Status of Women committee  Yes. Thank you for bringing that up. We just completed a three-year project that was funded by Status of Women Canada under the women's program. That project had to do with Quebec's mining sector in two resource-rich regions—Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the Eeyou Istchee James Bay

Status of Women committee  No.

Status of Women committee  Some 10 years ago, the Charest government, in Quebec, passed regulations requiring the boards of directors of public organizations—about 25 large public organizations were affected—to reach parity in a few years. The time frame was very short. I believe that it was three years. W

Status of Women committee  We agree with Ms. Dart on this issue. Clearly, entrepreneurs who want to start a business need better access to credit, especially microcredit. There are many programs in terms of that, but as an organization, we do not prioritize that path toward economic self-sufficiency over

Status of Women committee  That work must be done by the political parties. It is a long-term undertaking that must also be done on an ongoing basis by the political parties. However, there is more and more talk in Quebec about tools. There is still no provincial legislation, but people are increasingly t

Status of Women committee  Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for inviting me to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women. I will briefly introduce the Conseil d'intervention pour l'accès des femmes au travail, or CIAFT, and will then yield the floor to Ruth Ro

Status of Women committee  Women's employment rate has risen by one percentage point a year since the early childhood centres were set up in Quebec, in 1998. The job of child care worker, which was once under the table, is now recognized. Wages and unionization rates for these women have doubled. What that

Status of Women committee  In Quebec, to get the economy back on its feet after the crisis, the Quebec government announced a massive infrastructure investment program in Quebec municipalities. It is a $42 million program, with no access to equality program for women. When the president of the Conseil du s

Status of Women committee  We did receive $90,000 spread over 18 months to do a project on the first call for proposals, but that was an entirely different subject. It was about reconciling family and work life. In our member groups in Quebec, we trained women for returning to the labour market. They recei

Status of Women committee  In this particular case of predominantly female jobs, we have to knock down the myth that we already have equality. Because there are women in the labour market, we have the impression that they are present everywhere. With a few good, well-chosen statistics, we can show that ver

Status of Women committee  As well, we have been retained by Emploi-Québec to carry out a coordinated action strategy, which we have just described for you. We are going to continue to do it, but unfortunately without federal funding at the moment.

Status of Women committee  Last year, we were told, in Quebec, that occupational diversification for women was one of the leading objectives in the invitation to submit proposals that year under the Women's Program by the Women's Community Program. After three or four tries, we submitted an application fo

Status of Women committee  It's a fine project, isn't it? For these project, we have felt for some years that there needs to be mobilization on this important issue in Quebec. We need a report card on access to equality programs and the various legislation we have on this subject. Various government depar

Status of Women committee  I referred earlier to the four priority demands we had passed on to the Minister, and now I would like to speak straight from the heart. Our organization will be celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and yet, it is in a climate of tremendous uncertainty that we approach ou

Status of Women committee  In fact, there is no inconsistency between policy work and services provided on the ground. Our members are funded by Employment Quebec and the Ministry of Health and Social Services. I believe we have made very specific gains. Through our work, we now have a parental leave syste