State of Womens Equality in Canada - Essay Example

? of Women’s Equality in Canada Canada seems to have epitomized the feminist viewpoint since decades and government policies have also attempted to establish this equality in different respects, but when one looks at access to amenities or public services like abortion in health care departments, one finds that economic status plays a role there. Yet Canada has progressed considerable steps in terms of gender equality as can be proven by statistics and ranks. This is more reflected in the position of women in the legislatures or women decision making positions. But what about the common women or those who belong to the lower economic stratum? Do factors like ethnicity and economic status determine the establishment of equality of women in Canada along with policymaking? Women’s interests were a part of policy making since the seventies. In the 80s the issue of representation of women in state legislations came into play. A comparison can be made in terms of the policy process between Canada’s Royal Commission and Commission for Gender Equality between Men and Women of Switzerland. In fact in case of women of Sweden and Canada, commitment to equality encompasses gender bias to some extent. In fact the effectiveness of government policies also depends upon how far women are able to organize and discipline themselves to face the resistance of men towards policies which endanger their conventional role of dominance. In Sweden women defended their position as “insiders” within political parties in order to have equal position with men in both private and public fields. In Canada however, the campaign of women’s equality moved slowly beyond communities of women who had hardly any effect on the men’s dominant position in political groups. In order to defend their status as outsiders they used the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1960. They presented their interests at the hearings of the Commission (Briskin& Eliasson, 1999, p.120). However the recommendations of the commission regarding women’s position were limited. The commissioner pressed the government for raising the funding for women’s groups and thus they rather established the outsider’s role of women legally than challenging the system of representation. Also the hearings and procedures favoured the elite groups of women from conservative households rather than the poor and working class or immigrant and ethically inferior women. Most of the representations came from the well known established groups (Briskin& Eliasson, 1999, p. 126). Canadian government introduced the Equal Opportunity Act as a tool against sexual discrimination. The act encouraged formation of unions by women activists. This emphasised an innovative structure of leadership and emphasis is led on accountability, participation (not representation) and bringing in more democracy in decision making amongst women (Briskin & Eliasson, 1999, pp.128-129). The book The Jade Peony discusses distinct women characters who reflect strength and determination in the form of decision making. Poh-Poh, the grandma, symbolizes respect and order. She teaches everyone in the family with the help of superstitions and encourages the younger generation to speak Chinese instead of following the Canadian culture. She is superstitious and always talks of superstitions and ghosts to teach the family members. The story represents immigration and the low economic status of the immigrants whose jobs were unstable. Women had no power within family and in decision-making roles as per the Western values but Grandma is more inclined towards Chinese customs according to which women played dominating roles in the family. Grandma’s adherence to superstitions is another escape from the poor conditions of livelihood. Her hands symbolize knowledge, creativity skills that are earned in the difficult way. Chinese people were brought in to do the hard manual jobs like railway building and then passed the law to freeze immigration from China. The old Grandma of the family is depicted in a decision making position when she makes her will and confesses “I am too stubborn. The only cure for old age is to die” (Choy, 1985, p.119). The youngest sister Jook-Liang dreams to be a movie star and practices tap dancing. This is not supported by her grandmother but this reflects the impact that the ambience and social structure of Canada has on the immigrant Chinese girl who soon discovers that she is not worthless or bad looking. The story reveals the interplay of economic status, ethnicity and gender equality. The interplay of economic status and equality of women can be reflected in different sectors of the socio-economic backdrop. Health care is one such area. Access to medical provisions for abortion of Canadian women who seek to terminate their pregnancies is often guided by privilege of economic status. This access to abortion facilities in the public healthcare regime has been taken up as a measuring benchmark to assess women’s status and equality. Laws often banned the access of women to such services. Despite decriminalization of abortion, access to the services is often limited to the economically and socially privileged section of