Status of Women committee  I think it is a structural problem at the university level. Ironically I'm a Ph.D. student now. I'm working in the faculty of medicine, and I certainly have observed among my fellow Ph.D. students real questioning and a sense of despair around what their future will be. Many Ph.D.s are working as sessional instructors, which is a very good option for the university, but these are dead-end jobs and they're very poorly paid.

Status of Women committee  Well, in the cases of the centres of excellence for women's health, there is no independent voice that is able to work in partnership with government agencies and the community to support an analysis of women's health issues. For example, one of the last projects we did looked at girls and women in terms of alcoholism, particularly the impact of alcohol on young women and the role of the corporate sector in encouraging the use of alcohol by women.

Status of Women committee  I definitely agree with that policy, but I would say also that one has to look at the placement of women in the economy. Getting back to Isabella's point, many women are involved in the care industries. When government restructurization and privatization occurred, provincial governments particularly divested themselves of their role in many of these services, which are education and health services primarily.

Status of Women committee  Well, I think poverty itself is a social determinant, and it relates to other social determinants, such as poor housing, living in poor neighbourhoods, a lack of child care, and a lack of home care for elderly parents. These all act in combination to limit women's choices and to make access to and use of income measures, which may be very positive, very difficult to do.

Status of Women committee  Hi. My name is Janet Currie and I am representing the Canadian Women's Health Network, CWHN. It's a national network that has articulated women's health needs and has worked in partnership with Health Canada for many years around policy and program recommendations and implementation.