meets the poverty level…
The Senate adopted the report in a unanimous vote April 29.
Read online
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The economist in Harper knows exactly why he's decimating the census
Rabble
By Frances Russell
August 18, 2010
… Stephen Harper's Conservatives know that changing the 2011 long-form census from compulsory to voluntary makes it useless for public and private Canadian decision makers. That's exactly why they're doing it.
An economist, the prime minister understands the value of statistics. He appreciates that authoritative statistics on the relative social and economic well-being of individual Canadians empower the disempowered to demand government programs (higher taxes) to reduce poverty and disparity and promote upward mobility. … Addressing social and economic inequality should be left to individual initiative and private charity.
That's why he's decided simply to stop gathering the numbers that provide an accurate socio-economic profile of Canadian society… from the day it was sworn in, the Harper government was determined to eliminate government funding for any and all forms of social advocacy, their agencies and research, at home and abroad.
The elimination list is long and getting longer -- and it is stunning. Here's a small sample: the Court Challenges Program, the Status of Women, the Canadian Council on Social Development, the Canadian Council on International Cooperation, StatsCan's workplace and employer survey, which tracks job vacancies, benefits, and private pensions; StatsCan's survey of financial security, and StatsCan's longitudinal survey of immigrants to Canada….
If you are determined to halt, if not roll back, Canada's advances in social and economic equality, turning the long-form census into an unreliable statistical mishmash takes you a giant step towards your goal.
Read online
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Ruling backs working mother’s case: Family rights victory hailed as ‘groundbreaking’
By Don Butler, The Ottawa Citizen
August 8, 2010
During her six-year battle for fair treatment from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), there were “stomach-churning moments,” Fiona Johnstone admits. …
The tribunal ruled Friday the CBSA discriminated against Johnstone, a border services officer, by failing to accommodate her needs after the birth of her two children.
At the time, Johnstone was employed at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, where full-time employees rotate through a complex 24-hour, seven-day-a-week work schedule with no predictable pattern.
When she returned to work in January 2004 after the birth of her first child, Johnstone asked to work full time on a fixed shift so she could arrange child care.
But she ran up against what the tribunal called an “arbitrary unwritten policy” that limits CBSA employees who seek fixed shifts for reasons of child care to part-time hours.
That forced her into part-time work, with a resultant loss of income, benefits, pension rights and opportunities for advancement….
The CBSA’s treatment of Johnstone, the tribunal ruled, violated a section of the Canadian Human Right Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of family status in employment matters.
It ordered the CBSA to cease its discriminatory practices and establish written policies to address family status accommodation requests within six months.
It also ordered the agency to pay Johnstone $35,000 in special compensation and general damages for pain and suffering — the maximum allowed by law — as well as back pay from 2004 to the present.
“CBSA’s conduct has been willful and reckless, showing a disregard for Ms. Johnstone’s situation and denying that a duty to accommodate exists on grounds of family status arising for childcare responsibilities such as hers,” the tribunal said.
John Gordon, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, hailed the decision as “groundbreaking” for Canadian families.
“It’s a huge victory. It tells employers that when it comes to accommodation on issues such as this, they have to be taken very seriously.”….
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Poverty Elimination Bill Introduced! Bill C-545
On Thursday, June 17, NDP MP Tony Martin tabled private member’s Bill C-545, An Act to Eliminate Poverty in Canada. Not only does this bill speak to a tremendous need in this country, it also reflects significant civil society consultation and multi-party collaboration.
Built on a strong human rights framework, the bill emphasizes income security, housing and social inclusion as core priorities. “The purpose of this Act is to impose on the federal government the obligation to eliminate poverty and promote social inclusion by establishing and implementing a strategy for poverty elimination in consultation with the provincial, territorial, municipal and Aboriginal governments and with civil society organizations.”
The introduction of Bill C-545 marks a significant step towards fulfilling the second goal of the Dignity Campaign (a federal poverty elimination act). The campaign and all of its supporters now have the summer to begin rallying public awareness of and support for the Bill, prior to its reading in the fall legislative session!
More information:
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Canadian Index of Wellbeing
Article excerpt
June 15, 2010
CTV.ca
Many Canadians are struggling to meet the competing demands of the workplace, their families and their own needs, and that's leaving them feeling continually stressed out, a new report finds….
The report found that while fewer of us are working long hours at the office, more of us are working non-standard hours, such as on the weekends, or during evenings, or rotating shifts. That's while also looking after children and seniors….
"If we continue on this path, I think the impacts are going to be greater," the chair of the CIW advisory board, Roy Romanow, told CTV's Canada AM ….
The report was compiled using data collected in Statistics Canada surveys over nearly two decades. Among the report's findings:
- One in five Canadian adult feels "caught in a time crunch," experiencing high levels of time pressure
- That number is on the rise: the proportion of those who said they were in a time crunch grew to 19.6 per cent in 2005 from 16.4 per cent in 1992
- The average proportion of our waking lives devoted to social and leisure activities dropped by 20 per cent between 1998 and 2005
- A much higher proportion of females than males reported time pressure in 2005 -- 22.7 for women, 16 per cent for men
- More than one in four employed Canadians were responsible for the care of an elderly dependent, and one in five (16.8 per cent) had responsibility for both child care and elder care in 2009
- The proportion of Canadians worked non-standard hours (weekends, evenings, nights, rotating shifts) jumped from 23 per cent in 1992 to 29 per cent in 2009 …
Download the report
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The "F" word: STFU incident highlights Harperite vindictiveness towards feminists, critics.
May 11, 2010
by Penney Kome, editor of Straight Goods
EXCERPT
Stephen Harper is an economist, not a historian. But recent Canadian political history holds an important lesson for any government that displays open disdain for feminists and the women's movement….
… the first thing the Harper government did when it gained power in 2006 was to kill Canada's unborn universal daycare program. From there, his government slashed $5 million from Status of Women Canada's grant fund, closed most of its offices across Canada, and stripped SWC of its mandate to promote equality.
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Women's program cuts raise feminist ire
By Paula Arab, Calgary Herald
May 6, 2010
The Harper government's latest showdown with women's rights groups, suggests the time has come for Canadian women -- and men -- to reclaim the word feminist. Bring it back to its mainstream roots.
