Women’s equality in Canada ‘not a done deal’
The debate over the handling of harassment complaints among MPs on Parliament Hill may put women’s issues on the agenda for the upcoming election campaign in a way not seen in 30 years.
Clare Beckton, executive director of the Centre for Women in Politics and Public Leadership at Carleton University, said the sensation created by allegations against CBC personality Jian Ghomeshi followed by the suspension of two Liberal MPs accused of harassment by NDP MPs is setting the stage for an election debate on women’s issues that hasn’t occurred since the 1984 federal campaign.
“There is no guarantee it will happen, but this has certainly raised awareness of this issue. It’s like we are in another period when we are really looking at why women have not achieved full equality,” she said.
A broad coalition of women’s groups, labour and other organizations has recently kicked off a campaign called Up for Debate, calling for a nationally broadcast and televised debate on women’s issues as happened during the 1984 election campaign. The Up for Debate campaign targets three key issues: Ending violence against women, inequality and supporting women’s leadership.
“We are at a key moment. There is no time in recent history where women’s issues have received so much attention and it centres around violence and the persistence of everyday sexism,” said Vicky Smallwood of the Canadian Labour Congress.
The first debate on women’s issues during the 1984 election campaign was organized by the then-powerful National Action Committee on the Status of Women. The three main party leaders of the day — former Liberal prime minister John Turner, Conservative leader Brian Mulroney and NDP leader Ed Broadbent — debated topics ranging from day care, to equal pay for work of equal value and abortion.
So far, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May have agreed to take part in Up for Debate’s push for a televised debate in 2015; the group is still awaiting responses from Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The Up for Debate campaign argues the scandals around harassment have focused discussion on sexism, violence against women, discrimination and the ongoing battle for equality in a way that forces political leaders to debate the kinds of policy that will change society’s views of women.
Caroline Andrew, the University of Ottawa professor who moderated the 1984 leaders’ debate, suspects the only way a debate will get off the ground is if Mulcair or May challenges the other leaders by accusing them of “being afraid” to participate. Even without a formal debate, however, she argues women’s issues are on the radar and will be part of the election campaign.
Experts say women’s issues have dominated the political stage in “waves” over the years. The National Action Committee on the Status of Women was a driving force in implementing the findings of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, which ushered in the so-called “second wave” of feminism after the suffrage battle of the early 20th century.
That wave broadened equality rights, work rights, maternity benefits and led to the creation of Status of Women Canada and the Charter’s equality guarantees.
Andrew said a third wave seems has grown out of the realization women have still not achieved equality despite employment gains and the focus has shifted to “violence, economic prosperity and women’s equitable representation at decision-making tables.”