Madam Chair, members of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the situation of the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity.
The coalition is a bilingual non-profit organization that promotes pay equity legislation in both public and private sectors. We are involved mainly at the provincial level, but sometimes also at the federal level. We have 81 member organizations and 700 individual members. Our organization was founded in 1998. While our history is shorter than that of our sister organizations, we have still been in existence for 12 years. We receive no core funding from any government. Status of Women Canada is our main source of funding and, according to our files, we have completed seven projects in partnership with this agency since our foundation.
We submitted our last funding request in September 2009. Our project aimed to encourage 4,000 women to participate more fully in democratic and economic life. We were particularly focusing on young women aged 16 and older, immigrant women, first nations women and women who work in a variety of environments. The project would have produced information in both official languages for distribution through working sessions, theatrical presentations, the Internet, etc. on the structure of the labour market, discrimination in the workplace, and the tools available to improve women's salary conditions.
This project would also have strengthened a network of 80 women from 8 groups across the province by providing workshops and leadership tools—education, media, networking—and facilitating the exchange of best practices in English and French. We learned on April 9, 2010 that we would not have funding for this project. The reason given was that many proposals had been submitted and there was not enough money to provide funding for all of them. We understand that resources are limited, but that does not explain why our proposal was refused. We believe that our proposal met the funding criteria. We have an excellent record of partnership with Status of Women Canada.
In fact, this year, one of our projects was selected as one of the best at the national level for a study on its long-term impact. In addition, the leadership of our organization is all female. Our expertise is recognized by various levels of government, the citizens of New Brunswick, and many stakeholders in the public arena. We also receive considerable support from the general public.
The coalition advocates for proactive pay equity legislation that would follow the recommendations put forward by the 2004 pay equity task force and continues to promote women's economic security.
We will take the opportunity today to question the mid- and long-term effects of the women's community fund funding criteria that were established about three years ago. Unlike in previous programs, advocacy for women's rights is completely excluded from funding. However, advocacy led to significant improvements for Canadian women. Take, for example, the right to vote, the right to maternity leave, or to equal pay for equal work. These rights, acquired through much work, have had a real impact on the lives of millions of Canadian women and could not have been implemented on a case-by-case basis. Who better than women's groups can defend their rights while maintaining those acquired? We deplore that Status of Women Canada's funding is directed not just to women's groups and other stakeholders that advocate for women's equality anymore, but to any non-profit group or even for-profit organizations, with the exception of cooperatives, trade unions, universities, and colleges.
Therefore, although the funds available have increased, they are less accessible to women's groups. These receive no special consideration, even if they were set up by women to meet women's needs. This year, one of the objectives of the women's community fund was “encouraging women's leadership and democratic participation”. We question the fact that under the new eligibility criteria, women's groups are not at the centre of privileged spaces for women's participation in democratic life.
In summary, we are left pondering whether our expertise, our commitment to women's equality, and our recognition by both the government and the general public, as well as our history with Status of Women Canada, have been taken into account in our project's evaluation. We are convinced that these factors confirm our dedication and our ability to continue promoting and strengthening women's rights as well as facilitating their economic participation. We appreciate this occasion to highlight the value of our work for women in Canada. We also see this as an opportunity to propose funding criteria that better meet the needs of women. This is truly the right time for a collective reflection on the ways we can effectively promote women's equality in Canada for future generations—now I'm thinking of my daughter.
Thank you for taking the time to engage in that reflection with our grassroots organizations.