REAL Women stirred up a hornet's nest in regard to the federal Status of Women.
You will recall that when the new Parliament opened last April, REAL Women sent a letter to "friendly" MPs and the Cabinet, expressing our concerns about the Status of Women agency, and the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, raising objections to their funding feminist only organizations. We also questioned why the Status of Women holds a Cabinet portfolio.
The bureaucratic response from the Minister Beverley Oda's office was to dismiss our concerns outright. We were furious and notified both Ms. Oda and also Prime Minister Harper of the unacceptability of this response. Within two weeks REAL Women was invited to attend a meeting with the Minister (See REALity, March April 2006, page 3 and, "Status of Women Opens Its Doors," July August 2006, page 5.)
This immediate response by the Conservative government to our letters apparently spoke volumes to the Status of Women bureaucracy. For the first time in the 33 years of its existence (it began under Trudeau in 1973), the Status of Women realized that it was not in control of the government's agenda on funding and other policies. Ominously, the bureaucrats also realized that their future livelihood might well be at stake in this debate, especially if their activities came under scrutiny by the Conservative government. This both infuriated and alarmed them.
Almost immediately, they began a counter-offensive against REAL Women.
There is no one better placed administratively to coordinate such a counter offensive than the Status of Women, which has first-hand information on the issue, and has, as a practical matter, on record, all the names and addresses of feminist groups and shelters across the country. Also, an application was made under the Access of Information Act, requesting all documents relating to REAL Women's objections to the Status of Women. The purpose of this application was to expose (and pressure) MPs who have written to the agency to support REAL Women and its perspective on the Status of Women.
Since the documents to be released under the Access to Information Act involved REAL Women, we were required under the Act to acknowledge the release of these documents, which we were invited to review before they were released. During the review of these documents, we came across a departmental memorandum, dated April 19, 2006, advising the regional directors of the Status of Women of an important teleconference call to be held later that day to discuss "REAL Women". Shortly after that conference call conducted by the Status of Women, feminist columnists began to attack REAL Women after years of ignoring us. For example, former Globe and Mail reporter, Heather Mallick wrote on the CBC website on June 29, 2006, about the supposed threat that REAL Women was to women and all that they have achieved in past years. She stated:
If REAL Women were successful, the result would be bullying of these women: those wanting off welfare, but who can't afford child care … poor women who need abortions and women beaten to a pulp who are afraid to venture on the street.
REAL Women has also received some nasty, even vile e-mails and letters from feminists. The latter do not take a back seat in viciousness to some of the e-mails we receive from homosexual activists. (We keep these letters and e-mails all on file for future use).
The theme of these many letters is that if REAL Women's complaints about the Status of Women are acted upon, then "shelters for abused women and children to protect them from violence" would have to be disbanded. Of course, there is no mention of the studies, which indicate that half of domestic violence is instigated by women. The letters also claim that women need the support of the Status of Women to work for pay equity, marital property and senior women's financial security, etc.
These issues, however, are matters of provincial jurisdiction only. They do not fall within federal jurisdiction and there is no reason why the federal government is funding so generously these provincial issues and organizations. Further, there is no reason why the Status of Women is included in the Cabinet. Why don't the disabled or aboriginals have a place at the Cabinet table? Why do "women" as a group, have priority? Why not men? The argument that women as a group require special recognition because they are "victims" of a patriarchal society is long outdated. The vast majority of women are capable, independent and perfectly able to make their own decisions about their lives.
Yet, letters to MPs are flooding in, supporting the purported vital work of the Status of Women. It is likely that the issue of the Status of Women will also be used by the opposition, encouraged by the public servants employed by the Status of Women, to attack the Conservatives in the next election, probably arguing that they are anti-women and biased.
REAL Women's concerns about the Status of Women however, continues to gain momentum and support especially from conservative internet blogs. This intense support from the bloggers was noticed by Canadian Press which published an article on the large number of blogs supporting REAL Women. The Canadian Press article ran in nine major daily newspapers across the country and resulted in REAL Women having many media interviews about the Status of Women funding. In short, the Status of Women counter offensive backfired on it.
Canada has the most powerful feminist lobby in the world, and this is entirely due to the fact that the government - that is, the taxpayers - fund it. The feminist grip on policies in Canada has been sustained for far too long. No one has dared to criticize the Status of Women before.
The feminist lobby was hard at work in question period on September 21, 2006 probing Minister Oda. Liberal M.P. Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame-de-Grace - Lachine) asked that the Minister not jeopardize the survival and the work of women's groups that represent thousands of Canadian women.
However, it was M.P. Belinda Stronach, (Newmarket - Aurora) who got down right rude and insulting when she stated:
The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Ian Brodie, has said that the organization, REAL Women, raises, interesting points that warrant close inspection. This is a group that is anti-choice, anti-gay, does not support equality for women and wants to obliterate the Department on the Status of Women. This group's website even has links to sites that suggest that day cares do not care and homosexuality is a psychological disorder.
With budget cuts on the horizon, who is the minister listening to, Ian Brodie, the right-wing organization, REAL Women, or will she stand up and defend the rights of Canadian women?
I want to add that promoting equal rights for Canadian women is never a waste.
In response to Ms Stonach's remarks the Conservative MPs pounded their desks and called out "hurrah for REAL women"
On September 25, 2006, the Conservative government announced long overdue cuts to a number of government departments including the Status of Women. The latter's budget was cut by $5 million out of a budget of 23 million. It is an excellent beginning on what we hope will be the eventual elimination of the Status of Women.
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