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Executive Council
April 8, 2009

Minister 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.
 


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