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NEWSBYTES -Jan. 9, 2009
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The Advisory Council on the Status of Women is the provincial government agency that promotes equality, fairness and dignity for women, by bringing forward concerns and advising the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women Act. Through research, policy, education, and partnerships, the council works to ensure women have an equal voice in society, fair pay and pensions, freedom from violence, and good health and well-being.
Newsbytes is a free bi-weekly e-mail newsletter with links to stories and contacts.
You can also read the newsletter and about coming events at the Advisory Council's website: <http://www.women.gov.ns.ca>.
Also, visit our online catalogue at http://women.gov.ns.ca/library.asp or come visit our library!
CONTENTS AT A GLANCE
/1/ Charest's Cabinet Half Women Again
/2/ Federal Budget Consultations Online - Opportunity to Comment
/3/ Pre-Budget Briefs
/4/ Advancing Inclusion of People with Disabilities
/5/ Minimum Wage Rates for Workers in Canada
/6/ Film: "Jewish Girl Power"
/7/ New Study Links Alcohol to Aggression in Relationships
/8/ Hypersexualization of Girls and Women Conference
/9/ Did You Know?
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/1/ CHAREST'S CABINET HALF WOMEN AGAIN
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Quebec Premier Jean Charest increased the number of ministers to 26 from 18 and appointed an equal number of men and women (13 each) in his new cabinet in December, maintaining gender equality established in his previous cabinet.
He has not only created a gender-equal cabinet, he has given woman members powerful portfolios. Monique Jérôme-Forget will continue as finance minister, with responsibility for Quebec's major infrastructure program, and Nathalie Normandeau will remain as municipal affairs minister and deputy premier. As president of the Treasury Board, the former international affairs minister Monique Gagnon-Tremblay will face the challenge of controlling spending as revenues decline. Rookie Kathleen Weil becomes minister of Justice.
Source: The Canadian Press, December 18, 2008.
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/2/ FEDERAL BUDGET CONSULTATIONS ONLINE - OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT
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The Honourable Jim Flaherty, minister of Finance, has launched government’s national consultation leading into its fourth budget to be tabled on January 27, 2009. This consultation will give Canadians a voice in how to protect our economy. The following ideas have been proposed by the Department of Finance as ways of providing stimulus in Budget 2009:
• Investing in housing
• Expediting infrastructure spending
• Building strong and sustainable labour markets and training incentives
• Supporting traditional and emerging industrial sectors
• Improving access to credit
The Federal Government is asking Canadians for their views on these priorities as well as any other ideas at http://www.fin.gc.ca/scripts/prebudgetsurvey/selectMainPriorities_e.asp .
The online consultations end at midnight January 9, 2009.
Fiscal Stimulus - Budget 2009 Consultations
http://www.fin.gc.ca/n08/data/08-103_1-eng.asp
Powerpoint-type presentation
Source: Department of Finance Canada, http://www.fin.gc.ca/fin-eng.html
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/3/ PRE-BUDGET BRIEFS
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The Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU), Campaign 2000, and the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC) have created briefs for the pre-budget consultation for the 2009 federal budget. They focus on child care and poverty reduction. View the briefs through these links:
• Childcare Resource and Research Unit (Martha Friendly):
http://action.web.ca/home/crru/rsrcs_crru_full.shtml?x=123225&AA_EX_Session=bf5b5589ed38cc30abae1dc9bdeafd05
• Campaign 2000 (Laurel Rothman):
http://action.web.ca/home/c2000/alerts.shtml?x=123226
• Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada:
http://www.ccaac.ca/pdf/resources/briefs/Pre09FedBudgetConsultationBrief.pdf
Source: Childcare Resource and Research Unit, Campaign 2000 and the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, 7 Jan, 2009.
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/4/ ADVANCING INCLUSION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
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Advancing the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities is the Government of Canada's sixth comprehensive report on disability in Canada. This report has information about Canadians with disabilities and the challenges they face in fully participating in Canadian society and gives Canadians the information they need to assess how well society is moving toward full inclusion.
