Human Rights Each Day.com

Momma Mia! Mom Discrimination!

       Happy (upcoming) Mother’s Day!  My brother and his family get to celebrate Mother’s Day with his wife and teenaged kids, but my sister and I, with no kids of our own, tend to skip over this big day as our Mom died almost 20 years ago.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy seeing the fun people have in the various ways to celebrate their own Moms.

       Lately I’ve been bombarded with issues related to motherhood and pregnancy.  Just last week a woman emailed me asking for advice about trying to get a job with a company where the person in charge seemed overly concerned about her children and how that would affect her ability to travel for work.  While employers are allowed to ask if travel will be an issue, they aren’t allowed to ask if you have children and if they’d interfere with your ability to travel.  It might seem like a fine line, but it’s not children an employer should worry about, it’s your ability to travel (in this case the woman said she was able to travel as per the job’s requirements).

       I’m up here in (very warm) Fort McMurray for work, and motherhood was on my mind.  One of the clients I work with has moved – married, pregnant, and when I spoke to her, happy as a clam about it all.  The woman taking over her responsibilities is just back from maternity leave.  She was telling me of her troubles trying to get day care.

       Just a few minutes ago, I finished research, looking at cases involving discrimination based on pregnancy (which in Canada means discrimination based on sex or gender).  Only looking back two years, I saw many cases brought forward.  Many were dismissed while others were upheld and the employer had to pay wages and damages for violating the rights of the mothers or mothers-to-be.

       I understand that hiring a woman in child-bearing years can be a hassle.  Does she want kids?  Will she have kids?   How much time will she want?  I don’t even have to ask if it will be disruptive, because it will be.  But from Canada's legislatures, parliamentarians and top court down, it’s clear that discrimination based on pregnancy is illegal and while many times it’s hard to prove, if caught, there is a price to pay and legal costs to incur.  While there is some limited support from Employment Insurance, there’s no governmental support to help a workplace retrain someone to take over the job and there’s no support for the family if a business doesn’t have the money to top-up the pay.

       Still I think the biggest obstacle women in child-bearing years face is the outdated idea of who’s going to take time off.  For years now Canadian fathers are able to take time off for parental leave if the couple decides to split the time that way.  Yet do potential fathers face the same prejudice that potential mothers face?  And while women can only have children in certain years, men can father children till a ripe old age, right up till, well, till the day they die…perhaps that’s what killed them. Who knows?  But while our legal reality has changed with the times, our stereotypes haven’t.  Let me explain...sometimes a picture paints a thousand words.

 Say a woman who looks like this turns up at your office wanting a job?

 

 

 

When you see her, our stereotypes might actually be seeing this.

 

 

 

 

 

Whereas, if an older man comes looking for a job, oh let’s say someone like billionaire Rupert Murdoch, who nine years ago, at the age of 72 fathered a child.

 

 

 

Would you actually be seeing someone who looks like this??

Guess not.

 

       Let’s celebrate Mother’s Day in whatever fashion you want.  But let’s really celebrate it by ensuring that if women and men in Canada decide they want kids, we won’t put barriers in their way…even if it is a bit of a hassle.

Stephen

Winner of last skill testing question:  Sandy Goodwin of Darthmouth, Nova Scotia was the first person to give me the correct answer that Jean Chretien, Roy Romanow, & Roy McMurtry were part of the "kitchen cabinet" who met to hash out a deal that was acceptable to most premiers to create the Charter of Rights and Freedom and patriate our constitution.  Sandy received a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.  Congratluations Sandy.

Today's skill testing question:   Our Mom, Gerrie Hammond was born on December 13, but no one will confess to knowing her real age as she never revealed it.  The first person who can tell me what our Mom said/did about her age will win a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.  Did she say/do:

1. "You never ask a woman her age"
2. Kept a piece of tape over her date of birth on her driver's license
3. In response to a reporter saying hiding her age was silly, she said, "I think we're allowed one silling thing in our lives."
4. All of the above

By the way, for those of you who made it down this far, and speaking of new moms, this is a picture of an 8 week old pup who comes from the same breeder as our dog Willis.  The breeder let us know in case we want another and....oooh, we are so tempted.  Just look at little William.

Related Resources:

    
 
This blog: http://www.humanrightseachday.com/

My website: http://www.stephenhammond.ca

My Podcast: Type in “HumanRightsaDay” to the iTunes store and listen to each day's event from my book, Steps in the Rights Direction, or just click here.

My Twitter: http://twitter.com/Rightstoday (each day has historical human rights info)

Stephen Hammond, B.A., LL.B., CSP, is a lawyer-turned professional speaker. He’s written two books, Managing Human Rights at Work: 101 practical tips to prevent human rights disasters and Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world. Both can be purchased on his website www.StephenHammond.ca

copyright - Stephen Hammond - Momma Mia!  Mom Discrimination!

