Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose’s account of what the Harper Conservatives have done for Canadian women and their efforts to improve the lives of women in developing nations is an embellishment of the worst kind, Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville said today.
“Her gross misrepresentation of her government’s record on women in her speech at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women yesterday is not fooling anyone,” said Ms. Neville.
“The reality is, Stephen Harper has not just ignored Canadian women – he has systematically and deliberately made choices that have actually reversed at least a decade of progress made with regards to women’s equality.”
Ms. Neville pointed out how Minister Ambrose conveniently neglected to mention that Stephen Harper’s ‘signature’ maternal health initiative refused to support access to family planning and reproductive health services in developing countries, and that he slashed funding to the Canadian NGOs that carry out our crucial development and aid work, including women’s groups.
“After five years of Mr. Harper, Canada no longer compares favourably against other nations in assessments of gender equality and the gender gap,” said Ms. Neville. “For example, in 2004, the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index ranked Canada 7th. In the 2009 Gender Gap Index, Canada ranked 25th. This is simply appalling.”
Ms. Neville reiterated five specific actions Stephen Harper has taken over the last five years that have weakened women’s rights and widened the gender equality gap:
- He cancelled the Liberal early learning and child care agreements that would have made child care affordable and given women more flexibility to participate in the workforce, while the Conservative Minister responsible for early learning and child care, Diane Finley, said the Liberal child care plan “wanted to ensure that parents were forced to have other people raise their children,” and that caregivers should use “vacation time” to care for sick or aging loved ones.
- He attacked the rights of Canadian women by turning a woman’s right to pay equity into something up for grabs at the collective bargaining table.
- He put equitable representation on the back burner by decreasing the number of women appointed to public office.
- He refused a unanimous call from the House of Commons to create a National Violence Against Women Prevention Strategy and continues to ignore the endemic violence against Aboriginal women and girls.
- He forced 12 organizations that promoted women’s equality to shut their doors because they disagreed with his ideological position, particularly on reproductive rights and maternal health, and cut all funding for research and advocacy.
“Liberals believe that Canada’s federal government must lead by example by adopting policies and programs that help more women and girls to participate in all aspects of society. Minister Ambrose’s speech neglected to mention that the Conservatives have deliberately refused to do this,” concluded Ms. Neville.