A day after Conservative Senator Nancy Ruth warned aid groups that they risk a backlash if they don't "shut the f---up," news reports revealed Status of Women funding for at least 14 women's groups wasn't renewed for the current fiscal year.
Read online
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Canadian teachers give failing grade to child-poverty efforts
By Meagan Fitzpatrick, Canwest News Service
April 20, 2010
OTTAWA — The federal government is getting poor marks for its efforts to reduce child poverty, according to Canada's teachers, who say the lack of action is visible in their classrooms every day.
Representatives from the Canadian Teachers' Federation were on Parliament Hill …. It is the third consecutive year that the CTF has made child poverty its focus for its annual meetings with parliamentarians…. and that it must include a robust national child-care program.
"The federal government's cancellation of its early learning and child-care agreements with provincial and territorial governments a few years ago was a mammoth mistake," said Donnelly.
Read more
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York University (Ontario) health researchers produce public primer on who gets sick and why
April 30, 2010
TORONTO - A report released ... by York University researchers offers Canadians the opportunity to learn how their living conditions will determine whether they stay healthy or become ill.
Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts shows why these factors are so important for health and documents the state of living conditions in Canada in an accessible manner for the Canadian public. The report finds these conditions are deteriorating, with serious ramifications for the quality and longevity of Canadians’ lives, and outlines specific ways that the situation can be improved. ….
Read more online
Section 5 of report focuses on: Early Childhood Development
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Canadian cities struggle with social services
Toronto Sun
By BRYN WEESE, Parliamentary Bureau
March 24, 2010
…. NDP MP Olivia Chow, formerly a Toronto city councillor, said the federal government needs to create “national standards” for child care, housing, homecare, transit, or “whatever,” which would provide funds for municipalities to provide social services.
“Because the federal government has walked away and left a complete void ... the municipalities are scrambling,” she said.
What’s worse, said Summerside, P.E.I., Mayor Basil Stewart, the FCM president, is that social services costs are leaving municipalities scrambling to fund other services.
“Often we have no choice but to rob Peter to pay Paul; deferring investments in roads or water treatment to pay for affordable housing,” he said….
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Canadian women lose ground in push for equality
Articles:
Canadian women's rights in decline, report says
Toronto Star, February 23, 2010
“The stinging report, which cites backward progress in everything from pay equity to child care, was prepared by an alliance of feminist and labour activists to counter the more flattering picture the federal Conservative government presented to the UN for the assessment…. The Conservatives' $100-a-month universal child benefit is not an adequate substitute or a realistic alternative for impoverished mothers, especially single ones, who need to work to support their families….”
Women lose ground in push for equality: report
February 22, 2010
CBC News
Women's status in Canada has eroded over the past five years, despite Ottawa's "unduly rosy picture of achievements in this country," say labour and women's groups.
"Women in Canada have lost ground in many areas," Barbara Byers, executive vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said in a statement as the report was released in Ottawa on Monday.
"So we decided to write our own report, and it provides a reality check on what the government is saying."
The CLC, along with the Canadian Teachers' Federation, the Feminist Alliance for International Action and others, will present the report to the United Nations' World Conference on Women in New York next month. It takes issue with the federal government's report to the UN on women's equality.
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An open letter to the leaders of Canada's political parties from the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada and Campaign 2000
Happy birthday UCCB: What can we show for the past 4 years?
OTTAWA, Feb. 10 /CNW/
To: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Official Opposition
Jack Layton, Leader, New Democratic Party of Canada
Gilles Duceppe, Leader, Bloc Québécois
Elizabeth May, Leader, Green Party of Canada
This week marks the 4th anniversary of the introduction of the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB), a $100/monthly payment for children under six with the stated goal of helping Canadians "balance work and family by supporting their child care choices". To date, between $7 and $8 billion in public dollars have been spent on this program and there is little to show for it.
Four years later, Canadian families are no better able to balance work and family than they were in 2006. Finding good quality affordable child care is as elusive as ever for parents. Expansion of child care has slowed, with spaces for only 20% of three to five year olds if parents can afford the fees which range from $600-$1,200 month. Modest and low income families, Aboriginal and rural families, parents of infants and children with disabilities are especially excluded.
Four years later, despite the sizeable public expenditure on the UCCB, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) continues to rank Canada's child care situation as one of the worst of its 30 member countries. Yet, there has been no public, performance-based evaluation of how the UCCB funds are used or whether they in fact "help Canadians balance work and family".
Our organizations have long advocated for public investment in a universal system of high quality early childhood education and child care services, accompanied by an effective national child benefit that lifts families out of poverty. Four years later, it is clear that the UCCB has abysmally failed to solve either the child care crisis or child and family poverty in Canada.
What's the solution? Across Canada, a broad consensus that transcends partisan politics, regions, age, income, ethnic and racial groups confirms the need for federal funding to build a child care system. Indeed, the December 2009 report of the all-party federal Standing Committee on Finance recommends that the federal government ... implement a national child care plan providing high-quality, affordable and inclusive child care services. This goal should be achieved through federal transfer payments to participating provinces and territories, and the plan should include measurable targets and timelines.
Today we are writing to urge all of you to "go for the gold" for Canada's children. We are seeking a public commitment from each of you on behalf of your parties to fund a national early childhood education and child care program in Budget 2010 and beyond. This strategy will meet policy objective of choice in child care and work-family balance
Yours truly,
Jody Dallaire, President, Child Care Advocacy Association Of Canada,
Laurel Rothman, National Coordinator, Campaign 2000
Response from Liberals
NDP reply:
New Democrats respond to open letter from child care advocates
Feb 11th, 2010
TORONTO – The open letter calling on federal leaders to commit to a national early childhood education and child care program sent by the Child Care Advocacy Association Of Canada is right on the mark, says New Democrat MP Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina).
“They are absolutely right that we need to go for the gold for Canada’s children. That’s why New Democrats have called for the next session of Parliament to be the Women and Children First session,” says Chow, the Party’s Child care and Children critic. “New Democrats have called for the legislation and funding to establish a quality, universal, accessible, national not-for-profit early learning and child care program.”
The Conservatives immediately cancelled the child care agreements with the provinces when they came to power in 2006 and replaced them with a meagre $100 per month “child care allowance” that is clawed back in taxes from most families. The Liberals are no better, having promised child care in every election since 1993, but never got it done.
