Liberal MPs held a press conference today to highlight how the Harper Conservative government has spent the last five years turning back the clock on women’s equality in Canada.
“Canadian women are worse off after five years of Stephen Harper,” said Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville. “On child care, family care, women in politics, pay equity and violence against women, the Harper government has reversed women’s progress.”
“Canadian women deserve better than a government that has actively undermined the status of women in Canada,” said Liberal Women’s Caucus Chair Lise Zarac. “The Conservatives have ignored the call for policies and programs that would increase women’s equality.”
Ms. Neville, Ms. Zarac and Liberal MP Ken Dryden pointed to 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.
- 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.
“In 2011, women have less choice than they did five years ago, when Stephen Harper’s first act of office was to cancel childcare agreements with the provinces,” said Mr. Dryden. “His record is less access to child care, less pay equity, less political representation, less safety from domestic violence and less of a voice to speak out on these issues.”
The Liberal Party of Canada believes that the strength of Canadian society is dependent on the full participation of women in our economy, our government and all the country’s decision-making processes – and has promoted policies to advance this goal:
- The Liberal Family Care Plan to help family caregivers defray the costs associated with providing home care to a sick, recovering or aging loved one;
- A commitment to invest in inclusive early learning and child care as part of a national learning strategy;
- Committing to at least 33% women candidates in the next federal election;
- Ensuring that pay equity is treated as a non-negotiable human right as enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
- A public inquiry into the response of the justice system to hundreds of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls, as well as the root causes of violence against Aboriginal women.
“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 – which the Conservatives have deliberately refused to do,” concluded Ms. Neville.
