Madam Speaker, first may I join the other members in congratulating you for presiding over Question Period for the first time today.
On this International Women's Day it is my pleasure to stand proudly as a Canadian man and member of this House of Commons to support the opposition motion. After a couple of the recent speeches I hardly recognize the motion as was said earlier by one of my colleagues. What we are actually speaking to is:
That this House urge the government to recognize the principle of economic equality between women and men and to implement measures, in areas of federal jurisdiction, to guarantee women equity in employment, wages and living conditions.
The hon. member for Calgary North quoted a famous Canadian woman. The key word was equality and that is the key word in the motion. Yet we hear fears from members opposite particularly I am sad to say from certain members of the Reform Party.
We hear fears about quotas and these artificial numbers that are going to be set up to guarantee women these opportunities. I do not read the word quota anywhere in the motion in front of us and I do not read it in the amendment proposed by the Reform Party.
I share the view that frankly it seems some members opposite do not understand the motion before us. I do and I am going to be very pleased to support the motion when the opportunity comes.
The hon. member for Calgary North mentioned that certain issues may have to be dealt with concerning equal opportunity for women. I would suggest the word to use is not "may". A number of problems still exist in our society that need to be addressed. I would like to take a few minutes to give an overview, as I see it, of the barriers that women face in 1994.
The biggest barrier is an attitudinal one. We can see this in the history of this country. During the Olympics we all very proudly recognized and applauded the efforts of Canadian women and men in winning a number of medals and in conducting themselves so wonderfully on the international athletic stage. We need look no further than the sport which attracts us so much, ice hockey, and the fact that for a long time it was seen as strictly a sport for men.
I come from something of an athletic background. I cannot help but make that reference. Hockey was not for girls. It was thought to be too rough and too fast, which is nonsense. The fastest growing amateur sport today is ice hockey for women; for girls, young women, and women of all ages. I am sure that Madam Speaker is probably very adept on skates out on the canal, as I would like to try to experience myself. One needs go no further than that particular sport to know a myth has been debunked very effectively by Canadian women who have won world championships in hockey the past several years.
Another major problem is that of behavioural discrimination. We have been taught too often that boys must be aggressive, tough and outgoing but girls must be passive, docile, "ladylike" and not get themselves dirty and be involved in aggressive activities, athletic or non-athletic. That is a very destructive attitude and it is one that as a parent I have done everything possible not to inculcate in my own three children, and my wife has been very supportive in that.
The right to vote is worth reconsidering. It was not until 1918 that women got the right to vote in federal elections. We heard earlier some members of the Bloc castigating the government for the fact that it is not doing enough to assist women. Sadly I have to recall for all members of the House that the last province to give women the right to vote was the province of Quebec. I know that province has come way since that time, as we all have, but I do not think there are a lot of lessons for the government to learn from members opposite, some of whom unfortunately appear to be a little ignorant of their history around women's issues and the right to vote.
Before I was honoured with election to this House I was in the field of education. It is a historical fact, unfortunately, in Canada and in many countries that there has been significantly less encouragement of girls and women to pursue their education. All too often that has been sad reality.
There has been the myth that young women could only pursue certain fields of study, that somehow they were not equipped to go into particular areas that were somehow reserved for men. It has been a very negative attitude and one that has been very limiting to women in Canadian history. Thank goodness it is fast finding its place in the reality ash heap where it belongs. It simply bears no semblance to truth.
I would like to talk about employment opportunities for women. I recall there have been and still are unfortunately some very real barriers. We all know about the language referring to policeman and fireman. We are making very important strides in changing this kind of sexist language. As a city councillor I well remember in London, Ontario, just a few years ago supporting a motion to do away with the historic term "alderman" and to go with the more neutral term of "councillor". We heard the wails and the cries from some people that we could not change the historic term "alderman" and that somehow the heavens would fall down on us. That was silly. Now it is very commonly accepted and the more appropriate term is in place.
My municipality of London, Ontario very recently hired its first female firefighter. This is the appropriate term for such persons. We can see that firsts are being made every day in our
society and they are a long time overdue. There are, not may be, real employment limitations still on women in our society today.
What we need is a revolution in our attitudes as a Canadian society about what is the proper place of women. I am very pleased to have seen and heard reference to the statement that the proper place for women is in the House. I am sure everyone has seen that. It is under a picture of this Chamber. I applaud that and got a great kick out of it, as I am sure most men have. We know that women should have every opportunity and certainly have every ability to represent Canadians just as well as any other person. It should not be a factor of gender, race, religion, et cetera. Very slowly we are coming around to some of the attitudinal changes that are needed.
It is a sad reality that women are too often working only in clerical, sales and service jobs. In 1991 over 50 per cent of working women were in these jobs, whereas for men that figure was only 30 per cent.
Again I say it is not that there may be limitations on equal opportunity employment for women. Anyone who looks at the reality knows there are limitations that have to be addressed and finally are being addressed. The government intends to move forward very aggressively in that regard.
I am sure we all accept that by and large women bear much more the responsibility for the Canadian family. I well recall my own mother being the backbone of our family. I pay tribute to her for her love, courage and support of our family over the years. My wife shoulders more responsibility for our family than I do. She is making a sacrifice as many of the spouses of people in this House today are, male and female spouses both.