New Democrats remain steadfast in their belief that quality early learning and child care is one of the most significant factors in positive long-term child development. Last week, big business agreed with New Democrats, as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution that calls on the federal government to “fund and assist in the development of a provincially-delivered effective early childhood development program.”
“I join the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada in calling for a commitment from the government and other opposition parties,” says Chow “New Democrats will not waiver in our commitment to a national early childhood education and child care program.”
Read online
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Deficit won't stop spending on child care, Ignatieff vows
CTV News
Feb 2, 2010
OTTAWA — Michael Ignatieff says a Liberal government would pour money into child care and early childhood education, no matter how deep a financial hole the Tories may have dug the country into by then….
"I've made it very, very clear this is the No.1 social priority of an incoming Liberal government. Why? Because we think it's the best way to create more equality, more opportunity, more fairness in our country. It's also the best anti-poverty program."….
Read more online
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Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada’s OPEN LETTER TO ALL Members of Parliament
To all child care advocates from coast to coast to coast:
Let’s demonstrate to our federal politicians that child care is a TOP PRIORITY for all of us in BC. Sign on to the Child Care Advocacy Association’s OPEN LETTER TO ALL Members of Parliament.
Read the open letter and further details.
To add your name in support, please email CCAAC at info@ccaac.ca
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New study shows major benefits from investing in child care
CUPE, September 2009
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Understanding and Addressing Workforce Shortages in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC): Project Literature Review of Socioeconomic Effects and Net Benefits
Prepared by The Centre for Spatial Economics for Child Care Human Resources Sector Council
September 2009
Full report / Executive Summary
Fixing Canada's economy could be child's play - if Conservative government listens
Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada Press Release
OTTAWA, Sept. 30 /CNW/ - To help fix Canada's economy the Harper government should look closely at a new Canadian study that confirms investing in child care programs provides one of the largest-if not the largest-economic boosts of any sector, says the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC).
"Figuring out the best investment for tax dollars to stimulate the economy should be child's play for the government if it reads this important report," said CCAAC Chair Jody Dallaire. "As an economist, Prime Minister Harper should quickly realize that funding child care programs is not just the right thing to do for parents and children, but also the smart thing to do for Canada."
Citing findings from a study on Canada's workforce shortages in child care by the Centre for Spatial Economics, Dallaire said an investment in the sector would practically pay for itself immediately while creating much needed jobs. The study included an analysis of the estimated economic and social impact of child care programs.
"While the government is promoting its $1,350 tax credit for home renovations, this study found that every $1 million invested in the child care sector creates about four times more jobs than putting it into the construction sector," Dallaire said.
The study adds to a longstanding body of evidence that cannot be ignored: the public benefits of quality child care programs outweigh the public costs. Yet the Conservatives have dramatically reduced spending on early childhood education and care to about $600 million a year, down from $950 million in 2006.
"We urge Prime Minister Harper to read this report and see for himself that investing in early childhood education and care not only benefits children and families, but it also creates the maximum possible jobs while passing the most revenue to government - it doesn't get any better than this," said Dallaire.
Among the study's key economic findings:
- Child care grows the economy. Every dollar invested in child care programs increases GDP (economic output) by $2.30-one of the strongest levels of short-term economic stimulus of all sectors, and far ahead of construction and manufacturing.
- Child care creates jobs. Investing $1 million in the child care sector generates almost 40 jobs-at least 40% higher than the next closest industry, and four times the jobs generated by investing $1 million in construction activity.
- Child care more than pays for itself. Even in the short term, more than 90% of the cost of hiring child care workers goes back to governments as increased revenue, and the federal government gains the most. Over the long term, every dollar invested in quality child care programs returns $2.54 in benefits to society.
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Canada’s Record on Poverty Among The Worst of Developed Countries—And Slipping
Ottawa, September 17
Media release
Poverty rates in Canada—especially among children and the working-age population—are among the worst of 17 leading developed countries, according to the Conference Board’s annual ranking on Society indicators.
With more than 12 per cent of the working-age population living in poverty, Canada is in 15th place out of 17 countries—a “D” grade—ahead of only Japan and the United States. More than one in seven Canadian children lives in poverty—resulting in a 13th place ranking and a “C” grade.
“Considering how wealthy this country is, these rates of poverty are unacceptable. Not only are we not making progress; we are losing ground,” said Anne Golden, President and CEO of the Conference Board. “Poverty rates among children and working age people are rising…
How Canada Performs: A Report Card on Canada is the Conference Board’s annual benchmarking analysis, which the Board has conducted since 1996. The Conference Board assesses Canada’s performance against leading countries in the domains of Economy, Health, Society, Innovation, Environment, and Education and Skills.
Read the media release
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Federal Pre-Budget Consultations Dates Announced
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Majority of Canadians would like to see full-day kindergarten: poll
Canadian Press
By Romina Maurino
June 25
TORONTO — A new poll suggests the majority of Canadians would like their provinces to follow Ontario's lead and combine daycare and kindergarten into a single full-day program...
A Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey found that 71 per cent of respondents said the plan for four and five year olds was either a good or very good idea. Ontario's plan was especially popular among women between the ages of 35 and 50.
The Ontario government plans to start phasing in optional, all-day kindergarten in 2010….
Some 1,000 respondents were also asked: Do you think your provincial government should introduce a similar program to enhance kindergarten and integrate it with daycare?
Nationwide, 70 per cent of respondents answered yes. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and B.C. respondents were the most enthusiastic with 74 per cent answering yes. Atlantic Canada was at 71 per cent, Alberta 70 per cent, and Quebec 65 per cent….
The plan means finding adequate funding to pay additional staff as well as finding space for the influx of students who will spend extra time at school….
Ontario's full-day option would be available to all - for a fee.
"When you provide full day learning it's universal; you create the context for having an affordable fee for learning," Pascal said.
For the most part, junior and senior kindergarten currently runs a half-day, and Pascal believes children who have attended full-day programs before Grade 1 fare better academically and have better social skills.
The changes suggested include expanding paid parental leave to 400 days, and giving parents the option to leave children at school from 7:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.
It could be in place as early as September 2010, …
Those who are concerned, he adds, should know the proposal would be optional: If parents just choose to put their kids in for a half day, then they can continue to do that….
