Saturday, December 9

Two Minute Action on the Closures

The Conservatives have announced that they will close 12 of 16 Status of Women Canada offices in 8 provinces.

What you can do today:

Support the PSAC members working at SWC. Send them an email! Close to 40 PSAC members will be losing their jobs on April 1 st , 2007 . Others will remain in place and do their best to fulfill SWC's mandate. Tell them we appreciate all their work on behalf of all Canadian women. Let them know we believe in women's equality. Let them know we are fighting back


What do the closures means for women ?

  • 61 out of 131 positions are being cut, effective April 1, 2007 . The majority of these positions are held by PSAC members. Pink slips have started arriving at SWC offices across the country.
  • The new senior management team is being reduced from 7 to 6. A new Deputy Coordinator position is being created.
  • 12 out of 16 regional offices are being closed in the following communities: Vancouver , Saskatoon , Winnipeg , Thunder Bay , Toronto , Hamilton , London , Ottawa , Ste-Foy, Halifax , Charlottetown , St. John's.
  • Status of Women Canada's regional presence will be limited to four “points of service”: Edmonton , Ottawa (at Headquarters), Montréal and Moncton.
  • Regional office staff will no longer represent SWC on federal councils and other government initiatives. They will no longer have the mandate to liaise with their provincial and territorial counterparts. Their mandate to provide information to the general public will be limited. Their technical assistance to women's groups will be limited to priority groups – Aboriginal and immigrant women.
  • The federal government's in-house expertise on women's policy issues is being lost.
  • SWC staff have worked hard on behalf of all Canadian women from coast to coast to coast. They are program officers, researchers, policy analysts, communications experts, managers, administrative and support staff, and technical staff.

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