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.…
Op-ed published by iPolitics on October 15, 2020. Read full op-ed 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…
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.…
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.…
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…
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.…
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,…
At current pace it will take 164 years to close the economic gender gap alone in Canada. OTTAWA—Canada’s progress towards gender equality has been uneven, and despite some positive steps there is significant unfinished business, according to a new report released today by a network of gender equality groups and the Canadian Centre for Policy…
OTTAWA—Today, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May publicly committed to participating in a federal leaders’ debate on women’s rights and gender equality in the lead-up to the October 2019 federal election. The leaders announced their commitments at the launch of Up for Debate, a non-partisan campaign calling for women’s rights and…
NAWL signed the Open Letter to Minister Jean-Yves Duclos prepared by Canada Without Poverty Campaign 2000 and Citizens for Public Justice to strengthen Bill C-87, An Act respecting the reduction of poverty. The Honourable Minister Jean-Yves Duclos Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development House of Commons Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2 February 1, 2019 Open…
Malheureusement, cet editorial n’est pas disponible en français…
One topic we never discuss with each other is our salaries. A colleague can ask if you go to church, but not how much you make. That’s a problem because we can’t know how much we should fairly be paid if we never talk about it.On April 1, Ontario got new legal rules requiring Equal Pay for Equal Work. The new rules require employers to pay the same rates to all employees, including part-time and casual workers, when they complete substantially the same work, with exceptions for factors such as seniority.Unfortunately, the new rules have a major flaw. It is up to employees to point out when they are being paid unfairly. But how can they know that?…
The author, Aditya Rao is a common law student at the University of Ottawa. She is enrolled in the Feminist Law Reform course lead by Professor Martha Jackman, NAWL co-chair, and Suki Beavers, NAWL’s Project Director. Can you imagine being required to show proof of income of $39,000 a year for three years just to be able to have…
On May 4, 2016 NAWL appeared before the Special Committee on pay equity, urging the government to repeal the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act and take immediate steps to draft proactive and comprehensive federal pay equity legislation, consistent with Professor Beth Bilson’s Pay Equity Task Force Recommendations.…
Ce document est seulement disponible en anglais. In 1995, 188 countries, including Canada, adopted the Beijing Platform for Action, setting out a detailed plan for addressing women’s poverty, economic security and health. A decade later, the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action is asking: are women in Canada better off? In 1995, the Government of…
The Problem More than 25 years the adoption of the Canadian Human Rights Act, women working full-time still earn 71% of men’s salaries, regardless of our age, occupation or education. For women of colour, Aboriginal women and women with a disability, the wage gap is even greater. The pay equity provisions in the Canada Human…
Gosselin v. Québec… a disappointing Supreme Court decision on the right to social assistance. This case is about a Québec welfare regulation that provided drastically reduced benefits (170$ a month) for persons under thirty years of age who were considered able to work. NAWL intervened before the Supreme Court. We argued that when the government…
Québec has them, so why can’t the rest of Canada? Mothering a child is associated with a significant drop in income. It has lifelong consequences for a woman’s earning capacity and employment-related benefits like pensions. And that’s above and beyond feeding and clothing a child or temporary loss of income when a woman stops work…
Canada adopted the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1976. Countries like Canada that have signed the International Covenant must submit progress reports to an International Committee. Groups like NAWL can also present alternative reports to the Committee. In November of 1998, NAWL submitted a report called: Women and the Social Deficit.…
Brief submitted by Susan Russell of the Canadian Federation of University Women and the National Association of Women and the Law to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Our concern over the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act begins with the way it was introduced. By bundling it into the 2009 Budget package, Parliament…
