March 5, 2004
A year ago, just in time for International Women’s Day, an UN committee to end the discrimination against women released a report that criticized the BC Liberal government for eliminating a generation of gains made women in this province. The UN singled out the BC Liberal’s cuts to health care, women’s centres, legal aid, income assistance, childcare, abuse services, and human rights. They were especially surprised by the level of poverty experienced by women in such a rich country like Canada. (CEDAW 2003)
Since the UN report, women in BC have only been worse off. This is not surprising when the Minister of State for Women’s Equality, Lynn Stephans, simply tells women who are troubled by poverty and wage inequity: “Well then, make more money.” (Langley Advance News, Feb. 15th, 2002)
In the recent BC budget, the Liberal’s cut the funding for the Ministry of Children and Families by $70 million. They are cutting the funding for all BC Women’s Centres by the end of March. The Liberal’s are forcing single mothers on welfare with children over the age of three to search for paid work, enroll in a training program, or return to work. Since the Liberal’s scraped universal childcare in 2002, this puts women in the very difficult situation of looking for work without access to affordable childcare.
Single mothers who are working end up spending a majority of their income on childcare. At UBC, childcare for a toddler is $875, and that is only for three days a week. For an average part-time worker at UBC that is over 70% of their income. It is no wonder that the most recent poll showed that while men are 49% in favour of the Liberals, women’s support for the Liberals is only at 30%.
Almost 150 years ago on March 8th, female garment workers marched in New York City to protest bad working conditions and low pay. Fifty years later, women marched again after 128 women were killed in a factory fire. They again demanded better working conditions, equal pay, and childcare. Now every year on March 8th we celebrate International Women’s Day. The theme this year is “She’s on a Roll!” but thanks to the polices of the BC Liberals, women in BC are on a roll backwards.
This year on March 8th, we still must march to demand equal pay, better working conditions, and universal childcare.
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