The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is Choose to Challenge. As the organizers write, “A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions — all day, every day.” This theme seems particularly appropriate in a year when we have all been challenged in ways that we could not have imagined a year ago. COVID-19 has forced us all to look at the many societal issues that have long simmered under the surface of our busy lives.
Across Canada, the law and our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provide for equal rights, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and beliefs. But equal rights do not automatically translate into equal opportunity, equal pay, or an equal voice.
Across the country, including here in York Region, the pandemic has shone a spotlight on a number of key issues that impact women disproportionately.
These include the need for affordable and available childcare and the need for fair pay and benefits. For women, who are the predominant caregivers to seniors or other family members in the home, this includes the provision of additional support. In addition, there must be standardization of training and working conditions for long-term and home care staff. None of these issues is new, but the pandemic has forced us to recognize that not dealing with these issues has an enormous negative impact, both from a societal, and an economic perspective.
However, as is often noted, words are cheap, so what can we do to ensure that systematic change is implemented?
The federal government has been studying and planning for a full national daycare plan and its time has come. It has an advocate in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland who was quoted in her fiscal update last year as saying, "I say this both as a working mother and as a minister of finance: Canada will not be truly competitive until all Canadian women have access to the affordable childcare we need to support our participation in our country's workforce.” Calling it an element of a "feminist agenda," Freeland added that spending the money makes "sound business sense."
Implementing programs that provide fair pay, benefits, training and standardization of working conditions for workers in long-term and home care, will require a commitment from both the federal and provincial governments. Planned national standards for these homes will help, and the federal government is working with provinces and territories to achieve this goal.
We need to ensure that, going forward, our understanding of the heroic efforts made by long-term care staff (nurses, PSWs, housekeeping, food services, etc.) during this pandemic translates into a sustained commitment to ensure they receive what they need and deserve to ensure our seniors receive the care they so richly deserve.
We need to make sure our voices are heard at all levels of government so that returning to the status quo for long-term care homes, their staff and residents, is not an option. Ultimately, implementation is only half the battle, and provincial and territorial governments must ensure that agreed standards are supported by appropriate governance and monitoring.
The lived experience of our representatives and legislators influence their perspectives and priorities. Women of all ages and communities bring their experiences to the table – experiences that are often overlooked when those women don’t have a seat. The fact is decisions affecting the entire population should not be made without the proportional input of representation from all groups within the population, including women.
This representation must be a stated and committed goal at all levels of government. Specific actions and transparent targets to ensure that all levels of government strive for fair gender representation is critical to ensuring that the strengths, experiences and talents of over 50 per cent of the population are brought to bear on helping to solve the issues we face and develop sustainable solutions going forward.
As women from all walks of life, we are choosing to challenge the current conditions and level of representation we have, so that we can contribute fully to the future of Canada.
Leah Taylor Roy, Aurora
Federal Liberal candidate, Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill
