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Ottawa, Ontario
October 6, 2006
National Council of Women of Canada
Is this how Stephen Harper honors his signature on the
CEDAW Pledge?
Cutting 5 million dollars from
Status of Women Canada's operating budget
of 13 million gives women cause for grave concern about the Canadian
government's commitment to their equality. Does the government intend
to
dismantle the one department dedicated to the advancement of women's
equality in Canada? This decision was made without consultation or debate.
Abolishing the national childcare
program, and failing to support the
adoption of pay equity legislation are further examples of arbitrary
decisions taken without consultation with those most affected by these
actions.
CEDAW, the UN Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against Women, is the Human Rights Treaty for Women. Does
this government not understand that it is bound by treaty obligations
and that it must use properly debated legislation, passed by a majority
of the elected members in order to rescind Canada’s ratification?
The elimination of the Court
Challenges Program effectively silences
marginalized Canadians. Treasury Board president John Baird stated
recently that it “did not make sense for the government to subsidize
lawyers to challenge the government’s own laws in court”. Women
continue
to make up a disproportionate number of those marginalized Canadians.
The Court Challenges Program
enabled those citizens without resources,
who believed that their rights had been legally infringed to challenge
the law both federally and provincially. In 2004 – 2005, the program
handled 56 equality rights applications and 26 language-related cases
that otherwise would never have been presented.
How will the government ensure
that these citizens’ rights under the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are protected, if the only
viable recourse open to them has been eliminated?
The elimination of the Volunteer
Canada Initiative will directly affect
volunteer organizations. More than 12 million Canadians, the majority
of
whom are women, provide 2 billion hours of volunteer work annually.
The administrative advice, expert
information and training courses
available to small but important volunteer-staffed community initiatives
has enabled many first-response services for the disadvantaged and
desperate to be established. This agency was a key resource for all
volunteer-dependant service organizations, like shelters. More to the
point, Volunteer Canada made it possible for these organizations to
purchase necessary insurance without which it is almost impossible to
attract the key volunteer officers they need. All charities must comply
with government regulations and insurance is just one part of that
responsibility.
This decision is an attack on
the public spirit which built Canada,
including Canada’s political parties. This was considered a non-core
program that “does not meet the priorities of the federal government
or
Canadians”.
How can the work of 12 million
Canadians not be necessary or worthy of
support? Will this government now fund first response services?
Cutting services to immigrants
and adult literacy programs in the
department of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSDC) will hurt
new citizens, in particular women who often have difficulty accessing
the support systems that will enable them to become part of the paid
work force.
This was another arbitrary decision
taken in spite of requests from
organizations to discuss the programs that immigrant and visible
minority women, including Aboriginal women, need. It is shameful that
a
government with a huge surplus in revenues would act, ostensibly to “cut
the fat” to deny these women the assistance they need.
Does the Harper Government see
any such expense, which would in the end
enable these women to become tax-paying citizens, as just waste?
These cuts were done with out
consultation or debate. The long-term
effects of will prove to be detrimental for the advancement of equality
for women as well as other marginalized citizens. We ask for a
moratorium on any further budget cuts. These programs should have their
funding reinstated.
Consultation with stakeholders
such as women’s equality-seeking groups
has traditionally preceded major policy changes. This departure from a
democratic and transparent process is not only deplorable; it is
unconscionable.
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For more information
contact:
National Council of Women of Canada
613-232-5025 www.ncwc.ca
ncwc@magma.ca
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