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April 17th, 2018

Budget 2018: A missed opportunity for women’s equality

OTTAWA – Today is Equality Day in Canada, marking the coming into force of the equality provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on this day in 1985. Yet, 33 years later women are still fighting for equality, and while progress has been made, there are many challenges women still face that are not being addressed by the current Liberal government. That is why the NDP released its Report Card on Women’s Equality in Budget 2018.

“While Justin Trudeau has said time and time again that he is a feminist Prime Minister, his government has failed to act on some of the most critical challenges facing women in Canada today. Over 40 years ago, and again in 2016, the Liberals promised pay equity, but still no legislation has been tabled in Parliament, and there is zero funding for the implementation of pay equity in Budget 2018,” said NDP Women’s Equality Critic, Sheila Malcolmson. “Sadly, we also saw absolutely no funding for universal, accessible childcare or improved employment insurance requirements that are not discriminatory towards women.”

Canada’s childcare costs remain some of the highest in the world, but Canada continues to invest only a fraction of what is needed to solve the childcare crisis. Other services and programs, including employment insurance and parental leave, do not reflect the modern work experience for women, who generally do not work a 35-hour work week and therefore cannot access EI or even the “use it or lose it” parental leave benefits introduced in the budget. Recognizing that many of these challenges are faced even more prominently by racialized and Indigenous women, it is clear that Budget 2018 fails to address some of the most systemic issues that contribute to gender inequality, as well as inequalities between women in Canada.

"Budget 2018 was an opportunity for the Liberal's to finally take action to tackle inequality,” said NDP Finance Critic, Peter Julian. "Instead of just talking about feminism and women's equality, we called for real action on these critical challenges women face - but it is clear that the Liberal's and their budget get a failing grade."