Good afternoon. My name is Jayden Wlasichuk, and I'm here representing Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa. I'm 19 years old and currently attend the University of Guelph, studying environmental governance and political science in my second year.
I'm here to talk about my experiences growing up as a woman in a non-traditional field, and the barriers that I faced, such as the gender roles and the expectations based on that, as well as our fear of judgment from stereotypes.
I had the opportunity to spend the last five years of my upbringing on a beef farm in rural Manitoba. I was on this farm with my two sisters and my dad for those five years. A lot of expectations, not only of myself but also of my sisters, were that we were the housekeepers. We were inside to cook, to clean, and to serve, not to work as equal members on the farm. However, that's not how my dad raised us. We were out on the farm and working with the livestock, and we got to participate fully. There were comments like, “You're going to make a great wife some day”, which weren't the most inspirational to any of the three of us.
It was my experiences growing up in the 4-H Beef Club that really inspired me to be who I am today. The 4-H motto is to learn by doing. That's something that they teach, not only to the males but to the female members of the club as well. We are equal to our male counterparts, and we're able to take on the roles that are typically seen as more masculine and physically demanding. We're able to do these tasks to the exact same standards as our male counterparts, and we get to do this from a very young age.
Not only that, but the leadership within my club tended to lean more towards females. I had the opportunity to be one of the executive members of the club for three years, and it was during my three years on the executive that it was led mainly by females. That's something that I found not only empowering, but also inspiring. I knew that I could look back and see that those experiences would show the younger girls of the club that they could do whatever they set their minds to as well.
On top of that, my high school experience led me to be the only female in two of my courses. It was in these courses and in other experiences in my life that I was told that I was smart and successful and strong, for a girl. It took a lot of time and a lot of thinking and a lot of questioning before I was able to acknowledge that I am strong and I am successful and I am smart, regardless of my gender. Some of these experiences and the way I was raised showed me why that was possible.
Lastly, I want to talk about Skills Canada. This was an opportunity that showed me and other females my age in both secondary and post-secondary education that we can set our minds to and succeed in vocational areas across the board.
I'd like to end by saying that I was very privileged in the way I was raised and the opportunities I was presented with. I will leave you with this question: if I have been given these opportunities, and the success that I've had stems from these, what will become of girls from across Canada and across the world who don't have the privileges that I did?