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British Columbia Moves Backwards on Women’s Equality
Submission of the B.C. CEDAW Group to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on the occasion of the Committee’s review of Canada’s 5th Report   |  January 23, 2003
 
Recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination from the Concluding Comments on Canada’s 5th periodic report

CEDAW/C/2003/1/CRP.3/Add.5/Rev.1
January 31, 2003

Read the complete U.N. Committee Draft Report [PDF only]

The Committee recommends that Canada:
  • find innovative ways to ensure that federal, provincial and territorial governments work together to ensure that there is compliance with the treaty in all jurisdictions;
  • reconsider …changes in the fiscal arrangements between the federal Government and the provinces and territories so that national standards of a sufficient level are re-established and women wherever they live can enjoy their treaty rights;
  • consider making gender-based impact analysis of all laws and programs mandatory at the federal level, provincial and territorial levels;
  • find ways for making funds available for equality test cases in all jurisdictions and for ensuring that sufficient legal aid is available to women in all jurisdictions when seeking redress in matters of civil and family law and in those relating to poverty issues;.
  • assess the gender impact of anti-poverty measures and increase its efforts to combat poverty among women in general and the vulnerable groups of women in particular.
  • accelerate its efforts to eliminate discrimination against Aboriginal women both in society at large and in their communities, by removing discriminatory legal provisions and ensuring their equal enjoyment of their human rights to education, employment and physical and psychological well-being.
  • take effective and proactive measures, including awareness-raising programmes, to sensitize Aboriginal communities about women’s human rights and to combat patriarchal attitudes, practices and stereotyping of roles.
  • ensure that Aboriginal women receive sufficient funding to be able to participate in the necessary governance and legislative processes
  • provide comprehensive information on the situation of Aboriginal women in its next report.
  • implement fully the gender-based impact analysis and reporting requirements provided in the new [Immigration and Refugee Protection] Act with a view to eliminating remaining provisions and practices which still discriminate against immigrant women.
  • take further measures to improve the current live-in caregiver programme by reconsidering the live-in requirement, ensuring adequate social security protection and accelerating the process by which such domestic workers may receive permanent residency.
  • assist victims of trafficking through counselling and reintegration;
  • step up its efforts to combat violence against women and girls and increase its funding for women’s crisis centres and shelters in order to address the needs of women victims of violence under all governments.
  • take additional measures to increase the representation of women in political and public life, through the introduction of temporary special measures with numerical goals and timetables to increase the representation of women in decision-making positions at all levels.
  • monitor closely the situation of women’s non-standard jobs and introduce employment-related measures which will bring more women into standard employment arrangements with adequate social benefits.
  • accelerate efforts to implement equal pay for work of equal value at the federal level and ensure that that principle is implemented in all jurisdictions
  • ensure that income-generating efforts for Aboriginal women provide for sustained and adequate income, including all necessary social benefits.
  • expand affordable childcare facilities in all jurisdictions;
  • reconsider the eligibility rules under the Employment Insurance Act in order to compensate for women’s current inequalities in accessing those benefits owing to their non-standard employment patterns.
  • consider raising the benefit levels for parental leave under the Employment Insurance Act.
  • reconsider and, if necessary, redesign its efforts towards socially assisted housing based on a gender-based impact analysis for vulnerable groups of women.
  • involve women’s non-governmental organizations representing different groups of women from all jurisdictions in a national discussion and dissemination of the next report.
  • disseminate widely the present concluding comments in order to make the people of Canada, and particularly government administrators and politicians, aware of the steps that have been taken to ensure de jure and de facto equality for women and the future steps required in that regard.
The Committee recommends that the government of B.C.:
  • analyse the negative impact on women of its recent legal and other measures and amend the measures, as necessary.
If you have questions/comments for BCCWC, please e-mail us at bcwomen@telus.net  For other contact information, please go to our Information Page

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