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As Canadian women proved in 1981 by lobbying for inclusion of equality provisions in the Charter, women uniting together can create change.
Ottawa (17 April 2013) - April 17, 1982 is an historic day in the struggle for equality rights in Canada, as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms became part of the Canadian Constitution.
Each year, we celebrate this day and remember the strength and determination demonstrated by the women who fought to ensure that women and men were equal under the law and that discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability was no longer acceptable.
Section 15 was not implemented until three years later to allow federal, provincial, and territorial governments to analyze all their laws and amend them as necessary.
Section 15 states:
Equality Rights
15.(1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantage individuals or groups including those that are disadvantage because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
Women from across Canada gathered at a landmark Women and the Constitution conference on February 14, 1981 to lobby for the inclusion of these provisions. An additional clause included in the Constitution was developed at this conference: an overriding principle for implementation of the decisions flowing from any constitutional legal activity.
Section 28 states:
28. Notwithstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female persons.
The importance of equality rights under the Charter cannot be underestimated. One of the biggest issues facing Canadian women is income inequality. The gap between the rich and poor continues to grow in Canada, with women being affected more significantly by austerity measures imposed at all levels of government. Women continue to bear the primary responsibility for family caregiving, while at the same time juggle more of workplace and economic burdens.
A top priority of future government budgets must be to reduce income inequality for everyone but especially for women. A primary tool that would address this issue is the development of a Fairness Test by all levels of government in Canada.
A Fairness Test would assess the impact of key tax and spending policies in government budgets to determine whether they will increase or decrease income inequality. The Fairness Test for budgets would be a transparent way for government to show a commitment to the essential goal of reducing income inequality and improving the quality of women's lives.
As Canadian women showed in 1981 by lobbying for inclusion of equality provisions in the Charter, women uniting together can create change. This is why one of the focuses of the National Union's Women 4 Change, as part of the All Together Now! campaign, will be to lobby governments for the implementation of a Fairness Test.
More information:
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NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE