James Clancy writes to Stephen Harper, urging Tory government to reconsider.
Ottawa (24 Oct. 2006) - The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) has joined with Canadians across the country in condemning the Harper Conservative government’s recent attack on the Status of Women Canada, an agency which promotes gender equality.
In the past few weeks the Harper Conservatives removed the words 'women’s equality' from the mandate of Status of Women Canada, reduced the agency’s budget by 38.5% and made changes to the mandate and funding rules which prohibit women’s organizations from engaging in advocacy or lobbying activities.
Only groups that promote women’s 'participation' in the social, economic and cultural life of their community will be funded.
The Harper government has also undermined gender equality by abolishing the Court Challenges Program and announcing there will be no new proactive pay equity law.
The new funding mandate at Status of Women Canada will have a deep impact on many women’s organizations such as the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA), the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) and the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRAIW).
Negative impact already
In fact, a delay in providing funding resulted has already had a negative impact. NAWL was force to close its offices for the month of September.
James Clancy, NUPGE's national president, has written to the prime minister, protesting the changes on behalf of the union's 340,000 members across the country.
He is urging Harper to increase rather than decrease funding to women’s groups that advocate for equality and freedom from violence and to ensure that funding includes core funding to sustain the day-to-day operations of these groups.
“I urge you to reconsider your decision to reduce funding to the Status of Women Canada and rethink federal guidelines that take away one of the cornerstones of our democracy – freedom of speech,” Clancy said in his letter. NUPGE
| Text of Letter from James Clancy to Stephen Harper protesting funding cuts to Status of Women Canada October 16, 2006 The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I am writing to you on behalf of the 340,000 members of the National Union of Public and General Employees. We represent workers in the public and private sectors, a significant majority of whom are women. The National Union has worked tirelessly over the last 25 years to ensure equality for women both within our union and in Canada as a whole. We have worked closely with our allies in the women’s movement who have helped us research the situation of Canadian women in areas such as pay equity, domestic violence, child care and Aboriginal women’s issues. The members of the National Union are deeply concerned about the recent decision by your administration to reduce the funding to the Status of Women Canada by 38.5% and introduce federal guidelines which prohibit women’s organizations from engaging in advocacy or lobbying activities with federal funds. Women’s organizations that have received funding via the Women’s Program have played a vital role in Canadian democracy ensuring that the concerns of women are brought to the attention of policy makers and their input is provided in the law reform process. It is thanks to the dedicated work of women’s groups that we have been able to achieve such law reforms as the introduction of maternity benefits, the adoption of prosecutorial policies to criminalize wife assault and the amendment of federal and provincial human rights statutes to prohibit sexual harassment and discrimination based on pregnancy and sexual orientation. These are significant gains in the fight to achieve equity for women but the reality is that there is still a long road ahead. Statistics Canada recently reported that the average earnings of employed women are still substantially lower than those of men, women make up a disproportionate share of the population with low incomes and women are much more likely than men to work part time. The situation for immigrant women and Aboriginal women is even worse - immigrant women only earn 58 cents for every dollar earned by a Canadian born man and 38% of Aboriginal women live in low income situations. Girls are the victims of more than four out of five cases of sexual assault on minors. In 2005 only one in five members of parliament were women. It is clear that the need for a strong voice for women’s issues must continue. Women’s groups play a vital role in building gender equality and meeting Canada’s human rights obligations. The need for national support of equality seeking women’s groups has been recognized by such international bodies as the United Nations, the World Bank and the Association for Women’s Rights in Development. In a letter to the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) written during the last Federal election you stated your intentions to “take concrete and immediate measures, as recommended by the United Nations, to ensure that Canada fully upholds its commitments to women in Canada”. The recent steps by your government clearly do not reflect a commitment to Canadian women. The Federal government needs to increase rather than decrease funding to women’s groups that advocate for equality and freedom from violence. This funding should also include core funding to sustain the day-to-day operations of these groups. We need to ensure that women’s groups are able to freely speak about the issues concerning Canadian women and in doing so ensure that we uphold our commitment to the UN conventions that Canada has signed. I urge you to reconsider your decision to reduce funding to the Status of Women Canada and rethink federal guidelines that take away one of the cornerstones of our democracy – freedom of speech. Yours sincerely, (original signed by) James Clancy,
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