Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Report from Conference on Women's Human Rights in Canada
ACTEW’s project manager Deanna Yerichuk attended the two-day conference CEDAW in 2007-2008: Preparing for the Upcoming Review at the United Nations in Ottawa on March 9 and 10, 2007.
FAFIA and Oxfam Canada partnered to host this opportunity to discuss the upcoming United Nations review of Canada under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expected in late 2007 or early 2008 (FAFIA has an excellent overview of CEDAW and the UN recommendations for Canada in 2003).
Some highlights included:
- Sheila Regehr (National Council of Welfare) presented NWC's anti-poverty strategy report, which is based on four cornerstones focus on: 1) creating a national anti-poverty strategy with targets and timelines; 2) developing a coordinated plan of action; 3) ensuring accountability; and 4) establishing official poverty indicators. (Download Solving Poverty: Four cornerstones of a workable national strategy for Canada from the NWC web site.)
- Trish Hennessey (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) presented on CCPA's Growing Gap research project, which is finding that the income gap between Canadians is growing, even though Canada's prosperous economy provides the conditions for the income gap to shrink. Trish quoted research from CCPA's recent report The Rich and the Rest of Us that found 80% of Canadian families are working more hours and taking home less pay.
- Lisa Phillips (Osgoode Hall, York University) offered an analysis of the tax cuts being considered by the federal government, which she suggested benefit higher income earners, offering these statistics: 60% of individuals earn less than $30,000, and 75% of women earn less than $30,000. She pointed out that 38% of women do not pay income tax due to low incomes.
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, Meetings_and_Events, Resources_and_Research
