Nov. 24, 2006

ONDP WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

This past weekend I attended the Ontario New Democratic Party Women’s Committee Biennial Delegated Conference “Reclaiming our Voices”.  This was my first Ontario NDP Women’s Committee meeting.  To say that it was inspiring was to say the least.  We were honored to have Andrea Horwath, MPP for Hamilton East, Critic Portfolios include Women’s Issues, Pensions and Children and Youth Services; Cheri DiNovo, MPP Parkdale-High Park Critic Portfolios include Small Business, Housing, Employment Standard as well as Culture, Tourism and Recreation; as well as Irene Mathyssen, MP London-Fanshawe whose portfolios include the Status of Women and Housing.  These three women are so committed to the Women’s Movement, if I may call it that, which to me simply means standing up and fighting for what is right and morale. In most cases these are the issues that effect women like affordable housing, affordable, reliable not for profit daycare, an increase in the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour as well as a real program to assist women in need to flee a violent situation.  Long before any of these women were elected to public office as NDP members they were actively involved in their communities, right from grassroots issue like school closings, health care, community housing projects, food banks, and environmental issues as well as belonged to community organizations.  They all have long identified with workers and the working people of the province and specifically have strived to improve the lives of working people.  To listen to these dynamic women speak and go forward on issues that effect women humbled me and invigorated me to continue to push the agenda for Women’s Issues.

The group of delegates spent the day attending three workshops aimed at giving women more confidence and skills to become more involved. These workshops included Public Speaking, Campaign Skills as well as Advocating for Women’s Issues.  Personally, I found the workshop of Advocacy most inspiring, although the other two were very informative.  As is always the case in workshops the experience of the other participants was one of the most useful tools.  There were women who had advocated for disabled persons, community organizations, working conditions, human rights, the poor and the vulnerable, both women and children. 

We spent some time as a group going over resolutions to the Ontario NDP Convention, which included a resolution which spoke to the party around women’s issues being built into every plank of the election platform.  This is essential to truly reflect the voters.  The other resolutions asked for reaffirmation of our commitment to the full equality of women and commit to creating a society which promotes the physical, social and economic well-being of women; acknowledgment that violence against women is an equality rights issue; committing to ending poverty one way being by ending the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement from Ontario’s poorest women and their children; increasing the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour; create and maintain affordable housing; afford women fair access to justice and hold violent men accountable for their actions; foster women’s mental health; demand funding for women’s organizations and listen to women’s advocates and survivors of violence; as well the issues of including harassment under the Occupational Health & Safety Act so that women can avoid harassment at work; address the barriers to women’s equality and full participation in society—including poverty, lack of child care and housing, and discrimination..

Of particular note, with December 6^th quickly approaching, the McGuinty government has invested less than half of the $68 million they promised to end violence against women.  To add insult to injury women’s shelters, sometimes the very key to survival, are being told to go out and fundraise instead of being given priority and core funding necessary.  There are a million reasons why the resolutions proposed are so important to women, but keep in mind that 51% of women in Canada have experienced at least one incidence of physical/sexual violence since the age of 16. Aboriginal women, recent immigrant women, disabled women and other marginalized women are more likely to experience partner abuse.  A full two-thirds of victims of elder abuse are women. 

Women are an integral part of our society, have been recognized by some cultures as such for years, while many others have a long way to go to achieve true equality for women.  We must never forget those who marched before us in an effort to give us what we have today.  We must not let them down.

Joanne Williamson

Women’s Committee Co-Chair