women. These women normally avail services from the private clinics which even do not exist in all provinces. This propagates inequality in terms of gender and wealth where public funding is denied for a service which is used exclusively by women. While some hospitals and some places like Prince Edward Island do not provide the services, there are places where the access is limited by quotas, gestational limitations and compulsory family physician recommendations (Erdman, 2007, p.1095). In fact such difference in treatment violates the assurance of equality by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. In New Brunswick, clinic abortions are excluded from coverage of insurance. In fact women paid an amount as high as $750 to avail the service of abortion. However the scenario began to change from 2006 with the Supreme Court intervention. The court ordered the government of Quebec to finance around 45000 women from their funds for private clinic abortions which were conducted between 1999 and 2006. The court established that the government was obligated by the charter to provide such funding for abortion. According to Judge Oliphant the “exclusion of clinic services from provincial health insurance violated women’s fundamental freedom of conscience under section 2(b) of the Charter; their right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice under section 7; and their equality rights under section 15” (Erdman, , 2007, p.1098). This also proves the legal and constitutional enforcement of women’s equality though in respect to practice, the scenario differs. This news article “Canada Advances on Women’s Equality” published in 2010 and updated in 2012 shows the current position of Canada in terms of gender equality in respect of education and economic participation. The labor force participation rate of women is 75% and that of men is 83%. The estimated income gap positions Canada at 33rd rank. The country has improved by five places but is still lagging behind USA in terms of gender gap ranking. Canada is in the 20th place. The country also puts forth examples from other nations in terms of equality. In fact, “Thirty-six percent of legislators, senior officials and managers and 57% of professional and technical workers positions are occupied by women” (Spector, 2012). However according to news article in The Star real equality is not experienced by women in Canada. This is true in the economic context mainly. According to a Queen’s University law professor, another six centuries would be required for them to enjoy the same to celebrate Women’s Equality Day it will take another 581 years. Currently, women do above 50 percent of the unpaid work and half of the paid works. There has been practically no change since 1997. Kathleen Lahey’s observation says that the advancement of women has come to a halt since 1997. From 2008 onwards there has been huge spending of the government of Ottawa ($168 billion) to bring about key changes in areas of taxation, infrastructure and employment, but the bulk of the benefits will be given to the men. The alterations made in the budget of 2012 with respect to “Canada’s Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement, health care spending, the national private retirement system, infrastructure spending and public services and employment” (Brennan, 2012) will put forth major cutbacks on women residents and also the people from vulnerable groups. While different factors determine the status of women in Canada, the main component lies in the market status which is reflected by the public expenditure and tax regime. If women are not equally represented in terms of market income, they will automatically fall back in terms of tax cuts, change in spending instantly. From the above discussion one can state that equality of women in Canada is closely linked with economic status and social status. On one hand ethnic and immigrant women receive inferior treatment in terms of meeting their interests. Though representation of women in legislators and passing of other acts promote their equality theoretically, in practice factors like economic conditions and ethnicity play major roles. References Briskin, L. & M. Eliasson (1999). Women;s Organizing and Public Policy in Canada and Sweden, McGill-Queen’s Press Brennan, R.J. (2012), Economic equality for women is centuries away, The Star,retrieved on March 11, 2013 form: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/05/22/economic_equality_for_women_is_centuries_away_professor_says.html Choy, W. (1985) The Jade Peony, in, Vancouver Short Stories, UBC Press, Erdman, J.N.(2007) In The Back Alleys of Health Care: Abortion, Equality, and Community in Canada, Emory Law Journal, 56(4), 1093-1155. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, (2012), Canada’s commitment to gender equality and the advancement of women’s rights internationally, Canada, retrieved on March 3, 2013 from: http://www.international.gc.ca/rights-droits/women-femmes/equality-egalite.aspx?view=d Spector, N. (2010) Canada Advances on Women’s Equality, The Globe and Mail, retrieved on March 4, 2013 from: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/canada-advances-on-womens-equality/article4328767/ Read More