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Supreme Court of Canada Rules Carbon Pricing Law Constitutional: Intervenors for rights of women and girls welcome the decision
For immediate release Algonquin Territory/Ottawa, Ontario – March 25, 2021 – The Supreme Court of Canada’s judgment declaring the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act constitutional is a victory for women and girls. Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta went to court over the Act arguing that it was unconstitutional because Ottawa was stepping into provincial jurisdiction. The…
National feminist groups welcome long-awaited legal action on abortion access in New Brunswick
For Immediate Release A coalition of national feminist organizations welcomes the initiation of legal action by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to fight the discriminatory and anti-choice regulation that prohibits the funding of abortion care outside of hospital settings in New Brunswick. In October 2020, Clinic 554, the only free-standing clinic providing surgical abortions in…
NAWL signs joint letter to the Prime Minister and Minister Freeland re: Taskforce on Women and the Economy
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau Prime Minister The Honourable Chrystia Freeland Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance House of Commons Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 Re: Action Plan on Women in the Economy Taskforce Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Freeland, The economic downturn caused by this pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women.…
NAWL and FOE: A real climate-emergency plan must address inequality
Op-ed published by iPolitics on October 15, 2020. Link here Written by Anne Levesque, co-chair of the National Association of Women and the Law and Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth Canada. ‘In the recent global fires, floods and droughts, it’s women who have borne the brunt of climate catastrophe.’ It was heartening…
NAWL endorsed Luke’s Place brief on BILL 207: An Act to amend the Children’s Law Reform Act, the Courts of Justice Act, the Family Law Act and other Acts respecting various family law matter
NAWL endorsed the brief by Luke’s Place presented to the Ontario legislature’s Justice Committee, on October 13, 2020, on BILL 207: An Act to amend the Children’s Law Reform Act, the Courts of Justice Act, the Family Law Act and other Acts respecting various family law matter. The link to the brief and list of endorsements on…
NAWL co-signed a letter dated October 5, 2020 to Premier Legault on the death of Joyce Echaquan
Dear Premier, We are writing to you to express our outrage as leaders of feminist movements throughout Canada on the death of Joyce Echaquan, an Atikamekw woman who was the mother of seven children and a cherished family and community member. We stand in solidarity with the Indigenous women’s group Femmes Autochtones du Québec /…
Feminist groups call for immediate action on abortion access in New Brunswick
For Immediate Release A coalition of feminist organizations is calling for the federal government and the government of New Brunswick to take immediate action in light of the imminent closure of Clinic 554 in Fredericton. The Fredericton clinic, the only free-standing clinic providing surgical abortions in the province, is set to close by the end…
Joint letter by Feminist Groups including NAWL to Minister Freeland, calling for her to host a roundtable with Women’s Rights organizations and feminist leaders as part of the net federal budget consultations
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance House of Commons Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 Re: Roundtable with women’s rights and equality-seeking organizations for Federal Budget 2021 Dear Minister Freeland, In this unprecedented moment in history, federal budget priorities need to be rethought to shape what Canada will look like after COVID-19.…
NAWL and other feminist groups joined Women’s Shelters Canada in reissuing a call for National Action Plan on Violence Against Women & Gender-Based Violence
In the summer of 2020, NAWL was among the feminist groups that joined Women’s Shelters Canada in reissuing a call for a National Action Plan on Violence against Women & Gender Based Violence. Read the full reissue call here in English or French.…
NAWL letter to the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice on SCC nominations
NAWL letter to the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice dated August 20, 2020, calling for the nomination of women and/or men who are Indigenous, Black, racialized, and/or from other equality seeking communities, to fill the two forthcoming Ontario vacancies on the SCC, and the Prime Minister’s letter in response dated October 14, 2020. Read…
Open letter to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada: There is no time like the present to build a pan-Canadian system of child care
Now is the time to lay the groundwork for the construction of a system of child care, as you promised Canadians in the last federal election. You and other federal ministers have publicly acknowledged the importance and centrality of child care. In fact, the pandemic experience has made it clear to all that child care is essential in bad times and good. What is required now is for the federal government to fund and expand child care as a principal piece of Canada’s social infrastructure going forward.…
