Up For Debate pushes gender equality

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This article was published 15/08/2019 (2388 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gender equality hasn’t been the focus of a political leaders debate in Manitoba’s recent history, but heading into next month’s election, more than 20 local agencies are working to change that.

When it comes to closing the pay gap, recruiting more women into male-dominated careers, making reproductive health-care options more accessible and working to stop violence against women across Manitoba, a group of community organizations has banded together to see the personal stays political.

The coalition, working as a provincial chapter of the national women’s rights advocacy group Up For Debate, has organized a political debate it hopes will prompt parties to make gender equality part of their platforms.

“We just really felt that, in what we have seen to date, these are not issues that have been brought forward by any of the leaders,” said Mary Lobson of Ending Violence Across Manitoba, one of 23 agencies that have signed on to support Up For Debate.

“In Manitoba, we have the highest rate of reported sexual violence. We have the second-highest rate of domestic violence of the provinces in Canada… and certainly, there are particular women that are more vulnerable, such as Indigenous women, newcomer women, women with disabilities and transgender women,” she said.

“So there’s a need to address the safety of women in Manitoba, and this is not something that we’ve (seen yet) in anybody’s platform.”

The group was told leaders for the NDP and Green party will participate in the Aug. 21 debate at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Lobson said. The Liberals said they may send a representative in place of its leader; the Progressive Conservatives didn’t respond to Up For Debate’s request.

The Free Press contacted all four parties and only the Greens confirmed leader James Beddome will attend the debate.

The coalition is pushing for more funding to support local anti-domestic violence and women’s rights organizations, support for women entering trades and technology fields, and increased access to the abortion pill and maternal health care in all areas of the province.

Brianne Goertzen, provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition, said the group wants to see reproductive health care move from the status of women portfolio and become a responsibility of the provincial health department.

“We are also watching what is happening to women’s rights and women’s access to health care to our neighbours to the south, which I think is also bleeding into some of the discourse that’s occurring on the national level here in Canada.”

This week, Up For Debate Canada called on federal leaders to commit to a gender-equality debate in advance of the upcoming federal election.

In Manitoba’s fastest-growing sector, technology, there is an acknowledged need to include more women, said Kathy Knight, chief executive officer of the Information and Communication Technologies Association of Manitoba.

But on average across Canada, women with the same education and experience as men in their fields still make about $20,000 less per year.

‘So there’s a need to address the safety of women in Manitoba, and this is not something that we’ve (seen yet) in anybody’s platform’– Mary Lobson 

Political will could pave the way for breaking down gender bias in education and training for jobs in science, math, engineering and technology, Knight said. It could also help recruit and retain women for some of the most in-demand jobs as software developers, cybersecurity engineers and business analysts.

Women make up about 25 to 27 per cent of Manitoba’s tech industry, compared with the national average of about 25 per cent, Knight said.

“I’ve been in this role for 15 years, and this is absolutely the first time I’ve ever seen this raised as an election issue provincially,” she said.

“I think right now, we’re just in a period of time where there’s just a much higher level of awareness of the importance of gender equity.”

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay