Wednesday Digest

EI short-changes women, study suggests: Canadian women are being unfairly short-changed by the country's Employment Insurance system, which was made more restrictive a decade ago and now boasts a multibillion-dollar surplus, a study concludes.The study for the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, to be released today, finds the qualification requirements for EI have left many women who lose their jobs out of pocket despite having paid their fair share of premiums.

NDP to set aside ridings for women, minorities in 2009 provincial election: The NDP have kick-started their election campaign with a pledge to put more women and minorities into the B.C. legislature.Although the next provincial election isn’t until 2009, NDP Leader Carole James said the enthusiasm that came out of the party’s weekend convention in Vancouver shows they are ready for a fight with the governing Liberals.

Social services in trouble: CUPE delegates meet: Social service workers from across thecountry will meet in Ottawa for three days this week to plan strategies forimproving public services and protecting their working conditions. Confrontedwith chronic underfunding, they will join forces to make their voices heardand to remind people that they offer vital services to children and othervulnerable persons. Françoise David, a feminist, environmentalist and social justiceactivist, and Linda Duxbury, a professor at Carleton University's businessschool, will address the delegates.

CBC wants more women: It's part of a strategy that Kirstine Layfield, CBC-TV's executive director of network programming, said will "diversify" the CBC audience, which has traditionally skewed male because of the public broadcaster's emphasis on sports and news programming.

Pay equity still voluntary in N.B. and most other jurisdictions: When New Brunswick university students held a bake sale where sweets were offered at $1 apiece to men and 80 cents to women, the organizers were trying to upset people."It was supposed to offend people because it is discrimination based on gender. So is pay inequity," said an organizer.

Program to help abused women on P.E.I.: Under the Safety Circles program, a network of police, counsellors, neighbours, employers and family work with women toward keeping them safe and in more in control of their situation

Parliament supports historic NDP Child Care Act: Following years of false starts, empty promises, and inaction from Liberal and Conservative governments, Parliament took a historic step and voted to support working and middle-class families by moving the NDP’s Early Learning and Child Care Act to third reading. “Today, all opposition parties joined with us to move one step closer to building the foundation for a truly national, non-profit, affordable and high-quality child care program,” said NDP MP Denise Savoie (Victoria).

A new United Nations report on the plight of children confirms what many Canadians already know – the Conservative government of Stephen Harper is content to let children fend for themselves, Liberal Social Development Critic Ruby Dhalla said today.

Advocates mark International Day of the Child with proclamations against spread of "big box" child care: "Reports from Australia highlight high parent fees, poor staff wages andworking conditions and examples of child neglect. A study by The AustraliaInstitute showed poorer staff to child ratios, insufficient food and less timefor children compared to community child care programs", says MornaBallantyne, coordinator of Code Blue for Child Care.

Helping her community, one member at a time: A prominent member of the Chemainus First Nation, Grace Elliott-Nielsen was a veteran social worker before deciding to devote her life to the needs of the native community through Nanaimo's Tillicum Haus Native Friendship Centre, where she has been executive director for 22 years