women

Thursday December 14, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 14, 2017

Roy Moore’s defeat in Alabama marks watershed moment for #MeToo movement

Republican Roy Moore’s stunning defeat in Alabama marked a watershed moment for the national movement around the issue of sexual abuse.

November 13, 2017

The allegations that Moore had made sexual advances on girls as young as 14 decades ago, when he was in his 30s, had created a real contest out of what should have been an easy victory for any Republican candidate in ruby-red Alabama.

“Women really do seem to be wanting to make their collective voices heard on this issue, and they don’t want to see it swept under the rug one more time,” said Jessica Leeds, one of those who stepped forward last year to accuse Donald Trump, then the GOP presidential nominee, of having committed sexual misconduct.

With Trump’s election, that kind of reckoning seemed to have been pushed backward.

But the sense of grievance remained, and gained force this fall with the toppling of movie producer Harvey Weinstein and the once-revered figures in media and politics who have been taken down in his wake.

Democrat Doug Jones’ unlikely victory may also be a sign that the formula for winning in a deeply polarized political climate, perfected by Trump, may not be so reliable as it seemed.

As the #MeToo movement takes hold and matures, it is moving beyond the stage of rooting out individual bad actors to “seeking a different level of accountability,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Centre. (Continued: Toronto Star) 

 

Thursday November 16, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 16, 2017

Canada pledges to boost women peacekeepers

Canada is also offering a total of $21 million to help increase the number of women in peacekeeping, including $6 million to help with reforms at the UN and $15 million for a new trust fund.

The fund is intended to help partner together countries with good female representation in the ranks with those that want to have more women in uniform, but are facing challenges.

The officials emphasized that such partnerships would only involve countries that are genuinely interested and willing to having more women in their militaries.

The new emphasis on women in peacekeeping and military operations comes amid growing international recognition of the real operational benefits that come from female soldiers in the field.

Canada will also make dozens of trainers available to the UN and other countries to help professionalize militaries from developing countries that are often involved in peacekeeping.

Some of those trainers will be deployed to UN centres in Africa, such as Kenya, Ghana and Uganda. But officials say up to 50 could also be sent to other countries, and may even deploy on missions with their students.

That would only occur, however, when the safety of Canadian troops can be ensured, officials said. (Source: CTV News) 

 

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Thursday July 13, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 13, 2017

Commissioner Quits Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women Inquiry

While the national inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls continues to lose high-level staff and appears in disarray, Canada’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs is urging everyone to not lose hope in the process.

July 1, 2017

Saskatchewan lawyer Marilyn Poitras issued her resignation in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday. She is the first commissioner to resign from the inquiry.

In the letter, Poitras said she is “unable to perform my duties as a commissioner with the process designed in its current structure.”

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett told Ottawa media that she has met with the commission, reviewed their path forward and has faith in what they have planned. “They really do have the vision, the values, the tools and the plan to get this work done,” Bennett said.

She added there is “no question that we all agree that the communication has been an issue,” and they must do a better job telling families about their plan and vision. But she believes they will.

May 16, 2017

However, not everyone feels as though the inquiry, in its current form, will be able to do all that is hoped. Many families and Indigenous leaders have openly questioned the inquiry’s direction, its methods and chastised it for not involving more grassroots activists — who have been fighting for an inquiry for years. They feel the inquiry has lost its way and are demanding it begin again.

Poitras’ resignation follows a press conference held last Thursday by the inquiry’s Chief Commissioner Marion Buller. Buller gave an update on the probe’s summer progress after several controversies including high-profile resignations. On June 30, executive director Michèle Moreau quit the inquiry. Moreau cited “personal reasons” for her resignation.

June 3, 2015

Buller has defended the inquiry and its progress to date, saying she will meet all the milestones including an interim report in November even though only a handful of families have spoken at public hearings.

