Gender inequality hasn’t just disappeared

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/09/2024 (557 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Are we done with gender equity initiatives yet?

That was a frequently asked question during my years as minister responsible for the status of women and gender equity. Without fail, whenever I would unveil a scholarship, highlight an initiative specifically targeting women and girls or celebrate Gender Equality Week, someone would ask why I was excluding men and boys.

It was a fair question and one that deserved an honest answer.

The reality is that a gender pay gaps still exists in Canada’s labour market, meaning men often make more money in equivalent positions than women, and to this day, females rarely make it to the C-Suite. Consider this: only five per cent of TSX companies have a female CEO and less than 10 per cent of all executive officer jobs in Canada are held by women. These numbers, sadly, haven’t changed much in the last few decades.

That’s one reason why governments try to establish policy, protocols and practices to advance equality.

Politically speaking, the numbers are a little better for women in elected office. That’s because voters demand it and political parties and male leaders are under immense pressure to appear committed to equality. Still, women hold only roughly 25 per cent of the positions in public office.

Another reason women and girls are lagging in leadership is the prevalence of domestic, sexual and intimate partner violence.

With 44 per cent of women in Canada experiencing intimate partner violence at some point in their lives, and with rampant sexual harassment still tolerated in many workplaces, and the stark reality that every 48 hours a woman or girl is killed because of their gender, it’s no wonder getting ahead is seemingly impossible for many.

It’s hard to put your best foot forward when you’re trying to make yourself small to avoid harassment, abuse or violence.

For these reasons and many more, governments continue to advance and promote equality.

This past Sunday marked the beginning of Gender Equality Week in Canada, a day proclaimed at the federal level to “reflect on the importance of advancing gender equality, addressing persistent barriers and gaps and celebrating the progress that has been achieved so far,” as stated by federal Women and Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien in a news release.

Here in Manitoba, ever since 1980, there has been a Manitoba Women’s Advisory Council, established by the provincial government through an Order-In-Council to help advance these goals. Their mandate, as outlined by legislation, is to “advise the minister on such matters relating to equality of status for women,” and has a legislated requirement to meet six times per year.

This council, made up of 18 members of the community who are often hand-picked by the minister but appointed by the lieutenant-governor, is mandated to help the government advance gender equality.

As minister, I often took advice from my council on many of the issues listed above, while also asking them to help organize public events to celebrate milestones or raise awareness on things like Gender Equality Week. They helped find solutions in combating gender-based violence, assisted me in establishing anti-harassment policies for the civil service and legislative staff and helped create a framework for handling complaints of bullying and harassment occurring at the municipal level. They also helped modernize a funding formula for women’s shelters and assisted in the provincial portfolio’s transition from status of women to gender equity in spring 2023.

For the last 45 years, this council has been instrumental in achieving many good things for women in the province.

So what’s become of this council in the last year?

Since the NDP formed government, this council has not met even once, despite a legislative requirement to meet six times per year. Nor have the council members been notified by the minister that their positions have been terminated. It’s not uncommon for members of a council appointed under one government to be swapped out under a new government and no one on the existing council would have been surprised to have been replaced by new members. Yet that hasn’t been the case with any of 18 members of the council. Apart from the board chair who resigned last fall, the other members have seemingly been forgotten about.

If this current NDP government sees no need for this 45-year-old institution or if the work of advancing gender equality is done under their estimation, then at least inform the council and repeal the legislation.

Simply ignoring these women who took on the responsibility to serve the province in this capacity is not in keeping with any notion of advancing the status of women.

Rochelle Squires is a recovering politician after 7 1/2 years in the Manitoba legislature. She is a political and social commentator whose column appears Tuesdays. rochelle@rochellesquires.ca