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Issue Topics

Housing

Fri, 19 Oct 2007

UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on adequate housing undertakes official visit to Canada

Miloon Kothari, the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, is currently undertaking an official visit to Canada, including stops in Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Lubicon and Kahnawake.

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Fri, 23 Mar 2007

Popular Education Tools on Social and Economic Rights in Canada

Check out a new series of popular education regarding social and economic rights in Canada – produced by the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation

CERA

Pay Equity

Mon, 01 Jan 2007

Pay Equity and Women in Canada

On average, women still earn less than men regardless of their occupation, age or education. Today, women earn 72.5 cents for every dollar a man earns. For women of colour, Aboriginal women, and women with a disability, the wage gap is even greater.

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Violence Against Women

Thu, 20 Mar 2008

Criminal Code Omission Endangers Girls and Women

Two recent studies carried out in Ontario schools, one conducted by Toronto’s School Community Safety Advisory Panel and the other by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), found that sexual harassment and sexual assault of girls are occurring at alarming rates.The Panel stressed that the problem requires immediate attention.
Girls face alarming rates of violence

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Fri, 07 Mar 2008

TAKE ACTION TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Violence against women is an issue that cannot wait. At least one out of every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. No country, no culture, no woman young or old is immune to this scourge.
-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Please join us in sending a message to Prime Minster Harper.

March 8th is International Womens Day
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Aboriginal Women

Mon, 05 Nov 2007

HELP WIN EQUALITY FOR ABORIGINAL WOMEN!

Sharon McIvor is a member of the Lower Nicola Band, a practicing member of the Law Society of British Columbia, and a Professor of Aboriginal Law at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. She is the author of many articles on Aboriginal women's rights, and she has been a leader in the Native Women’s Association of Canada. Currently, she is the Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action.

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Mon, 07 May 2007

Keepers of the Light - An Inuit Women's Action Plan

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada recently released Keepers of the Light: Inuit Women's Action Plan, a three-year action plan which outlines Pauktuutit's vision for a strengthened partnership between Canadian Inuit women and the Government of Canada.

The action plan identifies four areas of Inuit women's lives that require immediate attention and actions:

  • Equity and Empowerment
  • Health and Safety
  • Strengthening Inuit Families
  • Inuit Women's Independent Voice in Global Issues

To download a copy of the report, click here:

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Childcare

Wed, 20 May 2009

The Fight for a Publicly-Funded Child Care System in Canada

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) recently released its Spring 2009 issue of Our Schools/Our Selves entitled Beyond Child's Play: Caring for and educating young children in Canada. This report takes a broad, comprehensive view of child care and early childhood education and examines it though a variety of different lenses to offer readers a number of points of entry into this nuanced and multifaceted topic.

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Poverty

Thu, 24 Jul 2008

What Do We Mean by "Feminization of Poverty"?

This ‘one pager’ by the International Poverty Centre (IPC) examines the concept of the ‘feminization of poverty’ and the various ways in which it can be defined. IPC proposes a definition that is in line with many recent studies in the field: the feminization of poverty is a change in poverty levels that is biased against women or female-headed households. More specifically, it is an increase in the difference in poverty levels between women and men, or between households headed by females on the one hand, and those headed my males or couples on the other.

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Fri, 10 Aug 2007

A Poverty Reduction Strategy for Ontario

Campaign 2000 recently released its report A Poverty Reduction Strategy for Ontario. This report calls on all Ontario political parties to commit to a "Poverty Reduction Strategy for Ontario" as they finalize their party platforms for the October election. Campaign 2000 urges all party leaders to commit to a comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy for Ontario with a target to reduce the number of children and families living in poverty by 25% within 5 years, and 50% in 10 years.Campaign 2000 recently released its report A Poverty Reduction Strategy for Ontario.

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Other Human Rights Issues

Wed, 07 May 2008

Bill C-484 - Unborn Victims of Crime Act - Resources from the PSAC

Last March, Bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Act, passed second reading in the House of Commons. This bill seeks to amend the Criminal Code and to create a separate offence for causing the injury or death of an "unborn child" should a pregnant woman be the victim of a crime.

The adoption of Bill C-484 would introduce a huge change in our law that would result in massive intrusions in the lives of pregnant women, as has been the case in those states in the U.S. that have adopted similar legislation.

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Thu, 01 May 2008

Overview of Bill C-484

On December 13th, 2007, federal Conservative Member of Parliament, Ken Epp, tabled Bill C-484, "An Act to amend the Criminal Code (injuring or causing the death of an unborn child while committing an offense)". The Bill is usually cited by its short title, The Unborn Victims of Crime Act. The Act has now passed its second reading in the House of Commons. Bill C-484 would allow charges to be laid in the death of an "unborn child" if the mother is a victim of violent crime.

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