Still In Shock in 2007

During the elections in 2006, major parties continued to leave women's issues out in the cold.

FAFIA challenged major party leaders to sign a CEDAW pledge

Harper signed the CEDAW pledge (albeit at the very last possible moment) writing:"Yes, I’m ready to support women’s human rights and I agree that Canada has more to do to meet its international obligations to women’s equality. "

Harper's "new government" (with the weakest mandate in Canadian history) immediately set out to prove that their promises made on woman's human rights weren't worth the paper they were written on.

Timeline:

• January 18, 2006 Harper writes::"Yes, I’m ready to support women’s human rights and I agree that Canada has more to do to meet its international obligations to women’s equality. "
• Harper's "new government" announced the March 31 2007 cancellation of bilateral agreements on child care that provided an additional $5 billion commitment over five years and which would have provided much-needed quality child care.
• Harper's "new government" refused to introduce proactive pay equity despite expert recommendations
• September 2006, NAWL was forced to shut its doors for one month because of delays in the approval of our Status of Women Canada funding application
• September 25, 2006 Harper's "new government" announced a 5 million dollar cut to the budget of Status of Women Canada (SWC)
• September 25 2006, the Harper's "new government" announced that it would immediately end all funding for the Court Challenges Program of Canada
• October 2, 2006 women’s groups were also informed that Harper's "new government" had drastically changed its mandate. SWC would no longer be funding advocacy and lobbying.
• March 2007, Harper's "new government" closed 12 of 16 Status of Women Canada offices in 8 provinces.
• March 2007, Harper's "new government" produced a budget with negative consequences for women and children

Women constitute slightly over half of the Canadian electorate....and..

• women in Canada who work full time earn 71 percent of what men earn
• one in six women officially lives below the poverty line
• over half of the single mothers are poor
• aboriginal women and elderly women all are in a situation of income inequality
• women represent almost half the labour force
• women are responsible for 80% of all household consumption decisions
• women own 800,000 companies that contribute more than $18 billion to the economy
• women contribute more than 50% of tax revenues, retirement savings plans and a variety of mutual funds
• women make up half of all the graduates in law, administration, and accounting

What proportion of women sit in the House of Commons? 20.8%

• The first federal election in which women were able to vote and run as candidates was 1921.
• In that election, four women ran for office and Agnes Campbell MacPhail (1890-1954) made history as the first woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons.
• Between 1921 and 2006, 3402 women candidates stood in the 39 general elections and won on 426 occasions

Is this what equality looks like?

Election 2007 - Think, Ask, Vote

LINK: Still In Shock 2006 was developed by the Coalition for Women’s Equality as a follow-up to the much-acclaimed “Shocking Pink Paper” of 1993

LINK: Equal Voice

LINK: Young Women Vote 2004

LINK: SFU Election - Women and Elections

LINK: Still Counting