Halifax - Women protest outside Status of Women office on last day of operation
Dozens of people banged pots, chanted and waved mock gravestones Friday to protest Ottawa's decision to slash funding from the Status of Women budget.
The protesters gathered outside the regional office of the Status of Women in Halifax on its last day of operation to urge the federal government to reinstate $5 million it cut from the agency's budget.
"We really want Status of Women to be an equality seeking organization," Jen Crawford, a women's rights activist, said on a blustery day as passing trucks blared their horns in support.
"We don't feel very equal and we're not ready to settle for what's being given to us by the Conservative government and we'll protest until things change."
The office, which has one staff member, is being closed in the wake of the cuts last fall.
New Democrat MP Alexa McDonough said the decision to remove the word equality from the Status of Women's mandate is regressive and makes the office a farce.
"What a fraud it is to have a government in power that has a supposed commitment to advancing the status of women that actually rips equality right out of the mandate," she said at the protest.
"This is absolutely unbelievable."
LINK:CJOB News
2 comments:
I don't mean to be rude but 12 down 4 more to go. Look around, In this day and age these offices are no longer necessary. Women don't need help to succeed. They do very well on their own. As long as assistance for victims of domestic violence isn't cut, I don't see a problem.
Unfortunately, your analysis breaks women down into two concise categories - successful women who don't need anyone's help and victims of domestic violence....
Your limited analysis demonstrates the systemic lack of knowledge on the realities of women in Canada and Quebec and why the Status of women offices are so desperately needed
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