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More Women Working Will Make Our Country Work Better
This is the title of a CanWest News Service article by Daphne Bramham.
There may be a magic bullet for
solving some of our society's most difficult problems, such as a lack of
affordable housing, immigration, productivity declines, an aging workforce or
the near-crippling demands on the pension system.
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Make it easier for
women to get into the paid workforce. According
to a study done by Goldman Sachs, the global investment banking and
securities firm, making it easier for women to get into the paid workforce would
that increase family incomes, making homes more attainable, boosting gross
domestic product and decreasing dependency on imported labour. And, perhaps surprisingly, it
almost certainly would increase the number of Canadian-born babies.
The Goldman Sachs researchers
cite an Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation study which found
77 per cent of European couples believe the ideal is to have both partners in
full or part-time employment, but only 53 per cent were able to live that way.
(Canada was not included in any
of the research, but its female workforce participation rate of 62 per cent last
month is roughly equivalent to that of the United States, but falls behind those
of Sweden and Denmark by close to 10 percentage points.)
For Janet Austin, chief
executive officer, attacking homelessness isn't only about building more houses
or shelters, it must be more holistic and include everything from job training
to child care.
The April 2007 Goldman Sachs
report contradicts some of the most common arguments governments make against
implementing policies that would result in more women working such as:
Governments should not interfere with family life. They
already do. Analysis of existing
tax and benefits policies in eight developed countries indicated; "the
status quo in most countries actively discourages female employment."
The report notes the inadequate
supply of good-quality, affordable child care as the chief impediment to women
taking full-time paid employment, followed by inadequate parental leave
provisions.
Governments providing
child-care subsidies conditional on employment have been shown to consistently
and significantly boost the number of women who work. However, child benefits
paid to all parents (as Canada's Conservative government chose to do, rather
than implementing a universal daycare program) “may act to reduce labour
supply.” As for parental leave,
Goldman Sachs research concludes that it encourages women to work and makes it
easier for them to re-enter the workforce after they have had children.
But there are down sides. The most significant is that in
the absence of anti-discrimination policies (or the provision of paternity leave
in addition to maternity leave), companies may be reluctant to hire women at
all. And that's linked to something
the study barely touches on, but an issue that Austin believes is key - the
gender wage gap.
In 2005, Canadian women earned
23 per cent less on average than men and Statistics Canada data from 2003
indicates that only a quarter of women in dual-income families are the highest
wage earners. So, when it comes to
deciding who should take parental leave, Austin says it's a no-brainer. Couples
want to forgo the lower income and that's almost invariably the woman's.
Then, because it's almost
inevitably women taking the parental leaves, she says employers faced with two
equal candidates - male and female - will almost invariably choose the man.
Another myth suggests that
higher female employment results in a lower birth rate. Nonsense, says Goldman
Sachs. “This claim is simply
contradicted by the facts . . . Fertility is positively correlated with high
female employment.”
More simply, countries with the
best child-care policies not only have a higher proportion of women in the
workforce, they also have higher fertility rates.
For any remaining naysayers who think child care,
parental leave and all of those things are too expensive, Goldman Sachs again
says that's simply wrong. “Raising
female employment to male employment levels would boost U.S. GDP by as much as
nine per cent." Not only that, the
report says more affluent women drive the stock market. Since
it started its Women 300 Index of companies whose products and services appeal
mainly to women, Goldman Sachs says the index has outperformed global equities
three to one.
President’s Report 2007
In the past year we celebrated some happy
events, such as the 60th anniversaries of the Brampton and Penticton
clubs, and welcomed two new clubs - Kitchener-Waterloo and the first
francophone club outside Quebec, in South-East New Brunswick. We also mourned
the death of notable members, including Bunny Parton, Marjorie Russell and
Nancy Bass, whose memories we cherish and whose example will continue to
inspire us.
You have received our financial reports for
review, but for now, I would like to talk about our activities, achievements
and challenges.
First, I would like to say how fortunate I
am to have such a talented and devoted team to work with. We really couldn’t
have a better group of BPW members from across the country than those who make
up this Board of Directors, and I want to thank them all for their dedication
throughout the past year.
Our combined efforts have been documented
in the List of Activities that has been distributed. We had to work hard to get
the list down to four pages, so you can see we have been a very busy bunch. As
you can see from the List, we have made internal tasks, mostly management and
administration, a priority, because we think that to be an effective “voice of
working women” we must have an efficient, well-run organization. The down side
is that some of the more rewarding and important work, like advocacy, gets
neglected when we run out of time, money, energy, and other resources. So while
we have accomplished a lot, it is not clear that we have made much progress
toward our grand goals of educating and empowering women.
I would like to mention a few highlights,
however, such as our small but active participation in the Status of Women
sessions at the UN in New York, and our very visible and effective presence at
the Regional Conference in Jamaica last February. Both events emphasized the
need and efforts to stop violence against women and girls, and I encourage
every club to make this topic part of their program in the coming year.
We have also worked to strengthen our
connections with BPW International, and I was delighted to secure the
appointment of Doris Hall as sub-regional coordinator. As indicated in the
messages received from the
International President
and
Vice-President, the
efforts and contributions of BPW Canada are much appreciated. And I would like
to echo the comments of International Vice-President Liz Benham about
responsibility. Since we are, other than the few scattered members in the US,
by far the largest and nearest BPW Federation to New York, we should certainly
have one of the largest delegations to the UN each year, not the small turnout
we had this year.
On the national scene, while some
committees had a relatively quiet year, others were quite active, and we have
been working hard to get our voice heard. For example, through the combined
efforts of the Barb-to-Fran-to-Sue tag team, we got an invitation to present to
the Standing Committee for the Status of Women in Ottawa on the subject of
economic security for senior women, and received encouraging feedback to our
presentation. We also took plenty of opportunities to make the political
leaders of all parties aware of us and of our position on issues.
But if there is one lesson to be learned
about advocacy and activism, it is that alone we are pretty powerless, but that
if we work with others, we can make a worthwhile contribution and see some
results. BPW New Brunswick, for example,
joined forces with CFUW in a brief and presentation to the Premier’s Community
Non-Profit Task Force. On the national
level, starting with contacts among NGOs at the UN, including our 5-0 partners,
we have joined the Ad-Hoc Coalition for Equality and Human Rights. Spurred by
the continuing changes to the budgets and mandate of Status of Women Canada,
and with the likelihood of a federal election in the foreseeable future, the
group has adopted the motto “Putting equality back on track.” The goal is to
make women’s issues part of the next federal election campaign. Already there
is good reason to believe that the outcry led by coalition members was a factor
in the minister’s decision to restore some of the funding to SWC.
The other lesson I have learned this year
is that our current burn rate (our use of financial and other resources to
operate the organization) indicates that we are no longer sustainable.
The amount and the kind of work required of
the handful of Directors is simply unreasonable, and still we are unable to
provide the level and quality of service that our members would like or make
significant progress toward our goals. As our International President and
Vice-President have said, something has to change.
It is for this reason that yesterday [July
6] Sue Calhoun and I, as co-chairs of the Strategic Long-Range Planning
Committee, took the unusual step of holding a special SLRP meeting. All the
members of the Board of Directors attended, along with several other members
from around the country, who were invited because of the key positions they
currently hold. The professional facilitator, Judy Kent, challenged us to
re-examine and re-affirm our mission, envision the best feasible future of BPW
Canada and identify the actions we must take to actualize that vision. The task
was well begun, and we will soon have an initial report from the SLRP meeting,
from our rapporteur, Sheila Crook.
In retrospect, I hope the past year will
have provided some strength, some tools, some motivation and some small but
solid first steps toward a more productive and rewarding future. I invite all
of you, with the members you represent here today, to join us in facing that
future with enthusiasm and faith, in the spirit of our sisterhood.
Fran Donaldson
July 7, 2007
Rapport de la présidente sur l’exercice 2007
Au cours de la dernière année, nous avons célébré des événements
heureux, comme le 60e anniversaire des clubs de Brampton et de
Penticton, et avons accueilli deux nouveaux club - un à Kitchener-Waterloo en Ontario ainsi que le premier club
francophone hors Québec, établi dans le sud-est du Nouveau-Brunswick. Nous
avons également porté le deuil d’adhérentes remarquables – dont Bunny Parton,
Marjorie Russel et Nancy Bass – dont nous chérissons le souvenir et continuons
de suivre l’exemple.
Vous avez reçu nos états financiers mais pour l’instant, j’aimerais vous
entretenir de nos activités, de nos réalisations et des défis relevés.
En premier lieu, j’aimerais vous dire à quel point je suis privilégiée
de travailler avec une équipe aussi talentueuse et dévouée. Nous ne pourrions
trouver au Canada de meilleures adhérentes que celles qui forment notre Conseil
d’administration et je profite de cette occasion pour les remercier du
dévouement dont elles ont fait preuve au cours de cet exercice.
Nos efforts combinés figurent dans la liste d’activités qui a été
distribuée. Nous avons eu beaucoup de mal à restreindre cette liste à quatre
pages, ce qui vous montre que nous avons été très occupées. Comme vous le
verrez en parcourant cette liste, nous avons donné la priorité aux tâches
internes (principalement de gestion et d’administration) parce que nous croyons
que pour bien représenter les femmes au travail, notre organisme doit être
exploité efficacement. Malheureusement, certaines tâches plus gratifiantes et
plus importantes (comme la plaidoirie) sont négligées lorsque nous manquons de
temps, d’argent, d’énergie et d’autres ressources. Nous avons beaucoup fait
mais il n’est pas évident que nous ayons beaucoup progressé dans l’atteinte de
nos grands objectifs d’éducation et d’autonomisation des femmes.
