Mr. Speaker, a year ago, we were taking turns speaking in the House to mark March 8. It was a March 8 like any other, as our political parties took turns praising the work women do and the achievements that have been made. It was a March 8 like any other, with all the parties proclaiming themselves as feminists.
A year later, everything has changed in Canada, in Quebec and around the world. Men and women, but especially women, are at serious risk of losing 25 years' worth of gains for women's rights. The coronavirus has impacted the lives of women more than anyone else. Over the past year of this pandemic, women have given and received more than their fair share.
What have women given? They have cared for seniors in long-term care homes and in our hospitals, providing front-line care, up close with the enemy, day after day.
Eighty-two percent of health workers are women. We have relied on those women and we are relying on them now because the vaccine will not administer itself. Once again it will be women leading the charge. They have given their time. Balancing work and family has shifted to balancing telework and family. Who takes care of the children at home during a lockdown? The mental burden and invisible work have only increased for them.
They have given and gotten more than their fair share. But what is it that they got for their efforts? Again and again they got paid less than men, and women in federally regulated jobs have still not gotten pay equity. Senior women got an extra old age security cheque, a single cheque to cover the increased cost of groceries and delivery. The young people delivering the purchases want a tip and seniors want to give them that tip. They also want to contribute to the economic recovery and assert their gray power.
What these women got in spades this year was slaps to the face and brazen insults. It is important to acknowledge that. There was a 40% increase in cases of domestic violence. That is some serious indexing. Our way of thanking women this year was to subject them to almost unprecedented violence. Unable to get out of the house, they are stuck at home with the man who is holding the belt, clenching his fist and raising his voice.
What women got this year has seldom been seen before. The result is an increase in femicide. For all they have given, they deserve to be thanked. For all they have gotten, they deserve our apologies and, more importantly, they deserve seeing us take action. They deserve seeing us get to work. They deserve seeing us increase health care transfers because they are working on the front lines and, without the necessary funding, they will be the ones who will be overworked, the ones who will have to work the infamous mandatory overtime, the ones who are underpaid.
Senior women deserve to have decent living conditions and enough buying power to be able to make ends meet at the end of the month and stop having to choose between toilet paper and paper towels. Seniors deserve to have a good life. I do not think that is too much to ask.
Women's shelters have been there for women. They have done crucial, essential work, and they deserve more support. Violence will not end the day the last person is vaccinated. Shelters need predictable, long-term support.
Unemployed women need a system that meets their needs. Even now, in 2021, it is too hard for them to qualify. Unemployed women who are sick need sickness benefits that last longer than 15 weeks so they can take the time to take care of themselves with compassion and without having to worry as much.
Women deserve more than sorrys and thank yous. The recovery is about to start, and, at long last, women deserve a female-focused recovery. We will not recover from this pandemic without women and their leadership. Everyone knows that, but I refuse to go back to the old normal if it means living in a society where women are second-class, underpaid citizens, a society with programs that do not meet women's needs and are out of touch with reality.
We can make next March 8 as different from this one as this one is from last March 8. That means we have to listen to women, so let us listen to women.