June 17, 2009

We are not there yet!

The newly appointed Provincial Advisory Council on the Status of Women (PACSW) held its first face to face meeting June 15th and 16th in St. John’s. “The main issue, on a full agenda, was the Council to setting priorities for the current term,’ said Linda Ross, Council President/CEO.

Council members are appointed to bring diversity to the table, giving the PACSW the ability to consider issues from rural, urban and northern perspectives as well as through the experiences of women with disabilities, Aboriginal, multicultural and immigrant women, women in skilled trades and youth. “There was no shortage of issues discussed at the table,” said Ross. 

In terms of provincial government issues the Council will focus on new initiatives within the Department of Justice such as the Family Violence Court Pilot, as well as continuing to work with The Violence Prevention Initiative and The Poverty Reduction Strategy. The possible privatization of foster care will be monitored in terms of the impact on women as workers within that system and as mothers of children in care. The Council will monitor these programs through a diverse women’s perspective and bring suggestions forward to the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women and the Ministers of Justice and Health.

 Ross noted,  “although the PACSW is a Provincial Advisory Council members concluded that many of the issues that need to be addressed are global in scope, crossing federal/provincial/municipal jurisdictions and requiring the engagement of people in community.” An example is the ongoing issues for women related to employment and training. While women experience these issues differently, related to their ability, race, age, parental status, marital status, etc a core problem common to all women, continues to be the lack of child care services.  For many women these problems are compounded. For women with disabilities transportation continues to be a barrier. For multicultural and immigrant women the credentialing process is a barrier. For rural women the lack of training in rural areas is a problem, and on and on.

“The PACSW will collaborate with other groups to bring together the information needed to inform a strategy to decrease barriers to employment and training. After all women continue to earn 67% of what men earn. This is just not good enough,” said Ross. 

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Media Contact:

Linda Ross, President/CEO, PACSW:  753-6124