Buller has said staff leaving the inquiry have all done so for “personal reasons” and that some had dream job offers. The inquiry has five commissioners who are mandated to travel the country, hearing the testimonies of families, then making recommendations on how to protect vulnerable Indigenous women and girls. An RCMP report in 2014 indicated there are 1,181 Indigenous women and girls who have been killed violently or have disappeared. Many believe that number is low.(Source: Toronto Star) 

 

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Thursday March 10, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday March 10, 2016 Canadian woman will be on next series of bank notes, Trudeau announces The image of an iconic Canadian woman will appear on the next issue of bank notes, Prime Minister Trudeau announced today. "A Canadian woman will be featured on the very first of the next series of bills expected in 2018," Trudeau said. "Today, on International Women's Day, the Bank of Canada is taking the first step by launching public consultations to select an iconic Canadian woman to be featured on this new bill." The government and the Bank of Canada did not indicate which denomination would showcase the iconic female Canadian. Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who stood alongside the prime minister with other members of the Liberal caucus and former Mississauga, Ont., mayor Hazel McCallion during the announcement, noted that it is "high time to change." "One of the very first things I had the honour of doing as the new finance minister was asking the governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz, and his colleagues at the bank whether it's in fact possible to put a woman on the bank note," said Morneau. The finance minister said he was told the central bank had been looking into the possibility for some time and was keen to support the initiative. From now until April 15, Canadians can visit the Bank of Canada's website to submit nominations for the woman they think should appear on the bill. http://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknoteable/ The nominees can be any Canadian woman, either by birth or naturalization, who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, achievement or distinction in any field, said a release from the central bank. The nominees cannot be a fictional character and must have died prior to April 15, 1991. Once the nomination period is over, an independent advisory council made up of academics and cultural leaders will review the submissions and present a short list to Morneau for his con

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 10, 2016

Canadian woman will be on next series of bank notes, Trudeau announces

The image of an iconic Canadian woman will appear on the next issue of bank notes, Prime Minister Trudeau announced today.

“A Canadian woman will be featured on the very first of the next series of bills expected in 2018,” Trudeau said.

“Today, on International Women’s Day, the Bank of Canada is taking the first step by launching public consultations to select an iconic Canadian woman to be featured on this new bill.”

The government and the Bank of Canada did not indicate which denomination would showcase the iconic female Canadian.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who stood alongside the prime minister with other members of the Liberal caucus and former Mississauga, Ont., mayor Hazel McCallion during the announcement, noted that it is “high time to change.”

Kim Campbell

Kim Campbell

“One of the very first things I had the honour of doing as the new finance minister was asking the governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz, and his colleagues at the bank whether it’s in fact possible to put a woman on the bank note,” said Morneau.

The finance minister said he was told the central bank had been looking into the possibility for some time and was keen to support the initiative.

From now until April 15, Canadians can visit the Bank of Canada’s website to submit nominations for the woman they think should appear on the bill.

My short list

My short list

The nominees can be any Canadian woman, either by birth or naturalization, who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, achievement or distinction in any field, said a release from the central bank.

The nominees cannot be a fictional character and must have died prior to April 15, 1991.

Once the nomination period is over, an independent advisory council made up of academics and cultural leaders will review the submissions and present a short list to Morneau for his consideration. (Source: CBC News)

 

Wanted: Canadian money woman

WomannoteWednesday March 9, 2016

Marking International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced yesterday that in 2018, Canada will include the face of a Canadian woman on one of our banknotes, a woman who isn’t Queen Elizabeth. There are a couple things that will disqualify someone from appearing on our money – a fictional character, and being alive for the last 25 years.  So, sorry, Anne of Green Gables, you’re not the real deal. Sorry Margaret Atwood, Celine Dion, Joni Mitchell, Pamela Anderson, Karen Kain, Sheila Copps, and Kathleen Wynne. Sorry Ellen Fairclough and Jane Jacobs, you’ve died too soon, and while Kim Campbell might make an appearance on a future bill, she’s long from being dead. So here it is, in my estimation, the short list that includes the most likely woman to be featured on a forthcoming Canadian banknote. If I’m missing someone, add it below.

Laura Secord (1775-1868)

Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942)

Emily Carr (1871-1945)

Nellie McClung (1873-1951)

Agnes Macphail (1890-1954)

Mary Pickford (1892-1979)

Judy LaMarsh (1924-1980)

Margaret Laurence (1926-1987)

Lotta Hitschmanova (1909-1990)

Barbara Frum (1937-1992)