In my case, my wife is making a significant sacrifice and is taking on greater responsibility so I can have the opportunity and the privilege of serving the people of London-Middlesex in the House of Commons. I thank her for that and I appreciate the sacrifice. This is normally the role that women find themselves in. The sacrifices in the interests of the family far more often come from women than men. That ought not be made light of. It ought to be acknowledged as a reality and ought to be appreciated for what it is.
My wife and I have two sons and one daughter and it is very important to us that they be treated equally and encouraged to live their lives fully with no restraints based on gender for any of them. I heard hon. members earlier today express that was their experience and I applaud that. It is certainly the experience that we were trying to make sure our children live. However, all too often it is not the Canadian experience and we have to do more in that regard.
I come also from a municipal councillor background, as I mentioned earlier, and it is a sad fact that single parent families, by and large, are led by women. In 1991, 62 per cent of women-led families were below the poverty line. That is an incredible number, an unacceptable number and it has to change.
One need only look at the media to recognize that they fall far short of the mark in trying to make an attitudinal shift toward this issue. There is little interest shown in the activities of women in the media. I well remember many times, women's athletic teams complaining that they were not getting equal coverage. All too often I recall women councillors on city council feeling that they were somehow not receiving fair treatment. These were not exaggerations; you really had to support what they were saying because the reality was there for all to see.
On the issue of pay equity, women receive on average 72 per cent of what men earn. I would think that anyone who is fixated on financial matters, as my colleagues from the Reform Party are, and that is not necessarily a bad thing, how can they then not realize there is a pay equity problem is beyond me. From some of the comments I heard earlier it seems to be getting by some of the members, and I just do not understand how it can.
The issue of violence against women is a huge problem in the country today. The issues of family violence and sadistic pornography need to be addressed now.
When Canadian women cannot feel as safe as men on the streets, then obviously there is a problem. When your feeling of safety and your real safety is different because you are a woman, it is a national problem that needs to be recognized as such and should be addressed.
The question of political leadership has been raised several times by previous speakers. I fully support the fact that we will see more women as members of Parliament over the next few years. It is a very positive step that we have record numbers of women in the House right now. Our party has done everything it possibly can to ensure it takes place.
Only by aggressive action are we going to address these issues. I am proud, as a Liberal member of Parliament, to be a member of a party that appointed the first woman Speaker to the very seat that you occupy now, Madam Speaker. The first woman Governor General, the same woman, the Right Hon. Jean Sauvé was appointed to that position by a Liberal government. The same Right Hon. Madam Sauvé is being honoured today, as we all know, by the issuing of a Canadian stamp in her honour.
Many, if not most, of the first actions taken by governments in Canada to advance the cause of women I am proud to say were taken by Liberal governments. On our side of the House today we see the Deputy Prime Minister several cabinet ministers who are women.
Strides have been made, but further change will only be made by aggressive action by political parties and all Canadians who sincerely believe that this issue has to be addressed, that it is not going to go away and solve itself. As was mentioned earlier,
fully 50 per cent of appointments by the Liberal government since the election to various positions have been appointments of women.
It is important we encourage women of all ages to reject limits on their full and equal participation in our society, including governments, maybe especially governments. Canadians of all races have found out that the way to stop discrimination is by getting hold of the levers of power. My background is Irish Canadian and Irish immigrants to Canada found that out. Immigrant groups throughout our history have learned that lesson: You stop discrimination by becoming those who make the laws. Women are learning that lesson and I applaud that. I hope to see far more than 18 per cent of members of Parliament as women MPs some time in the near future.
I am pleased that one of the members of Parliament is part of the London, Ontario Liberal MP team, the member for London West. It is important that a full co-operative effort be made by men and women members on all sides of the House to work together to improve the decorum of the House, which I think is better but certainly could still be improved. In the various committees and in all the responsibilities of a member of Parliament it is very important that a teamwork approach be taken and that women members be fully included as equal partners because they are. They have been equally elected, they are equally talented and able, and it is very important we conduct ourselves in that way.
I can only relate to my own experience in 13 years of municipal government. Some of my best supporters and workers in campaigns were women. It has been my pleasure to encourage and help several women to run for office in London and I intend to do that again this fall when our municipal elections are held in Ontario.
It is important that we realize that politics and government is not a profession somehow limited to men. No profession should somehow be reserved for men. Unfortunately, that still is the case in the minds of many Canadians.
Our Liberal red book has made important commitments and our government has started to see these through already; the need to ensure equal opportunity for women, a strenghthening of the employment equity act, the need to do more in the area of research for women's health care. It is a fact that women's health care has been short-changed in funding. The red book addresses that need and the government will see that commitment through. There is a need to do more in the area of child care, a need to do more in the area of small business where women are twice as successful as men. That is very important. These are all red book commitments that I am proud to say this government will certainly see through to fruition.
In closing, I say that we need some changes and we need them now. We need changes in societal attitudes. We need changes in law. We need changes in government. There are problems and we must find the solutions. I want my daughter and all Canadian young women to have every opportunity just the same as my two sons, the same opportunity to pursue whatever career they want in this country with no restrictions, no limitations. Only then will we really fully realize our potential as a nation.