NAWL Written Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the Upcoming Federal Budget
The NAWL pre-budget submission was submitted to the Finance Committee on August 7, 2020. Read full submission here. List of endorsing organizations Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights Barbra Schlifer Memorial Clinic Canadian Council of Muslim Women Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada Ending Violence Association of…
NAWL signs letter on the use of a restorative approach to an inquiry into the Nova Scotia mass shooting
We write to you as directors and leaders of organizations across Canada that work to eliminate or reduce domestic violence, sexualized violence, and other gender based violence. We were shocked to see media reports that the launch of an inquiry into the April, 2020 massacre in Nova Scotia was being held up by an attempt to graft a ‘restorative approach’ onto the traditional federal-provincial public inquiry. We wish to express our grave concern about, and opposition to, the use of any process for the federal-provincial response to the Nova Scotia mass shooting which is not fully open and public or which does not mandatorily compel the pertinent institutions and state actors to provide relevant information.…
Canada must protect the rights of sex workers during COVID-19 by ensuring access to emergency income supports
Thank you for your steadfast commitment to women’s rights and gender equality, including your prompt action to mobilize funding to address the gendered impacts of the pandemic. We write at this time to urge that—further to your mandate to ensure that GBA+ is conducted of all government decisions—you ensure that sex workers and other women and gender diverse people working in informal economies and criminalized contexts, are not left out of the COVID-19 response.…
Letter sent by NAWL to the Prime Minister from women’s rights and equality seeking groups on feminist policy making in the context of COVID-19
It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has far-reaching and long-term gendered impacts. Women are front and centre when it comes to the impacts of and responses to the pandemic. From increased risk of violence in abusive homes under lockdown to expanded caregiving for children out of school and at-risk vulnerable adults to a majority presence in front-line health care, social and other service sectors, women are taking on many additional burdens in this crisis.…
NAWL and CRIAW Proposal for Support to Equality Seeking Women’s Groups in Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic
In order to ensure that women and girls, their families and communities who need assistance most will be included in, and benefit from federal responses to the pandemic, it is imperative that there be a robust and systematic application of an intersection feminist analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls, and of existing and potential policy and budgetary responses to it. The limited COVID-19 responses designed specifically for women, have focused entirely on the critical services that women’s shelters and sexual assault centres provide. The focus on VAW/GBV is important of course, but represents a very limited and initial response.…
NAWL joins other women’s rights groups to call on the Government of Canada to ensure a rigorous & far-reaching gendered response to COVID-19
The Honourable Maryam Monsef Minister for Women and Gender Equality Government of Canada Dear Minister Monsef: As we write, evidence continues to mount about the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. From increased risk of violence under lockdown in abusive homes, to expanded caregiving for children out of school and at-risk vulnerable adults,…
NAWL submits brief on Bill C-5 to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights
NAWL submitted a brief on Bill C-5—An Act to amend the Judges Act and the Criminal Code—to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. 36 feminist and equality-seeking organizations endorsed the brief, including: Accessibility for All Action Ontarienne contre la violence faite aux femmes Amnesty International Canada AMS Sexual Assault Support…
NAWL signs letter calling for Canada’s National Action Plan on Violence Against Women and Gender-Based Violence to be bold, ambitious, and intersectional
Violence against women and gender-based violence are non-partisan, societal issues affecting us all. Women’s Shelters Canada, in collaboration with partners from across the country, have been advocating for a National Action Plan on Violence against Women (VAW) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) since 2015. Despite tireless efforts from countless feminist organizations across the country, rates of…
Joint Letter to Finance Minister on PharmaCare
Over 170 national and provincial organizations have signed the joint Pharmacare Now Statement calling on all parties to work together to implement universal, public pharmacare within this government’s mandate. A diverse coalition of 150 national and provincial organizations representing health care providers, non-profit organizations, unions, workers, business, seniors and patients are now calling on the Finance Minister…
