Executive Council
April 8, 2009Minister Attends
Federal/Provincial/Territorial Meeting to Advance the Status of Women
The Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Minister Responsible
for the Status of Women, is attending a federal/provincial/territorial (FPT)
meeting for the ministers responsible for the Status of Women to work
towards common solutions related to economic security for Canadian
women, aboriginal women�s issues, promoting positive body images and
violence against women. The three-day meeting in Winnipeg ends today.
"These meetings are crucial to share information
across jurisdictions about issues that affect all Canadian women,
specifically around national issues of health, poverty and parental
benefits," said the Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Minister Responsible
for the Status of Women. "The existing Employment Insurance program is
of particular importance to all provincial jurisdictions and the current
program needs to be reformed to support working parents."
Minister Dunderdale participated in discussions
specifically about changes to the program, which include waiving the
two-week unpaid waiting period for maternity benefits and adding an
additional two weeks of maternity benefits. In 2008, a cost-benefit
analysis of changes to the maternity/parental benefits was conducted by
a provincial/territorial working group, lead by New Brunswick with
Newfoundland and Labrador as a participating member. Provincial and
territorial ministers are sharing the analysis with other relevant
ministries and requesting their collaboration in encouraging the federal
government to make improvements to the Employment Insurance (EI)
program. Ministers are expected to present options for a modernized
parental benefits plan at the 2010 FPT meeting.
"For years, women�s groups have been asking for a
maternity and parental leave program that responds to the needs of
workers and families in the 21st century," said Minister Dunderdale.
"Women and men of Canada who take time to raise their children bear the
financial cost of time off from waged work. I am hopeful that the
Government of Canada will work with our province and others and exercise
its responsibility under the EI program to provide reasonable benefits
for today�s parents."
The meeting resulted in a sharing of best practices on
ways to advance leadership training programs for Aboriginal women, a
topic of particular importance to Newfoundland and Labrador. In this
forum, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador shared information
about the province�s violence prevention Aboriginal grants program and
the annual Aboriginal Women�s Conference.
Minister Dunderdale was also part of a discussion
regarding the barriers women face in accessing skilled trades and other
male-dominated fields, and shared information to address this systemic
inequity.
"Women need to be in a workplace that adequately
accommodates their lives. When it comes to non-traditional fields of
work, a significant barrier is the lack of family-friendly programs such
as childcare accommodations and worksite support for women apprentices,"
said Minister Dunderdale. "I was happy to share information on the
programs in place in our province to encourage young women to enter into
the skilled trades, as well the work being done with industry leaders to
put employment equity plans in place for large-scale resource-based
projects."
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Media contact:
Erin Molloy
Communications Specialist
Women�s Policy Office
709-729-6225, 693-7938
erinmolloy@gov.nl.ca
2009 04 08 11:30 a.m.