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SHOCKING PINK 2006: Major Parties Continue To Leave Women's Issues Out in The Cold |
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Written by Wire Services
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Monday, 02 January 2006 |
A coalition of 10 national women's organizations today launches the 2006 edition of Still in Shock, a practical voter's tool highlighting key women's issues and questions for Canadians to ask politicians in the critical final stretch of the election campaign.
'Still in Shock 2006' is an updated version of the highly successful Pink Paper, a women's lobbying and mobilization resource produced by the Coalition for Women's Equality (CWE) during the last federal election. Distressingly, the new edition reveals that little progress has been made since 2004.
From child care, to poverty, violence against women, health and pay equity, the Pink Paper succinctly outlines 14 areas in which urgent political action is needed to advance women's equality in Canada. Each topic is accompanied by specific, hard-hitting questions voters can ask their candidates such as:
- Violence - Will you support a $75 million federal allocation to women’s centers, transition houses and rape crisis centers to enable their frontline and national anti-violence work toward women’s equality?
- Pay Equity - Will your party implement the recommendations of the federal Pay Equity Task Force and adopt proactive pay equity legislation?
The Pink Paper will be accompanied by the CWE's Election website, providing up to the minute analysis on how the various parties' platforms and pitches measure up against women's needs throughout the election. The website received close to half a million hits during the last campaign, and the Coalition expects that number to rise this year.
"Women will be voting for parties and candidates who support equality," says Bonnie Diamond, Executive Director of the National Association of Women and the Law. "The materials in this paper and on the CWE Election Website will empower women to make better informed choices."
The Pink Paper is now available for download at www.canadaelection.net and can be obtained in hard copy format in communities across Canada.
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