Category: Member Journalism

Today is international women’s day. It’s a chance to reflect on the road traveled and the long road still ahead. As of 2012, Canada ranks 21^st on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report; a yearly study on gender equality among 135 countries.¹

That said, we were three points higher in 2011. According to the World Economic Forum, Canada fell three spots because of “a small decrease in the secondary education ratio and in the percentage of women in ministerial positions.”²

In fact, Canada has suffered a steady decline since 2006, due primarily to the absence of women in politics.

While Canada has legislation in place to prevent workplace discrimination based on gender, it’s a little harder to do that in the political arena… or is it?

Many countries have passed quota legislation to make sure women were well represented in office. Costa Rica is an excellent example:

“The first quota legislation in 1994 basically relied on Costa Rica’s political parties to voluntarily increase the participation of women in elections. A second set of laws in 1998 mandated that women occupy at least 40 percent of each party’s candidate list, and in the 2002 election the law required that women be in at least 40 percent of the electable positions.”³

According to Texas’ Rice University, the number of women occupying positions within municipal legislatures in 2002 “was unmatched by any other democratically elected national legislature in the world”.

Costa Rica is currently one of the very few countries headed by a democratically elected woman – there are currently only 17.

Heather Sams, the Union’s National Equity Representative for Women, says that women in Canada are still a long way from reaching parity with men in politics.

“Think about it, last election Canadians sent a record number of women to the House of Commons,” said Sams. “That number was 76 – most of them were NDP… but that’s still just barely 25% of the seats in the House.”

And while women continue to be underrepresented in Canadian politics, there are still other battles that need our attention, especially in the workplace.

Sams says that the income gap between men and women continues to be a real problem in Canada.

“As unionized women, we’re almost there – but non-unionized women are still fighting a tough battle,” said Sams.

According to the Canadian Labour Congress, unionized women earn 93% as much as their unionized male counterparts, while non-unionize women only earn 75% as much as non-unionized men. In the private sector, the unionisation rate among women is also lower than that of men.⁴

“Basically, we’re still a long way from equality in the workforce,” concluded Sams.

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[1] Hausmann, R., Tyson, L. & Zahidi, S. (2012). The Global Gender Gap Report, World Economic Forum.

[2] Idem

[3] Sherindan, P. (2005). To elect more women, countries should follow Costa Rica, Rice University News and Media.

[4] Still A Long Way From Equality. (2008). Canadian Labour Congress.

“Death leaves a heartache.”

Those were the words on a card that Jennifer Chieh Ho, the UNE’s Regional Vice-President for B.C. and Yukon, received during last week’s Memorial March.

While countless Canadians were putting final touches on their Valentine’s Day plans, many others took to the streets to honour our country’s missing and murdered women. The first Memorial March took place 22 years ago in Vancouver’s downtown eastside.

Over the past decade, these marches have started taking place in many cities across Canada.

Kristin Gilchrist, a co-founder of Families of Sisters in Spirit and a doctoral student at Carleton University’s department of sociology, says these marches have grown considerably thanks to the important work of countless grassroots organizations.

“They draw critical awareness to the violence happening in our communities, especially violence directed at Indigenous women,” wrote Gilchrist.

Chieh Ho and a few members of her Local attended this year’s march where it all started: in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. She said she was especially happy to see such a diverse group of allies demonstrating for this important cause.

“There were many aboriginal brothers and sisters, but there were also a very encouraging number of men and women of all nationalities, of all ages, who came to support,” she remarked.

“The march took us to a number of spots where women were found murdered or were last seen before they went missing,” said Chieh Ho. “We took a moment at each spot to honour each woman.”

Chieh Ho said that a rose was left to mark each spot: a red rose for women found murdered – a yellow rose for women who have gone missing.

“I was a bit shocked and saddened by the number of times we stopped,” she added.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada has a list of more than 500 confirmed cases of missing and murdered native women – and those are just the ones they can actually confirm.

Gilchrist says that Indigenous women face many barriers when it comes to being heard.

“Barriers are especially apparent when there’s a failure by allies to make connections between anti-violence, anti-colonialism, and settler responsibility,” wrote Gilchrist.

She says Indigenous women’s voices are often included only as an afterthought or silenced altogether. And it’s not at all uncommon for those running their own agenda to simply expect these women to go along with their plans.

“These things happen far too often,” she added.

The Harper government continues to brush off demands for a public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women.

As Jennifer Lord of the Native Women’s Association of Canada told us last year: “This is what the families want.”

There are many photos of the march on Flickr.

Everyone knew that I was ‘different’ – everyone except for me.

My family tried very hard to take the concept of “different” out of my understanding. Others took great pride in pointing out my disability to my parents and siblings – and to me. Some, believe it or not, thought that they were being helpful. Some just intended to be funny; others meant to be cruel.

All I know is how it made me feel.

I learned early that I would have to toughen up if I was going to be able to deal with being ‘different’. After all, I was reminded of my disability every day. Sometimes it was intentional and sometimes it was accidental – but I was reminded nonetheless.

I remember riding in an elevator with a father and his young son. As I left the elevator, I heard the child ask his father, “Why does that man walk like that?” His father quickly and softly replied, “Don’t ask questions”.

Why not? What is the fear? The fear of offending? Walk around me, ignore me or laugh at me – will I not be offended then? Is it the fear of embarrassment? Whose embarrassment? Yours or mine?

I wish that everyone had the self-assuredness of that young boy; I wish they had the courage to ask their nonjudgmental questions so that they could come to an understanding to satisfy their curiosity. I wish everyone would simply accept me just as I am.

Yes, I am different. But so are you. We need to be! Imagine how boring life would be if we had 8.3 billion copies of the same person.

We all need to learn ways to bring people together, not force people apart.

Unity in Diversity should be celebrated every day. On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, make it a point to ask someone to share a part of their story with you – and yours with them.

You may be surprised at what you find out – about them, or about yourself!

Michael Freeman is the Union of National Employees’ Regional Representative for Human Rights in Ontario.

This National Coming Out Day, come out as an ally!

National Coming Out Day is October 11. It’s a day for the men and women of the LGBT community to stand strong and be counted. It’s by being visible – not hiding in a closet – that we can make change happen.

But we can’t do it without allies! We can’t defeat homophobia and transphobia without our straight brothers and sisters standing with us.

There is strength in numbers. By standing together in solidarity, we break down the barriers placed in the way of equality; we form one strong human race.

Allies have an important voice; it’s by adding their voice to ours that we break down prejudice, injustice and closed-mindedness. It’s with their help that we succeed in protecting human dignity.

Injustices aren’t remedied by standing in the shadows, watching and doing nothing. Being a silent supporter will assist a select few people, but it won’t change things on a global scale. Allies need to be strong, visible and active to facilitate change.

For those out there who are already doing this: thank you very much.

Through education and activism, anyone is able to stand up and be heard as an ally. Do you have the courage to become an ally for change?

Chris Little-Gagné
Assistant Regional Vice-President, Manitoba region

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The Canadian Labour Congress has a guide for allies [PDF] of the LGBT community. It’s a helpful tool for members who wish to educate themselves on how to become stronger advocates for equality.