They’re not in it for the pink tools

I salute International Women’s Day

March 8 is International Women’s Day. I’m a dad of two daughters, have a granddaughter, and I work with women on the job site (one of my daughters included). So it’s important to me that women get the respect they deserve and the support they need.

Every year International Women’s Day has a different theme. Last year it was to end violence against women, the year before that was about ending hunger and poverty. This year’s theme is inspiring change, and as someone who knows a thing or two about women in the trades, I know that they inspire change every day.

But unfortunately, only 6.4% of Canadian skilled trades workers were women in 2009; only one in 10 apprentices is a woman. Women are usually in the top 10% of their class but they’re still the last to get hired, and when they do, men are twice as likely to get a better job offer.

I hire women and it’s not just for TV appeal. I believe them to be better workers and they keep the men honest.

Anyone who works in the trades is already a hero to me — girls, boys, young, old — because the work isn’t easy — it’s underappreciated, undervalued, and, bottom line, it’s tough work that requires even tougher skin. But every time I go to a trade show or trade school and I see interested, engaged and dedicated women doing the best at what they do, I’m hopeful about where this industry is headed.

They say the trades are still a man’s world but that is starting to change. The truth is, it was never a man’s world. The world of trades belongs to everyone, it always has, and that’s the bigger point.

It was a woman, Ida Forbes, who invented the first electric water heater. Women were also re-

Women may not have received credit

but they have influenced trades

sponsible for giving us the first circular saw used in a sawmill, windshield wipers, the dishwasher and Kevlar, the stuff used to make bulletproof vests.

And who knows how many other inventions women had a hand in creating or developing that we will never know about? Remember, there was a time when women couldn’t own property, or patents. If she wanted a patent, it would be awarded to her father or husband.

Women might not have always received the credit they deserve, but they have definitely influenced the skilled trades, and continue to do so.

Inspiring change starts with people brave enough to step off the “traditional” path to do what they love — for real. But change is not just thanks to the women on the front lines; it’s also the institutions that support them, employers that will hire them, colleagues that work with them and educators who train them.

I know women are ready. But is everyone else? Are we welcoming change, or resisting it and making it harder for anyone who dares to be more than what we expect them to be?

My daughter, Sherry, brought up a great point: “You can have a powerful opinion but it’s only powerful if you do something about it.” And for her, equality is not having to explain herself. If everyone can do what they want to do why should she have to explain herself just because what she is doing isn’t traditional, for her. “I’m just going to do it,” is what she says. I can’t agree with her more. I’d like to see the day when a woman working as a plumber, electrician or carpenter isn’t something out of the ordinary, when she can walk into any trade, on any campus and in any classroom and not worry about being treated differently because of her gender — of course it still happens — and more important, not have to defend the choice she’s made.

Women working in the trades today are doing more than just their job. They are changing the world and the future — not just for other women, but for everyone.