Women to get more aid

Good start, say advocates, but more has to be done

OTTAWA— In what was billed as an historic first, the Liberal government says the entire 2017 federal budget was considered through a gender-based prism, with specific investments framed to promote equality and bring more women into the workforce. Speaking to Parliament on Wednesday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said all measures in the new budget were assessed based on their effect on women.

“We did something that, frankly, should have been done a long time ago,” Morneau said. “As a country, we aren’t taking full advantage of the talents, insights and experience of more than half of our population.”

The Gender Statement in the 2017 budget outlines the persisting wage gap between men and women in Canada, as well as the overrepresentation of women in lower income sectors and the low proportion of women in management and boardroom positions.

To address this, the new budget proposes to spend $7 billion over 11years on early learning and child care, though the new spending doesn’t kick in until the 2018-19 fiscal year. Morneau said, in working with the provinces and territories, this could create 40,000 new child-care spaces over the next three years.

According to the budget document, the cost of a single child care space in Toronto can exceed $20,000 a year.

Another measure aimed to help women is the creation of a national strategy to address genderbased violence. The budget proposes $100.9 million over five years, starting this year.

The government is also pointing to $11.2 billion for affordable housing, most of it slated for spending after 2020, as another measure to help women. It also frames new investments in skills training and student financial assistance as helpful to women.

Anuradha Dugal, director of violence prevention for the Canadian Women’s Foundation, said after the budget’s release that the move to adopt a gender-based analysis — a system of thinking that’s been around for decades — is “exceptional” but long overdue.

“I think it’s a good start,” she said. “I would just like to see it continue.”

Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, who managed the city of Toronto’s equity and human rights program for 30 years before she retired in 2010, was also pleased the government has begun to use a gender equity lens in budgeting.

“It’s a great start,” Ramkhalawansingh said. “They need to set community benefit and employment equity targets. They are going to have to dig deeper next time.”