The telephone survey of 1,000 Canadians was conducted between June 18 and June 21 and is considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Full day kindergarten proposal a hit [3 pages]
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A Generation of Day Care [Federal – Pan Canadian] Plans, Come and Gone
The Ottawa Citizen
Jun 18 2009
By: Randall Denley
Child care has been the subject of many big reports and grand plans in the past. Few have made it to reality.
- 1970: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women produces the first official document calling for a national child-care program.
- 1984: During the federal election all three party leaders promise to introduce a national child-care program.
- 1986: A ministerial task force on child care appointed by the Trudeau government calls for a national program.
- 1987: The Mulroney government appoints an all-party committee to study child care. It travels the country for hearings and then recommends a national program.
- 1988: The Conservatives introduce Canada's first child-care act. The proposal gets mixed reviews and dies on the order paper.
- 1993: Liberal Red Book promises to fund 150,000 new child-care spaces.
- 1997: Quebec launches its own program, promising child care for $5 a day.
- 2004: Prime Minister Paul Martin's budget promises $5 billion over five years for 250,000 child-care spaces.
- 2005: Liberal minister Ken Dryden finalizes child-care agreements with all the provinces, the closest any national child-care plan has made it to fruition.
- 2006: The Harper government cancels the Martin plan as soon as it takes office, replacing it with the universal child care benefit, giving parents $1200 a year per child under 6.
- 2008: A Canada ties for last place among 25 developed nations ranked by UNICEF according to the quality and breadth of their early childhood education.
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Women Less Than Stimulated by Harper's Economic Update
Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights
OTTAWA, June 12 /CNW Telbec/ - 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 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….
http://www.womensequality.ca/
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Women, Stephen Harper and the Economic Crisis
20 May 2009
Ottawa (20 May 2009) – The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has released a new leaflet entitled Women, Stephen Harper and the Economic Crisis. The leaflet examines the issues facing Canadian women during the current economic crisis.
The lack of an early childhood education and child care program, the inequities that exist for women in the Employment Insurance (EI) program and the pay gap between women and men have left Canadian women struggling long before the economic recession began. The Conservative government’s Federal Budget 2009 which was to respond to the economic crisis provided no support for women.
The economic stimulus provided billions of dollars into physical infrastructure projects and construction programs which are male dominated industries. It did not, however, put money into social infrastructures such as child care, health care and community-based social services which are female dominated industries.
It is harder for women to accumulate the number of hours to qualify for EI as they are more likely to work part-time, non-standard hours and have extended periods of time away from the workforce to handle family responsibilities. The extension of five weeks of EI benefits does not help women who cannot quality for benefits to begin with.
The Federal Budget did not provide or improve access to affordable child care which is essential in order for women to seek employment or retrain. For female single parents, many of whom are poor and cannot afford child care fees, a universal early education and child care program is imperative.
“Child care, EI and pay equity are just a few of the issues confronting Canadian women as the economy tightens. Governments must invest in social infrastructure which puts money into fields with high female employment and at the same time provides services which support our children, our elderly and our sick,” states NUPGE national president James Clancy.
“During this economic downturn, rather than continuing to deepen the equality gap, the government must address the issues facing Canadian women and must ensure that women are included in the economic recovery,” stresses Clancy.
Download the leaflet
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House of Commons Committees of the House (HANSARD) -- Early Learning and Child Care Act
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP)
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-373, An Act to establish criteria and conditions in respect of funding for early learning and child care programs in order to ensure the quality, accessibility, universality and accountability of those programs, and to appoint a council to advise the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development on matters relating to early learning and child care.
She said: Mr. Speaker, I am proud to reintroduce this landmark legislation designed to build a universal high-quality affordable and non-profit early learning and child care program for Canada.
Generations of children of hard-working families have been desperately waiting in vain for child care. Successive reports, including those from OECD and UNICEF, rank Canada last of all industrialized countries in early child education and care investment. A recent Senate report also pointed that Canada did not have a comprehensive national child care strategy.
My bill is supported by the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada and thousands of Canadian families. They want an act which ensures accountability that funding designated to children will be spent wisely on high quality education and care.
Just like the Canada Health Act becoming a cornerstone of Canada, this act would enshrine a national child care system in Canada. For the sake of our future generations, let us make national child care a reality. Canada simply cannot work without it.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Read Hansard
Related articles:
New minister of kids needed to fill child-care gaps: Senate
Sue Bailey
Canadian Press
April 27, 2009
OTTAWA — Canada needs the adult supervision of a new minister for children to lift its dismal international ranking on child care, says a new Senate report.
The 212-page document, entitled "Early Childhood Education and Care: Next Steps," says a minister of state for children and youth should craft a "pan-Canadian framework" of policies and programs to support kids and families.
That road map should be drawn up during a series of federal-provincial meetings within the next year, Senator Art Eggleton said Tuesday.
"It's in that context that they would work out how funding for a lot of these things would be."
The report also calls for clear benchmarks against which officials could measure progress each year compared with other countries.
…."Space creation has actually slowed down in Canada," said Jody Dallaire, head of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada.
… It's not as if demand for affordable care has decreased, she stressed.
According to statistics gathered by the Childcare Resource and Research Unit - one of the only bodies in Canada collecting such data - there was a regulated space for 20 per cent of kids under the age of five in 2006.
Yet almost 70 per cent of mothers with a child aged three or younger was working.
"It's desperation," said NDP social issues critic Olivia Chow. ….
New Democrats reintroduce Early Learning and Childcare Act
Press release
29 Apr 2009
OTTAWA – Today, New Democrats took a major step forward for children and working families through the reintroduction of landmark legislation designed to build quality childcare for future generations.
New Democrat Childcare Critic Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina) reintroduced The Early Learning and Child Care Act in the House of Commons today.
“The legislation builds towards the creation of a universal, high quality, affordable and non profit childcare program in Canada,” says Chow. “The Canada Health Act helped define Canada as a country, and after years of empty promises to Canadian parents, an act to enshrine a national childcare system in Canada is long overdue. Canada simply can’t do without childcare,” she added.
During the last session the Act was voted on twice, passed the Standing Committee and was awaiting third reading when the election was called last fall.
The re-introduction of the New Democrat Early Learning and Childcare Act comes in the wake of several reports that ranked Canada last of all industrialized countries in early childhood education and care investment. A recent Senate report also points out that Canada does not have a comprehensive national childcare strategy.
