Aboriginal Women In Canada

In 1968, a group of women came together to talk about women’s issues and what could be done to improve the lives of all women in Canada. At the time it was revolutionary, a second wave of feminism was brought to Canada and the issues affecting women were finally being addressed. (Din & Cho, 2012) It’s now been over 45 years since this first meeting occurred and the lives of women have changed in many ways such as the increase in women joining the workforce, and the legalization of abortion in Canada. However, while the feminist movement has made substantial improvements to the rights of women, there are still areas that need to be addressed, like the policy implementation of childcare, aboriginal issues, and women’s participation in government. …show more content…
Over the last 30 years there have been over 1,200 missing aboriginal women in Canada and very little has been done by the government to address this issue. (Rhoad, 2014) While the Harper government has promised 25 million dollars to stop the violence against aboriginal women, they have done little to address the social issue behind it as they claimed that the issue is not a sociological one but a criminal one. (Rennie, 2014) The racism and sexism directed towards this community has been rampant for years and there is little done by the government to change this. ("No More Stolen Sisters," n.d.) The abuse and murder of these aboriginal women is an issue that affects every woman, when one area of abuse towards women is ignored every woman suffers, as the issue does not get addressed. How can the abuse of all women stop until those who are most vulnerable are helped? Aboriginal women live in improvised communities that have been purposely ignored by the federal government. Many families have broken apart leaving the women and children particularly vulnerable to abuse. ("No More Stolen Sisters," n.d.) The refusal of the Harper Government, as well previous governments, to address the social issues behind this these murders and disappearances leaves Aboriginal women in danger of exploitation as their communities have been shattered. ("No More Stolen Sisters," n.d.) It is disappointing that, …show more content…
(Lang-Dion and Wicks, 2007) There are currently 77 women sitting in the House of Commons, which is less than the minimum 30% benchmark required to ensure the critical mass of women parliamentarians. (Library of Parliament, 2010, p.4) As well, there are currently only 12 female members of parliament that are sitting as a part of the Cabinet in comparison to the 27 men. There is currently a deficit of women making the important decisions in parliament. Women are being underrepresented and this creates a democratic deficit in terms of how and which laws are being enacted. (Lang-Dion and Wicks, 2007) This is one of the areas where, while there have been improvements, there is still a lot more that can be done to promote the appointment of women in politics. This gap is not due to lack of qualified candidates or a lack of willingness of the public to elect female officials, but due to lack of females on the ballot. (Bashevkin, 2009, p. 349) The Conservative Party of Canada currently has a majority government, but only 20% of their candidates are women, compared to 40% of the NDP candidates. (Library of Parliament, 2010, p. 4) Without more accountability on parties to add more females on the ballots, we may never reach the 30% milestone. Ensuring that there is an adequate amount of women in parliament is important to the democratic process.