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A recent report coordinated by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) highlights the sharp decrease in support for women’s issues under the Harper government.
Ottawa (14 April 2011) - Under the Harper government, there has been a sharp decrease in institutional and political support in the area of human rights. In particular, protections in place for women and girls have been eroded.
A recent report coordinated by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) highlights these policy shifts and their impact on women.
Examples of the policy shifts include:
• The elimination of the phrase "gender equality" from the mandate of Canada’s primary institution responsible for gender equality in Canada: Status of Women;
• The closing of twelve of the sixteen Status of Women offices, on the principles that women’s and men’s issues do not need to be separated;
• The reallocation of funding from organizations that support advocacy for women’s human rights to organizations that provide front-line services only;
• The elimination of funding to the court challenges program, a program created to provide assistance to court cases related to equality rights guaranteed under Canada’s constitution;
• The elimination in 2006 of the funding agreements that had been negotiated with provinces and territories to provide five billion dollars for childcare and early learning programs; and
• The decrease in levels of financial and human resources specifically committed to gender-equality projects in the Canadian International Development Agency and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The findings of this report show that Canada is falling behind. Once ranked seventh in the world for closing the gap between women and men, Canada is now ranked 73rd.
To read the full report, go to: www.fafia-afai.org/en/resources/reality-check-women-canada-and-beijing-…
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