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Debates of the Senate of Canada (Hansard)
Read it online
EXCERPTS from March 4 question period: Child Care
Hon. James S. Cowan (Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. On February 10, the leader stated that her government had created 60,000 new child care spaces since taking power in February 2006. According to the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, an average of 50,831 new child care spaces were created each year between 2001 and 2004. By contrast, if the leader's numbers are correct, her government has only averaged 19,459 new child care spaces this year. Does the minister's government even care that it has created 30,000 fewer spaces per year than the previous government did?
Hon. Marjory LeBreton (Leader of the Government and Minister of State (Seniors)): As honourable senators know, the federal government has transferred significant sums to the provinces specifically for child care. In the next fiscal year, 2009-10, the provinces and territories will receive an increase in funding due to the 3 per cent escalator clause in the Canada Social Transfer announced in Budget 2007.
The provinces and territories receive $250 million a year to support the creation of child care spaces. This is in addition to the $850 million for childhood development and early learning and child care, for a total of $1.1 billion this year. This will increase to almost $1.3 billion by 2013-14…..
Senator Cowan: Honourable senators, during the election campaign of 2006, the Conservative Party promised to create 125,000 new child care spaces within five years. However, one of the first things that the government did after taking power was to cancel the early learning and child care agreements signed with all the provincial and territorial governments. This government cut $5 billion of federal funding to families who desperately needed it.
This government now claims that it has created 60,000 new child care spaces, yet the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada says, "The few spaces that were created across the country can be attributed to the provinces using their own investment dollars; Quebec is the best example of this."
Can the Leader of the Government in the Senate explain to this chamber exactly how many spaces were created in each province and how many of them were the direct result of federal funding?
Senator LeBreton: Honourable senators, with regard to the preamble to the question, the honourable senator continues to refer to a program that did not exist. Not one child care space was provided by that program. As Tom Axworthy said, it was a "deathbed repentance" announced in the last few weeks of the government of Paul Martin.
The honourable senator is incorrect when he quotes from the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada and states that these spaces were provided with the injection of provincial money. As I stated in my answer to the earlier question, they are receiving $250 million a year for child care spaces. The child care spaces being provided by the provinces and territories with federal government money would not, obviously, be created if they did not have this money.
With regard to this specific question, different provinces and territories use different methods of calculation. If it is at all possible to break down the numbers to determine how many spaces have been provided in each of the provinces and territories, I will do so. The figure of 60,000 spaces came from the provinces and territories, but I will seek further clarification.
Hon. Hugh Segal: Honourable senators, when the government leader looks into those matters as suggested by the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, could she also ask whether there has been any tabulation of the informal child care arrangements made possible by virtue of the decision of the Crown to actually provide money to parents so they can make decisions about their own children and not necessarily invest all the money in the institutional structure, where various middlemen have to take their piece before the money actually gets to the kids? That is important to put on the record. Canadians have the right to know how many people who work on ships, how many people who do not live in big cities and who have child care needs have been aided by this program — people for whom there would be no program if it was not for that decision by our government.
Senator LeBreton:…. As we said during the election campaign, the best child care advocates and providers in the country are parents. In smaller centres and rural communities, this money has provided for child care in a host of ways. We have had significant evidence of that child care in rural communities as well as with immigrant families.
Direct payments to families have provided parents who work shift work with the ability to provide assistance to their parents in return for looking after the children. The children benefit doubly; they benefit from their parents working, as well as from their grandparents being actively involved in their upbringing.
Hon. Art Eggleton: Honourable senators, I hear the statistics, but I also hear from many individuals, organizations and leaders across the country that people have a hard time obtaining quality early learning and child care; that they cannot access these facilities for their children because of long waiting lists. Others to whom the government is trying to give a choice with the Universal Child Care Benefit program say that the costs far exceed the support provided. One hundred dollars a month does not access quality child care. The government does not give these parents a choice.
Many people have said that investing in quality early childhood education and child care is good economics and good social policy. ….A Canadian cost benefit study furthers this view by showing that high quality early learning childhood education and care produces $2 in social and economic return to our society for every dollar invested.
Why did the government not invest meaningfully in early childhood education and care in the recent budget, rather than making only small modifications?
Senator LeBreton: Honourable senators, there is always some difficulty in accessing any service, but that does not take away from the fact that the federal government has transferred $250 million per year to support the creation of child care spaces. As I pointed out to Senator Cowan, this money is in addition to the $850 million for childhood development, early learning and child care, for a total of $1.1 billion this year. This is money transferred to the provinces and territories. The 3 per cent escalator clause in the next fiscal year will increase that amount even more….
Senator Eggleton: … Honourable senators, this issue is so important to so many people. In the 1970s, only about one third of the families in this country had two parents working. Nowadays, the figure is over 70 per cent. This issue has become more crucial given these tough economic times.
I want to mention one other organization, and I would like the minister's response. UNICEF, which has considerable interest in children, has placed this country last in its report with respect to support for early learning and child care. Why is that? What does the government have to say?
Senator LeBreton: I have not seen the UNICEF report. …
Hon. Jim Munson: Honourable senators, this question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate on a similar subject. The world is watching when it comes to child care and, frankly, it is embarrassing. From the United Nations to the OECD, Canada has been repeatedly criticized for its failed child care policies and their impact on healthy child development.
Despite paying the highest child care fees in the world, Canada tied dead last among 25 countries in December 2008. As Senator Eggleton said, this ranking appeared in UNICEF's report card on child care.
The honourable senator talked about the 60,000 spaces, but then there is the report card. When will this government see that child care is an investment and not an expense? How do we improve on the numbers?
Senator LeBreton: I do not share the honourable senator's pessimistic view of the state of child care in this country or his pessimistic view that this country is selling its families and children short. I do not buy that at all. I have no knowledge of how UNICEF bases its findings. I would have to see how UNICEF calculated its findings, but it surely did not take into account the $1.1 billion that the federal government transfers to the provinces and territories for early learning and child care and early childhood development….
Senator Munson: Does the government have any plans to sit down with its provincial counterparts in the near future?
The honourable senator talked about different provinces having different statistics and how they are spending money in their provincial jurisdictions. In a vast country like ours, 60,000 spaces do not seem like many. In the environment in which we are living — younger Canadians with children where both parents must work — these families are spending a lot of money on child care. That takes a great deal out of their paycheques.
I do not suggest a national child care plan, but does the government have something along the lines where it has its own report cards, and works in tandem with provinces to obtain better results for what is spent?
Senator LeBreton: Let me clarify something. The 60,000 child care spaces I spoke of were in addition to those that already exist. They are a result of the $250 million funding the government provided for in Budget 2007, an additional 60,000 child care spaces over what was there before we came into government. The number of child care spaces is not 60,000 in total….
Senator Munson: Since we are talking about statistics, I accept the honourable senator's argument. For the record, in terms of statistics, according to the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, an average of 50,831 new child care spaces were created each year between 2001 and 2004.
Hon. Claudette Tardif (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, to encourage businesses to create child care facilities at the workplace, the government is offering a tax credit of up to 25 per cent of eligible expenses for each space created. Can the Leader of the Government in the Senate tell us how many spaces have been created thanks to that tax credit since it was introduced in Budget 2007?
Senator LeBreton: I thought I answered that question. An additional 60,000 child care spaces were created, but as I indicated to the Honourable Senator Cowan and the Honourable Senator Eggleton, I will try and identify these numbers for each province…
Senator Tardif: I will rephrase my question. I am talking about the spaces created by businesses as a result of the tax credit they receive for up to 25 per cent of eligible expenses. I will answer my own question: not one space has been created by businesses. Most employers consulted in 2006 preferred to act in partnership with local child care service providers, instead of creating child care spaces themselves.
Why did the government not explore other options rather than promoting this program, which employers do not support?
Senator LeBreton: …With regard to the private sector creating child care spaces, the honourable senator claims that the sector has not provided any child care spaces. I know of several companies that have onsite child care facilities. I do not think the honourable senator's number of zero is credible.
The fact is that the care of our children is obviously administered by the provinces and territories, but there are many industries in this country working in partnership with the communities. There is a host of delivery systems. To suggest that our corporate or business communities do not take any responsibility for providing child care facilities is quite unfair to them, frankly….
Hon. Hugh Segal: When the minister is looking into the various matters raised in good faith by our colleagues on the other side, could I ask that she produce an analysis of the contracts signed between the previous federal government and the provinces? I ask the leader to produce such an analysis to see if any of those contracts in any way, shape or form compelled the provinces to spend a single dollar on daycare. I ask to know whether the contracts were enforceable, and whether the purport of that entire program was to spend money without actually creating a single daycare space in Canada during the period of that administration….
Hon. Lorna Milne: Honourable senators, this Conservative government obviously does not care. The 2006 census counted 268,575 children between the ages of zero and nine years living in Toronto. That is 11 per cent of the population of that city. However, licensed child care serves only 21 per cent of Toronto's children under the age of 10. Since the most recent Conservative Party election platform remains completely silent on commitments to improve access to child care spaces in Canada, can we assume the Leader of the Government in the Senate is satisfied that only one in five children in Toronto has access to licensed child care?
Senator LeBreton: Honourable senators, I am aware of the new slogan "The Conservative government does not care."
Senator Tkachuk: We care. We love kids.
Senator LeBreton: ….With regard to the issue of child care, I remind the honourable senator of what Tom Axworthy said when the honourable senator's party brought in their child care platform prior to the 2005-06 election: It was a "deathbed repentance." The fact is, the opposition party did absolutely nothing on the child care front from 1993 to 2005….
Senator Milne: ….Honourable senators, can the Leader of the Government in the Senate explain why her government is committed to lowering the status quo regarding child care funding in Canada when it is clear that the current state of affairs is not in the best interests of Canadian families, who I know, as does the honourable senator, all care for their children and want them to receive available and licensed child care spaces? Are the ABCs of Conservative child care policy "absent, backward and counterproductive"?
Senator LeBreton: Senator Milne uses the term "licensed." There are many forms of delivering child care. There is not one cookie-cutter model that can be applied.
Senator Milne: Most of the grandparents do not live next door, either.
Senator LeBreton: The fact is that the government takes many measures, such as lowering taxes, establishing job retraining programs and providing services to Canadians for the whole of the country. If families are working and are able to pay lower taxes, families are happy. We have taken many people off the tax rolls. All of this helps families. We realize that we are experiencing difficult economic times because of the global economic downturn, but to suggest that we as a government, or all of us as Canadians, do not take into account the importance of family and child care is quite wrong….
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Your child-care report: Rising costs, waiting lists frustrate parents
By Leigh Felesky and Amil Niazi, CBC News
February 23, 2009
"… there was nothing new for child care…."
Read the article
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Canada in last place on UNICEF report card for childcare
BY JANE WILLIAMS | FEBRUARY 20, 2009
Rabble – Redeye Vancouver Co-op radio
Lynell Anderson, senior researcher from Human Early Learning Partnerships at UBC, talks about why we scored so low and what we should do about it.
Check out the podcast
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Women Tired of Lip Service on Equality
Will send "lip service" Valentine chocolates to all MPs
Canadian Labour Congress
Feb 11, 2009
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 11, 2009) - Barbara Byers, Executive Vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, says that the Conservative government is paying lip service to improving the lives of women even as it refuses to support pay equity, child care and economic measures that support women's equality.
"Valentine's Day is coming up but the women of Canada aren't seeing much love from their federal Parliament these days," says Barbara Byers. "We're tired of having nothing but lip service paid to our issues."
So the Canadian Labour Congress is sending each Member of Parliament a gift of chocolate lips with an accompanying note - "women are tired of lip service".
Byers says that MPs should be warned that women across the country are organizing to challenge the federal government's failure to support issues of women's equality.
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Minister Finley's Fiction Will Not Save Child Care
Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada
February 05, 2009
OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- Child care experts across the country say Minister Diane Finley was wrong in her claims in the House of Commons. Diane Finley stood up yesterday in the House of Commons and said that the Conservative government has created over 60,000 new child care spaces in the last year.
According to national data from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, 26,661 spaces were created in Canada in 2006-2007. This represents the smallest increase since 2001. "The few spaces that were created across the country can be attributed to the provinces using their own investment dollars; Quebec is the best example of this. The Federal government has simply failed to meet the child care needs of Canadian families," said Jody Dallaire, Chair and New Brunswick Director of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada.
