Madame Chair, members of the Committee, I want to thank you for giving us an opportunity to address this issue as part of your current consultations.
AFEAS is here to discuss the impact of its action and that of women's groups on gender equality, as well as the importance of maintaining and strengthening the mandate of Status of Women Canada and its funding, so that Canadian women will one day attain real equality.
A non-profit organization founded in 1966, AFEAS represents 13,000 Quebec women who work on a volunteer basis for 300 local groups in 12 regions. Founded on the values of peace, equality, fairness, justice and respect, AFEAS seeks equality in law and in fact for Canadian women, along with their complete independence, so that they can participate fully in democratic life in Canada and Quebec, at all levels.
Over its 40 years of existence, AFEAS has helped women in Quebec and Canada to become integrated into various sectors that were previously inaccessible. Let me give you some examples.
The work carried out by AFEAS has resulted in the recognition of unpaid, so-called « invisible » work by women in Canadian statistics, through the five-year censuses. We should also mention that women working in a family business now have the status of paid workers, as well as the integration of women in the political arena and in various decision-making positions.
These advances for women, and many others, were made possible by the enormous amount of work performed by AFEAS members in partnership with women's groups in Quebec, Canada and throughout the world. The significance of AFEAS's actions was underlined on November 29, 2006 before Quebec's National Assembly.
It's important to remember that on December 10, 1981, Canada ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, known as CEDAW. In 2003, the UN CEDAW Committee recommended that Canada redouble its efforts to achieve wage parity, fund a national daycare services program, enhance the Court Challenges Program, and consult with women's groups demanding equality.
However, in September 2006, the federal government eliminated the central objective of Status of Women Canada: that of working toward gender equality in Canada. Moreover, it banned the use of Women's Program funds for activities aimed at promoting equal rights for women and influencing all levels of government. At the same time, it slashed SWC's operating budget by 40 per cent, beginning on April 1, 2007.
As set out in its original mandate, Status of Women Canada played a key role until last September, in the achievement of gender equality in Canada. Today, the mandate of SWC is, and I quote “to facilitate women's participation in Canadian society by addressing their economic, social and cultural situation through Canadian organizations”. What this means is that the goal of achieving equality has now been scrapped and policy research has been discontinued. Funding will be available to for-profit as well as not-for-profit agencies. But how will Status of Women Canada be able to play an effective role with an annual operating budget of only $7 million, four offices and 50% of its staff?
With regard to gender-based analysis, which requires coordination and expertise, who will ensure its implementation and follow-up, given that the staff has been halved?
AFEAS is of the view that the changes in SWC's mandate and these budget cuts cannot be justified by any valid argument, especially since there is still an enormous amount of work to be done, particularly within the government itself, as evidenced by the 2005-2006 Departmental Performance Report from Status of Women Canada, which states the following:
However, because Canada's report shows very little gender-based data, it is difficult to clearly identify the progress of women across the government's work.
In conclusion, even though legal equality for women is taken for granted in Canada, de facto equality has still not yet been achieved in many different areas, such as paid work and unpaid work, family, violence, health, and so on. Indeed the Minister responsible for Families, Seniors and the Status of Women in Quebec has acknowledged that fact and will be tabling Quebec's policy on gender equality and an action plan in the coming days.
For all of these reasons, the membership of AFEAS, who want to live in an egalitarian society, find the change in mandate and the budget cuts to Status of Women Canada unacceptable. This government's decision is a violation of its commitments towards women and runs counter to specific terms of CEDAW. That is why AFEAS is asking the current government to immediately reinstate the mandate of Status of Women Canada and the funding guidelines in effect prior to September 26, and that it immediately cancel the $5 million budget cut.