Cuts to Status of Women a mistake

Dear Editor:



(Letter from the Annapolis County Spectator)

As a Canadian woman, I was appalled at the cuts the (Stephen) Harper government was proposing … specifically the cuts to the Office of Status of Women Canada. Why, you may ask, should I care what happens to yet another office in Ottawa? I care because it affects all women – even those of us in rural Nova Scotia!

The focus of Status of Women Canada is gender-based analysis. Gender-based analysis puts a gender lens on policies, programs, practices, services and legislation, ensuring they are inclusive of women and other marginalized groups. Status of Women Canada gives money to women-focused organizations to conduct research in this regard. One example is research that is being conducted by Health Canada. Women and men have physical differences, and react differently to bodily discomfort. Yet, diagnostic tools tend to be “genderless.� There is growing evidence that such “genderless� tools have been made for and by men, and may not be relevant to women’s bodies. It is still a growing trend for health professionals to recognize that men and women’s bodies are different and thus requires different research and different diagnoses.

Back to the question of why should we, here in rural Nova Scotia, care about Status of Women Canada? What have they done for us lately?

One research project that was funded by Status of Women Canada was undertaken by Tri-County Women’s Centre in Yarmouth, Second Story Women’s Centre in Bridgewater (now Lunenburg), and the Women’s Place Resource Centre in Bridgetown. This research project, entitled ‘Women and Public Pensions: Working Toward Equitable Policy Change’ attempted to identify why more senior women were living in poverty in rural Nova Scotia. It found that senior women are twice as likely as senior men to live in poverty (p. 30).

There are many recommendations that came from this research funded by Status of Women Canada. These recommendations would make a substantial difference to women in rural Nova Scotia, and indeed, rural Canada. These recommendations are now taking a back seat, as Status of Women Canada is looking at budget cuts. Once again, the marginalized group of impoverished women becomes re-victimized.

Status of Women Canada does not think men are evil. They realize that programs and policies were put in place long ago when the focus was on men in the workplace. They fund women-focused organizations to research how the inherent policies are gender biased and recommend changes based on that research. Status of Women Canada does not try to speak for all Canadian women. They present the research to identify where that gender bias is evident and recommend ways in which the policies and programs can be improved.

The gender-based analysis has been incorporated in government offices and has been celebrated throughout the United Nations. The need for this analysis has not diminished, nor has it been completed. For the past 30 years, government has recognized that need. Please contact your Member of Parliament and show the government the importance and impact of women’s voices.



Wendy Knowlton

Belleisle