"Three years ago, on February 6 2006(1), Prime Minister Harper announced the cancellation of the early learning and child care agreements signed with the provincial and territorial governments. In total the Harper government cut $3.6 billion to families who desperately need child care services," states Jenny Robinson, Executive Director of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. "We are now starting to see the devastating results of these losses, Ontario municipalities alone are facing a $63.5 million shortfall just to keep the services we have right now."
In these harsh economic times families need child care services; people can't work or re-train without it. With thousands of parents facing unemployment in the next year the loss of a child care space or subsidy is an enormous economic blow.
Finley also stated in the House of Commons that the Conservative government's Universal Child Care Benefit has worked to create new child care spaces. "The UCCB has not created one child care space. It has not improved access to child care for parents and has done nothing to build a system of early learning and care across the country," stated Susan Harney, British Columbia Director, Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada.
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EXCERPTS from Hansard
February 4, 2009
Hon. Jack Layton (Toronto—Danforth, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, the government's efforts to meet the needs of families are truly a failure. We have learned that 6,000 spaces will be lost in Toronto. That means that 6,000 families will face a crisis and will have to find care for their children. In addition, almost 1,000 day care workers will lose their jobs because this government is neglecting the needs of families.
Why is there no support for child care centres in this Liberal-supported budget?…
Mr. Speaker, my question is really for the leader of the new coalition in the House between the Conservative Party and the Liberals.
I notice that the Prime Minister had trouble finding his way to ensure that the issue of women and their needs were mentioned in the budget. I am hoping that he will rise in his place and respond now that 6,000 families at least are going to lose child care for their families and 1,000 child care workers stand to be thrown out of work, which would make the Prime Minister and his government just as guilty of throwing people out of work as any multi-national corporation.
Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, CPC):
… We are increasing the Canada social transfer to the provinces by 3% and that includes significant amounts for child care to help families. In the last year alone that funding has been used to create over 60,000 new child care spaces right across this country to help families make a choice.
Hon. Jack Layton (Toronto—Danforth, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, the truth of the matter is that people are about to be thrown out of work and families are about to lose child care spaces.
Mothers and fathers, who are already at their wit's end with the economic crisis, are trying to figure out how they are going to find care for their children. This is about to roll out in many communities. The answer we are getting from the Conservative government is that it is about to do absolutely nothing about it.
In reading the budget, we see no action being taken around one of the most important issues facing us. How are we going to make sure that we get proper care for our youngest kids and support for their families if this is the kind of attitude we get? …
Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, three years ago we took action when we launched the universal child care benefit. That was designed to allow parents the choice of where and how to have their children cared for. …
On top of that, we are providing incentives to corporations so that they can create child care spaces on-site to help families. We will be increasing the Canada social transfer to the provinces, which includes child care funding, by 3% next year. We have already created 60,000 new child care spaces across the country.
Hon. Ken Dryden (York Centre, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister stands and answers leaders' questions on every subject but child care. Why?
I would also like to suggest that the Minister of Human Resources leave her office, go into a child care centre and ask parents. Then she would find out that the impact on child care of her government's programs has been zero. Not a little bit, zero…
Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear the action we have taken to help parents, to help families get the form of child care that they choose. Sometimes it is at home with mom or dad, sometimes it is with granny, sometimes it is informal daycare. We have made all of those options possible through our universal child care benefit which we delivered inside of six months to every parent with a child under the age of six. We know through our relationships with the provinces and the funding we provide them that so far in the last year they have created over 60,000 new daycare spaces.
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CCAAC: Child care services essential to economic stimulus
OTTAWA, Jan. 21 /CNW/ - "A healthy economy is dependent on access to affordable child care. Parents need it whether they are working, job searching or retraining," says Jody Dallaire of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada. "Trying to build an economic stimulus package without child care services is like trying to build a skyscraper without steel."
Canadians understand this reality. Recent polling shows that more than three-quarters of Canadians consider the lack of affordable child care to be a serious problem and 83% believe that government has an important role to play in helping parents meet their child care needs. When pushed to choose, Canadians prefer a direct investment in child care services to a monthly cheque at a rate of 2 to 1. (1)
In the upcoming federal budget, the Child Care Avocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC) will be looking for an investment of $2.2 billion dollars in child care services along with a commitment to work with the provinces and territories to build community-owned, quality, affordable spaces.
Every dollar spent on improving access to quality child care brings significant returns of between $2 and $17. But tax cuts and market incentives like the Universal Child Care Benefit haven't worked. In fact, they've earned Canada - outside of Quebec - last place ranking from the OECD and UNICEF in terms of meeting basic early learning and child care standards. Plus, direct cash transfers to families provide no accountability for the quality and affordability of child care services that they access.
"Tax cuts and payments to parents don't build child care" says Susan Harney with the CCAAC. "Canadian families need the federal government to invest in solutions that will actually improve access to quality, affordable child care services in their communities."
(1) See Environics polling results and Nanos polling results
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Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights Urges Social Infrastructure Spending and EI Reform, Warn against Pay Equity Rollbacks in Upcoming Budget
OTTAWA, Jan. 21 /CNW Telbec/ - Advocates for women's equality have sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and opposition leaders, urging them to consider measures that affect women in the upcoming budget.
"Women are half the population of Canada and they cannot afford to ignore us," said Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights. "Currently, women are less able to access EI, and are more likely to be in precarious work and to be penalized in the job market when child care is not available."
"Women are going to bear the brunt of this economic crisis, particularly marginalized women," said Jane Warren of Feminists for Just & Equitable Public Policy. "Disabled women, for example, are likely to suffer further marginalization, with increased barriers to education, resources, employment and opportunities, even over and above the barriers faced by able-bodied women."
The coalition is calling for spending on social infrastructure projects in addition to traditional infrastructure spending; for example, a national child care program that would support Canadian parents' participation in paid employment as well as creating jobs in a traditionally female-dominated sector. "It's shovel-ready and a sound long-term investment," said Emily King of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada. "Good quality child care has been proven to return substantive benefits to society on a number of levels."
Many organizations are concerned that the Conservative government, with its track record of opposition to women's equality, will use the economic crisis to push for more regressive measures.
"We're watching this budget very carefully," said Johanne Perron of the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity. In the November economic statement, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty proposed to make pay equity a bargaining chip between employers and unions. "To date, the government has not yet rescinded this proposal," said Perron. "That worries a lot of women."
"The equality of women is non-negotiable, especially in tough economic
times."
Open letter to Mr. Harper, opposition leaders and Status of Women Minister and critics:
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,
Sincerely,
Aalya Ahmad
C.C. Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe, Elizabeth May, Helena Guergis, Maria Minna, Nicole Demers, Irene Mathyssen
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Budget should invest in people, not tax cuts: CUPE President
OTTAWA, Jan. 22 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) wants the Harper government to choose a strong social safety net over tax cuts in next week's federal budget.
"The government must carefully consider how they will spend our public revenues," said CUPE National President Paul Moist. "Tax cuts will cripple the government's ability to provide the social services that struggling Canadians so desperately need during a recession and beyond. Public services need to be seen as a form of wealth that Canadians can invest in, both to care for people long term, and to create new jobs to stimulate the economy."
In addition to supporting a strong public sector, CUPE calls for a budget that supports infrastructure, workers, relief for the vulnerable, and provides better protection for pensions and investments.
Encourage Infrastructure:
Federal funding for municipal infrastructure should be doubled to $12 billion a year. Infrastructure funding should be limited to publicly-financed and operated projects, with a strong focus on green infrastructure and tied to made-in-Canada procurement measures.
Support Workers:
This budget should not make the same mistake as the ill-fated fiscal update and attack workers. The government must work with labour, understanding
that our country's workers are the backbone of our economy.
Provide Relief:
Strengthen and improve employment insurance for the 60 per cent of unemployed Canadians currently unable to receive EI benefits. The EI waiting period should be eliminated and a uniform national entrance requirement of 360 hours must be adopted, with benefits based on 60 per cent of earnings. Protect pensions with a guarantee fund, immediate increases to Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and phased-in increases to CPP/QPP.
Invest in Our Future:
Maintain public ownership of public assets and infrastructure. Resist any further attempts at privatization, including risky, overpriced public private partnerships. Improve governance of our financial institutions. Invest in social infrastructure programs - especially early learning and child care, home care, long-term care and for Aboriginal and First Nations communities.
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Crisis spending shouldn't leave some behind
Elsie Hambrook, Chairperson of the New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women
Times and Transcript
January 8th, 2009
… As governments scramble to put together economic stimulus plans, when we hear bailout packages for "the Big 3," we know they don't mean "home, school and daycare".
Yet, investing in caring for those who cannot care for themselves, health care, and primary education is as vital to our long-term economic health as airports, highways, wind turbines, and energy-retrofitted buildings, as American economist Randy Albelda said recently.
This time around, there have at least been a few commentators to wonder why, when we need to spend to get out of a recession, we build roads and buildings. We don't seem to think of investing in social infrastructure and human capital -- training, services, etc.
Worse still, in tough economic times, those social infrastructures are likely to be on the chopping block.
Like one commentator put it, let's "build up our intellectual and social infrastructure as well as the physical. Both are crumbling."
Don't get me wrong. Build roads or buildings where they are a priority, but we also need a highly educated workforce, so now could be a good time to invest in people, from early childhood development on up.
… As a side effect, women are expected to be the biggest losers in the current economic crisis, according to some commentators, unless political leaders rethink their rescue plans.
In New Brunswick, women make up only two per cent of the construction trades workforce. And that is not about to change soon, since for decades now, a tiny number of women enter the training and apprenticeship programs that prepare for non-traditional employment.
Yet, women represent half of the workforce. Even mothers without adequate child care and other family supports are more often than not holding down paid jobs. Three-quarters of all women with children aged 16 or under -- and almost two-thirds of lone mothers -- are presently out working for pay in our province.
If women are few and far between in construction and related fields, they all but own others like child care and home support, social work, health care and public school teaching.
We expect early child development specialists and mothers to say it, but we should take note when economists recommend it.
Many economists champion investment in early childhood education, highlighting significant long-term payoffs in areas including school readiness, skills development and parents' labour force participation.
Social programs can act as supports for both the economy and society, insists Canada's Caledon Institute of Social Policy. They are urging the federal government to increase funding for "shock absorbers" -- income benefit programs like Employment Insurance, the refundable GST credit and the Working Income Tax Benefit. By putting money into the hands of people who will spend it, social programs can help "restart the economic motor."
Especially since the Canadian social safety net is not what it used to be. Consider the changes to the Employment Insurance program in 1996 that tightened access to benefits by increasing the number of hours and the number of weeks needed to qualify. Women have been much harder hit as a group than men, because they are more likely to work part-time, non-standard hours and to be out of the workforce for extended periods of time because of family responsibilities….
If women are to have no more than their share of "economic slump", our governments must unlearn "doing what they did in the depression." A crisis is an opportunity and many interests are peddling their favourite ideas now that governments are spending, now that we are looking for explanations as to what went wrong and how to protect our future.
We can usually reach an objective -- including economic recovery -- by a variety of roads.
What criteria will be used to choose the means to the end? What weight will be given to our long-term commitments and obligations, such as to equality? Will we seize the opportunity to stimulate the economy and advance those goals -- light two candles with one flame, one might say -- or do they go by the wayside at times like this? Will proposed spending initiatives increase or decrease existing gaps between women and men?
Before Christmas, the federal finance minister appointed an Economic Advisory Council to provide him advice on how to launch a timely recovery. …Male bias in macro-economics is not only bad for women, as British economist Diane Elson reminds us, it is also bad for the prospects of encouraging a process of sustainable development.
Memo to governments: make sure there are life jackets for women in the rescue plans.
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Open letter to the right honourable Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada; Michael Ignatieff, leader of the opposition; and Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party
December 15, 2008
“The signatories to this letter consider the impending January budget to be an important
opportunity to include critical investment measures in support of working parents and the
care of their young children. The short and long-term returns on such investment are
significant and proven."
Read the open letter
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GG agrees to suspend Parliament: Harper
December 4, 2008
CBC News
Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean has granted a request from Stephen Harper to suspend Parliament until late next month, the prime minister announced on Thursday, a move that avoids a confidence vote set for Monday that could have toppled his minority government.
"Following my advice, the Governor General has agreed to prorogue Parliament," Harper said outside Rideau Hall after a two-hour meeting with Jean.
"When Parliament resumes Jan. 26, the first order of business will be the presentation of a federal budget."….
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