May I just say something?
Evidence of meeting #11 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was women.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #11 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was women.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:55 p.m.
Vice-President, Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs
May I just say something?
12:55 p.m.
Vice-President, Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs
Thank you.
Ottawa is home to a coalition of women's groups and every day, members receive newspaper articles from around the country. When the last federal budget was being drawn up, all of the union and women's groups, along with a large number of economists, called for changes to the EI program similar to the ones that we are discussing today, but nothing came of it. The only recommendation followed up on was the call to extend EI entitlement by five weeks.
12:55 p.m.
Conservative
12:55 p.m.
NDP
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'm going to thank all of you once again. When I had my daughter, I felt very much like I was “committing pregnancy”, that there was very little in terms of support for me. And now it feels very much the same, that with the 1996 EI changes, women are further jeopardized. We haven't made any real progress.
It's clear to me that we need a wholesale reform when it comes to employment insurance. Having five more weeks of benefits just doesn't cut it. So I want to thank you for underscoring that and for making that very clear.
But I did want to give my colleague a chance to ask another question, as she so rarely gets the opportunity.
12:55 p.m.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB
Thank you very much.
My question has a great deal to do with research. I'd also like to decry the lack of funding for research and the attack we're seeing on research in the social sciences and humanities, which in many cases affects research regarding women.
I'd perhaps like to direct this to Professor Vosko, but I'd certainly like to hear any overall comments—if there is time—on the feminization of employment norms. What are the trends in Canada to date, and perhaps not just in terms of women as a whole, but also in terms of certain cases of women, whether they be immigrant women or aboriginal women or young women? I'd be interested to hear the trends that we're looking at.
12:55 p.m.
Canada Research Chair in Feminist Political Economy, York University, As an Individual
One comment I would begin with is that the new entrant/re-entrant requirement under EI has had a disproportionately negative effect on new immigrants in large urban centres. In other words, it's not simply a case that it's hard for women who have been engaged in caregiving to get access to EI, under the 910-hour rule, but that it's been quite well-documented, including by my colleagues at the Caledon Institute and elsewhere, that this is a challenge for immigrants too, that it's important to look at the relationship between immigrant status and gender in looking at the situation.
And, of course, you mentioned the issue of rural women. I think, again, geography plays a very important role in these things.
One of the things that we've observed—I don't have the number handy, but I could certainly provide it—is that young people, particularly young women, and certainly young immigrant women, are having difficulty accessing EI as new entrants to the labour force.
So I would certainly emphasize that point and underscore that it's a population we should be studying. The value of funding for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is that people who engage in this kind of research work can pursue research toward the very positive end of improving public policies like employment insurance.
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Patricia Davidson
Okay, thank you very much.
I'm sorry; at this point, we are going to have to cut off the debate or the information that we're receiving.
I want to thank each of our presenters very much for being with us today. Again, I apologize for the delay in hearing your presentations at the beginning.
Dr. Vosko, I think we've referred to a couple of things we would like you to pass on to the clerk. It would be great if we could get the data on the self-employed women you referred to earlier, and the 14 other recommendations you have.
Ms. Calhoun, I think you referred to the 2002-03 data from eastern Canada.
1 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Patricia Davidson
If you could present that to us, it would be most helpful.
Again, thank you very much.
The meeting is adjourned.