Statement made on 31 March 2010 by Senator Mobina Jaffer
Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer:
Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund's President Nitya Iyer and Executive Director Alison Brewen. West Coast LEAF is a charitable organization that works to ensure that our laws guarantee substantial equality for all women in Canada, especially marginalized women.
The West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund works to ensure that the rights of women and girls as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms are upheld throughout our courts, human rights commissions and government agencies. West Coast LEAF takes action to reveal how factors such as race, colour, Aboriginal status, sexual orientation and religion compound discrimination against women. Senator Nancy Ruth is a great supporter of LEAF and I thank her for her work and her support for the organization.
On March 26, West Coast LEAF held its twenty-third annual Equality Breakfast. Over 760 guests attended to celebrate International Women's Day and heard a moving keynote address given by Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams. During her address, Williams reminded us that "Tolerance is not acceptance; differences must be respected and supported through local and international law reform." This is an important message we must not forget.
Despite the great efforts of this organization and others like it, women in Canada continue to earn less than men and to experience violence and poverty at higher rates than men, and women around the world continue to bear the economic and social impact of raising children.
West Coast LEAF does many other things to empower women. One of its projects is to prepare a report card to measure how well the British Columbia Government is living up to the obligations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW. CEDAW is a United Nations human rights treaty that guarantees women substantive equality and non-discrimination.
West Coast LEAF's annual report card on the B.C. Government read as follows: C for violence against women and girls; C for women and girls in prison; D for the issue of women and social assistance; D for access to child care; D for the issue of women and housing; F for missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls; and, finally, F for the issue of women and access to justice. This means that there are more British Columbian women in our jails and more British Columbian women who do not have access to our courts.
Honourable senators, while women in this country have rights under the charter, human rights laws and elsewhere, Canadian women struggle with gender-based violence, access to justice and simply outrageous levels of poverty. We all must make these issues a priority until all areas receive an A grade.
Canada is the best country this world. All Canadian women, regardless of their circumstances or background, deserve the best treatment from the governments of British Columbia and Canada.