Mr. Speaker, 2006 should be a year of celebration for the 25th anniversary of Canada's ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, known as CEDAW. However, we are not celebrating today.
The new government has made disturbing decisions to change the funding criteria for women's groups, remove the word “equality” from their mandates, bar them from doing advocacy work and cut the operating budgets and offices of Status of Women Canada. Further, the court challenges program and the national child care program have been cancelled.
Women in Waterloo region and throughout Canada have been and will continue to be negatively impacted by these changes. It is absolutely unacceptable that women's voices will be weakened by actions taken by a Canadian government.
Canada, as a progressive country with a reputation of respecting women's human rights, should be leading the way forward, not backward. When will the government honour the principles of equality and fairness that all Canadians value?