Latest news with #WomenandGenderEqualityCanada
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Statement by Minister Rechie Valdez to Mark Canada's Pride Season 2025
OTTAWA, ON, June 9, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism), made the following statement to mark Pride Season 2025: "Pride Season is a time to celebrate the strength, diversity, and resilience of 2SLGBTQI+ communities in Canada and around the world. It is also a reminder that, as hate speech and discrimination continue, the fight for equality, safety, and human rights is far from over. When Canada supports 2SLGBTQI+ communities through inclusive policies and opportunities, everyone benefits. More people are empowered to fully participate in the workforce, become business owners, drive innovation and contribute to thriving communities. The result is a stronger, more competitive country – where poverty is reduced, health outcomes improve, and no one is left behind. The Government of Canada is removing barriers still faced by 2SLGBTQI+ communities — from safe access to gender-affirming care to opportunities in entrepreneurship and skilled trades. Through the Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan and Canada's Action Plan on Combatting Hate, we're funding solutions that improve safety, support mental health, and strengthen community resilience. That includes a $25 million federal investment in Canada's first-ever 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program — launched in partnership with the Canadian 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce. Pride is both a celebration and a call to action – and the Government will continue to stand with 2SLGBTQI+ communities to build a safer, more inclusive, and more equitable Canada for all. Happy Pride, Canada.'' Follow Women and Gender Equality Canada: Website Equality Matters newsletter Facebook LinkedIn Instagram YouTube SOURCE Women and Gender Equality Canada View original content:
Winnipeg Free Press
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
A nudge to gender equity in 2025
Opinion Gender equality in cabinet remains important even if the prime minister isn't talking about it. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau seemed to ruffle feathers when he unveiled his first federal cabinet: one that deliberately included gender equality. Alberta's Rachel Notley had beaten him to the punch months earlier with a gender-equal cabinet, but she did so without making it a headline. Newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney seems to be following that lead. Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press Prime Minister Mark Carney holds a news conference as members of his cabinet look on following a swearing in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on March 14. The new cabinet sworn in on Tuesday is composed of 28 full ministers: 14 women and 14 men, plus the prime minister. In addition, Carney appointed 10 junior ministers as secretaries of state: four women and six men. However, he did this after some nudging from feminists, concerned that his first cabinet broke too far away from Trudeau's commitment to gender balance. Just after taking control of the party, Carney's new cabinet in March did not reflect a gender-equal balance. In addition, he also eliminated the minister for Women and Gender Equality Canada. As Jeanette Ashe and Fiona MacDonald point out in an article published in the Tyee, that move prompted criticism from organizations like the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, Women's Shelters Canada, YWCA Canada and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. But how big a role has Carney provided for these women? According to Ashe and MacDonald, the 'big jobs' have gone to the men — a trend that has been ongoing in politics for years. Women continue to be under-represented in roles like finance minister or defence (although Carney did name a female associate minister of national defence: Jill McNight). Even in Manitoba under the NDP, the finance portfolio remains a job for a man — Adrien Sala. If women are to be represented in cabinet, then women must first run as candidates in winnable ridings. According to Equal Voice, the NDP was the only federal party with 51 per cent female candidates. That's impressive, but given the poor polling numbers, those candidates were unlikely to win. The Conservatives, who had strong polling numbers up until Carney's win as leader, had a depressing number of female-nominated candidates — only 22 per cent. The Liberals did only slightly better. Just 35 per cent of their candidates were female. This does suggest however, that the two parties most likely to win the election, are less likely to nominate women than parties who polling numbers are low. In a social environment in which gender equality risks being dismissed as 'too woke,' and with a growing backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion policies, it is important that women's voices in government continue to be heard and represented, particularly in cabinet. Canada needs a diversity of voices in our public institutions. Housing, climate change, health care, food security, the economy, unemployment and the ongoing issues with the United States are experienced differently by women than by men, largely because they likely live longer, they take on familial responsibilities for the most part and they often make less money. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, arrives for the cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Tuesday. Women also make most of the buying decisions in the household, shoulder the child-care and elder-care responsibilities and as they near the end of their lives, navigate their newfound vulnerability alone. That's why policy about housing, finance, defence and unemployment, among others, must at least attempt to understand the consequences and unintended consequences of any cabinet decisions. Carney has some smart women in his cabinet. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Patty Hajdu, Anita Anand, Chrystia Freeland, Mélanie Joly and of course Manitoba's own, newly elected Rebecca Chartrand, who was named the minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and the minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. He would do well to listen to them very closely. After all, it's 2025. Shannon Sampert is a retired political scientist. shannon@
CBC
16-03-2025
- General
- CBC
Northern B.C. researchers creating queer history documentary and archive for region
Researchers in northern B.C. are working on a new project to fill a significant gap in the recorded history of the region's 2SLGBTQ plus community. The Northern B.C. Queer Connection Society, a non-profit organization based in Prince George, has secured $299, 999 in federal grant funding from the Women and Gender Equality Canada for their queer history project. It will include two components — a documentary film and an accessible historical archive of documents, photographs and memorabilia to serve as a resource for researchers, educators and the public. The project will run until March 2027 and collaborate with local historians and filmmakers. The lead historian on the project is Tess Healy - whose own personal history has made a significant impact on the region. Healy and Wendy Young became one of the first same-sex couples in northern B.C. to get legally married when they tied the knot on Aug. 30, 2003. They were one of the eight British Columbian couples who pursued the same-sex marriage lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court — and won. Healy and Young exchanged their vows in Prince George — in what's now Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park. Their marriage is part of local, regional, and even national history. There's even a wedding photo of them in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Healy said the project is important because many stories of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals who lived in northern B.C. in the past remain untold. "It is a hidden history because people chose to hide their lives and experiences and that was a matter of survival," said Healy. "I think that when we explore something like queer history or Indigenous history, we are beginning to see a much more nuanced picture of what it means to live or breathe in northern B.C." Healy said they are looking to interview people who have knowledge of 2SLGBTQ+ history or stories to share. "It's in the interviews that some of these amazing stories come to pass." Healy said she learned of a boarding house in the early days of Prince George where the gay employees of various companies coming through northern B.C. would stay to find safety and community. "There are these wonderful snippets of what it was like to try and find community and what it was like to try and create family in a society that didn't even recognize your existence and in many cases thought it was OK to erase you and that often included violence," she said. Jessica Davey, Northern B.C. Queer Connection Society's project manager, said the queer history project has been in the making for a long time. "I've been talking to individuals all over northern B.C., different activists and organizations that have already done some incredible work for collecting interviews, memorabilia and historical records," she said. "But they are scattered a little bit everywhere, so they lacked a centralized place to protect and share them. "Now we're able to bring all the archives together, expand upon them to make sure that it continues to go into the future." Davey said they are currently in the gathering phase, and this summer will be conducting interviews at Pride celebrations in communities throughout northern B.C. before they begin filming the documentary in the fall. "It's going to open up so many different avenues to show future generations that it is important for their story to be told," Davey said.