J’aimerais toutefois mentionner quelques faits saillants, tels notre
participation peu nombreuse mais active aux séances de la Commission de la
condition de la femme de l’ONU, à New York, et notre présence efficace et très
visible au Congrès régional de BPW du mois de février, en Jamaïque. Ces
événements ont tous deux mis l’accent sur la nécessité d’arrêter la violence
faite aux femmes et aux filles et sur les efforts soutenus en ce sens.
J’encourage d’ailleurs tous les clubs à inclure cette cause dans leur programme
du prochain exercice.
Nous avons également œuvré au renforcement de nos liens avec BPW
International. J’ai été ravie d’assurer la nomination de Doris Hall au poste de
coordonnatrice infrarégionale. Comme l’ont indiqué la présidente et la
vice-présidente internationales dans leurs messages (également publiés dans ce
site Web), la contribution et les efforts fournis par BPW Canada sont très
appréciés. J’aimerais d’ailleurs reprendre les commentaires de notre
vice-présidente internationale, Liz Benham, au sujet de notre responsabilité.
Puisque nous formons de loin la fédération BPW la plus grande et la plus près
de New York (mis à part les quelques adhérentes éparpillées aux États-Unis),
nous devrions certainement regrouper l’une des plus importantes délégations à
l’ONU chaque année au lieu du timide groupe de cette année.>
À l’échelle nationale, certains comités ont été relativement tranquilles
cette année mais d’autres ont été très actifs, travaillant d’arrache-pied à
faire entendre notre voix de plus en plus faible. À titre d’exemple, grâce aux
efforts de l’équipe formée par Barb, Fran et Sue, nous avons été invitées à
faire une présentation devant le Comité permanent de la condition féminine, à
Ottawa. Nous avons reçu des commentaires encourageants sur cette présentation
traitant de la sécurité économique des femmes âgées. Nous avons également
profité de maintes occasions pour sensibiliser les chefs de tous les partis politiques
à notre organisme et à sa position sur certaines questions.
S’il y a une leçon à tirer au sujet de la plaidoirie et de l’activisme,
c’est que seules, nous sommes plutôt impuissantes; en collaborant avec d’autres
organismes, nous pouvons faire une contribution louable et obtenir des
résultats. Par exemple, le club BPW du Nouveau-Brunswick s’est allié à la FCFDU
pour préparer et présenter un mémoire au Groupe d’étude du Premier ministre sur
le secteur communautaire sans but lucratif. Sur le plan national, grâce à nos
relations avec des ONG de l’ONU (notamment avec nos partenaires des projets
5-0), nous avons joint les rangs de la Coalition spéciale pour l’égalité des
femmes et les droits de la personne. Motivé par les continuelles coupures au
budget et au mandat de Condition féminine Canada et par la vraisemblance d’une
élection fédérale imminente, le groupe a adopté la devise « Remettons
l’égalité sur les rails ». Son but consiste à faire des questions
féminines un enjeu de la prochaine campagne électorale fédérale. Il y a déjà
lieu de croire que le tollé soulevé par les membres de la Coalition a incité le
ministre à rendre une partie du financement à CFC.
Cette année m’a également appris que notre temps d’absorption (la
vitesse à laquelle nous utilisons nos ressources financières et autres pour
exploiter l’organisme) indique que notre organisme n’est pratiquement plus
viable. La nature et la quantité des tâches exigées de nos quelques directrices
sont simplement déraisonnables et ne nous permettent ni d’offrir la qualité de
service que nos adhérentes souhaitent, ni de progresser vers l’atteinte de nos
objectifs. Comme l’ont indiqué notre présidente et notre vice-présidente
internationales, quelque chose doit changer.
C’est pourquoi, hier (le 6 juillet), Sue Calhoun et moi-même,
co-présidentes du comité Planification stratégique à long terme, avons
exceptionnellement tenu une réunion spéciale de PSLT. Tous les membres du
Conseil d’administration y étaient, de même que plusieurs adhérentes de partout
au pays, invitées en raison des postes clés qu’elles occupent. Judy Kent,
facilitatrice professionnelle, nous a invitées à réexaminer et à réaffirmer
notre mission, à visualiser le meilleur avenir possible pour BPW Canada et à
identifier les mesures à prendre pour en faire une réalité. La tâche a débuté
sur un bon pied; nous pourrons bientôt vous présenter un compte rendu de cette
réunion, préparé par Sheila Crook.
En rétrospective, j’espère que cet exercice nous aura fourni un peu de
force, quelques outils, de la motivation et de petits – mais fermes – pas vers
un avenir plus productif et plus gratifiant. J’invite chacune d’entre vous, aux
côtés des adhérentes que vous représentez, à joindre nos rangs pour affronter
notre avenir avec enthousiasme et confiance, dans un esprit de sororité.
Fran Donaldson
7 juillet 2007
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