(The following article is from the July 1-31, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)
By Liz Rowley, Ontario leader of the Communist Party

PV Vancouver Bureau

The Conservative government's economic plan fails to provide the infrastructure that women in Canada need to weather an economic crisis, according to a June 11 response from a broad coalition of women's organizations.

     "Yesterday's economic update is just more evidence of how out of touch the Harper minority government really is with families across Canada - otherwise we would have heard more about social infrastructure and initiatives that make a difference for women," said Jody Dallaire of the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, speaking for the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights.

     "The reality is that traditional infrastructure projects like bridges and roads tend to create jobs in male-dominated sectors. There is no part of this economic update that places women in these non-traditional jobs."

     The update also fails to identify areas of social infrastructure that not only create jobs for women, but create a stronger social safety net. Investments in child care and social programs, for example, would get working families on a better footing to participate in the labour market. Canadian families are currently facing a massive child care crisis because the Conservative government dismantled child care agreements and federal funding transfers for child care are now drying up.

     "Putting money into a public childcare plan would create thousands of jobs in a female-dominated sector and ensure that women are not penalized for bearing children by providing access to the labour market," said Sue Calhoun of the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.

     The Conservatives' refusal to implement significant Employment Insurance reform, at a time when unemployment rates are soaring, means that women who have lost their jobs in the recession continue to be far less likely than men to be able to access EI. Two out of three women who pay into EI aren't eligible to receive it. Nor are most women in a position to qualify for Conservative tax cuts and incentive measures that claim to stimulate economic recovery, such as the home renovation credit.

     Furthermore, the Conservatives' recent passage of Bill C-10 has eroded the right to pay equity for public sector workers. "This will not help women as they struggle with the economic crisis, on the contrary!" said Aalya Ahmad of the Ad Hoc Coalition. "We've said it before: this government's track record shows it deliberately opposes measures to advance the economic equality of half the population."  

     Visit the website of the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights / La Coalition spéciale pour l'égalité des femmes et les droits de la personne, http://www.womensequality.ca, http://www.egalitedesfemmes.ca.