Table of Contents has links to individual chapters.
Chapter 1: Human Rights, the Justice System and Canada’s International Leadership
Chapter 2: Accessibility and Disability Supports
Chapter 3: Income Support, Benefits and Service Delivery
Chapter 4: Learning, Skills and Employment
Chapter 5: Well-Being: Health, Safety and Identity
Chapter 6: Aboriginal People with Disabilities
Chapter 7: Research
Chapter 8: Tax Measures
Appendix A – Principal Disability-Related Benefits and Programs for 2006/07 and 2007/08 Fiscal Years
See: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/disability_issues/reports/fdr/2008/page00.shtml
Source: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, December 2008
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/5/ MINIMUM WAGE RATES FOR WORKERS IN CANADA
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Check out a Minimum Wage Database (best resource for info on current and upcoming minimum wage levels) to see hourly wage rates for adult workers in Canada and legislation, boards, special categories of workers, etc.:
http://srv116.services.gc.ca/wid-dimt/mwa/rpt1.aspx?lang=eng
The site also includes links to:
• Current And Forthcoming Minimum Wage Rates in Canada for Young Workers and Specific Occupations: http://srv116.services.gc.ca/wid-dimt/mwa/rpt3.aspx?lang=eng
• Customized Search for Minimum Wages in Canada: http://srv116.services.gc.ca/wid-dimt/mwa/rpt4.aspx?lang=eng
• Customize search for minimum wages in any given jurisdiction from 1965 to date.
Source: Labour Program of Human Resources and Social Development Canada.
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/6/ FILM: "JEWISH GIRL POWER"
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This is a powerful 13-minute film about what it is like growing up Jewish and female at the beginning of the 21st century. In this film, five 14-year-old girls from Toronto talk candidly about their lives, including their experiences of antisemitism and sexism, and their thoughts on intermarriage.
This riveting film, directed and produced by Dr. Nora Gold is available online free of charge. To view JEWISH GIRL POWER, go to http://www.noragold.com . The film is fascinating viewing for individuals, but it is also a great discussion-starter in groups and classrooms. Use this short film as an educational resource with students, or with any group interested in sexism, antisemitism, racism, oppression, girls, Jewish identity, or adolescent development.
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/7/ NEW STUDY LINKS ALCOHOL TO AGGRESSION IN RELATIONSHIPS
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A new study of aggression in partner relationships shines a light on the role of alcohol consumption. Those who reported aggression in a relationship tended to drink more often and greater amounts, the study suggests.
The research includes survey results from Canada and nine other countries, reported in the book Unhappy Hours: Alcohol and Partner Aggression in the Americas, published by the Pan-American Health Organization. Kathryn Graham, an editor of the volume and co-author of the Canadian chapter, says it involved a survey of more than 14,000 Canadians.
The lowest rates of aggression were among those who were legally married, while higher rates were seen among those cohabiting, divorced or separating and couples who had never been married.
Source: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca . Jan.2, 2009.
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/8/ HYPERSEXUALIZATION OF GIRLS AND WOMEN CONFERENCE
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This is an invitation to mark your calendars for March 18 and 19, 2009 for an upcoming conference on the hypersexualization of girls and women at St Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This will be a space for women and those who work with girls and women to deepen our understanding and build our analysis about the current culture and its impact when girls and women are hypersexualized and pornographized.
Visit our website for further details: http://women.gov.ns.ca/calendar.asp .
Partners and Sponsors: Antigonish Women's Resource Centre, St. Francis Xavier University Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women
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/9/ DID YOU KNOW...
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That Dorothea Crittenden was Canada's first woman deputy minister? She reformed welfare and social assistance and was also “a key player in the creation of the Canada Assistance Plan, a federal-provincial cost-sharing plan that guarantees all Canadians equal access to social assistance.”
Learn more: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.obituaries/browse_thread/thread/8c5a2259608f5aab?pli=1
Source: The Globe and Mail, December 23, 2008.
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NEXT ISSUE – JAN. 23, 2009
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