Jailing Indians

             When I was 17 years old I spent my first time in a penitentiary.  Ok, despite my wild and crazy past, I actually wasn’t a prisoner. I was participating in a debating tournament, representing my Winnipeg high school, Westwood Collegiate.  The host of the tournament was the Headingly Penitentiary Toastmasters Club and believe it or not we were debating whether capital punishment should be abolished.

            That was my first glance at the inside of a prison and this very white, very middle class and very straight-laced young man got an eye-opener.  When the audience of prisoners filled the bleachers of the prison’s gym, I couldn’t help but notice how many of them were Indians (my terminology then, and pretty much the terminology for these inmates back then too).  I remember it as if it was yesterday because even with my naïve and very conservative views, the racial make-up of this place slapped me in the face…and this week, the image came back to me.

            I’m not sure how much attention this B.C. case received across Canada, but it involves a Vancouver bus driver, Charles Dixon, who was viciously attacked while driving his bus late at night.  His attacker, Del Louie, is a 22 year old aboriginal man with a criminal record, including a previous assault on another bus driver.  The punch came out of nowhere with the damage to Dixon severe.  He’s been off work for almost 14 months while undergoing three surgeries trying to repair among other things, the broken bones to his face – he has a plate and four screws in his face to keep it together.

            Last Tuesday, provincial court judge Karen Walker gave Louie a conditional sentence of 14 months to be served in a rehab residence, 200 hours of community service and two years’ probation.  In other words, no jail.

            While we might immediately jump to the conclusion of judges making up their own laws, the fact is parliament, years ago, amended the criminal code with the following:

718.2(e) “all available sanctions other than imprisonment that are reasonable in the circumstances should be considered for all offenders, with particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders."

            Canada’s Supreme Court addressed this provision in a ruling in 1999, requiring judges to consider aboriginal heritage and then on March 23, 2012 (less than three weeks ago), they addressed it again.  At both times, the court was clear and emphatic that with so many Aboriginal Canadians in jail, trial judges must look for alternatives to prison.  This is what they said in March:

“When sentencing an Aboriginal offender, courts must take judicial notice of such matters as the history of colonialism, displacement, and residential schools and how that history continues to translate into lower educational attainment, lower incomes, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse and suicide, and of course higher levels of incarceration for Aboriginal peoples.” (If you want horrible evidence of what Aboriginal Canadidans are facing, ready Andre Picard's article this week found here)

            Now, if you’re Charles Dixon, who may never be the same again, I bet you could care less about the upbringing of your attacker.  And if I were in his shoes, I’d feel the same way.  In fact, with the information I have thus far on this case, my first reaction is that the judge didn't get it right, especially with Louie's previous convictions.  But that’s easy for me to say – I’m not the judge, I wasn’t there for a nano-second of the case and I only know what’s reported in the media.

             But here’s the thing…if we want “fairer” justice, with less consideration for the heritage of offenders, then we’ve got to be willing to make the changes today that will prevent the next generation of Aboriginal Canadians from falling into the trap of bad treatment and hopelessness.  And when we think it’s too big for any of us to have that kind of impact, here are three simple suggestions that can help, even in a small way:

•    Hire more Aboriginal Canadians.  With so many lacking certain skills and education, it might not seem easy.  But there are many who do have the skills and others will learn.  Canadian companies who persist with programs to train and hire Aboriginal Canadians (even with set-backs) have found the results rewarding and realize if they’re not part of the solution, they end up being part of the problem.

•    Be nice at work.  Come on!  Really?  That’s it Stephen?  Well, no, it’s not it, but boy does being nice help, especially when I hear the horror stories from a number of aboriginal employees.  In other words, don’t allow harassment or negative comments of any kind.  And if we want to learn more about someone's heritage, language or even tax policy, we have to be respectful and not just find a way to grand stand or ridicule.  People will share a lot if we’re sincere in our asking.

•    Don’t fight government policies trying to help.  It’s all too easy to take a knee-jerk reaction when something has gone wrong and there’s a banner headline.  Or it’s easy to say, “we’ve paid enough” in our taxes or programs for First Nations, Metis and Inuit Canadians.  I’m not smart enough to know what it’s going to take to truly help our aboriginal population, but I’m smart enough to know it’s going to take a long, long, ,long time and a lot more money than we’re spending now.  We still have the right to question government policies, ensuring they are worthwhile and effective, but let’s give sober thoughts as opposed to reactionary responses.

Oh, and while you're at it, do fight the government when they make bad decisions.  Andre Picard's article in the Globe and Mail this week illustrates that point.  He wrote about how our federal government cut funding to the National Aboriginal Health Organization...and they announced it late Thursday night, just before the East long weekend (when they don't want people to know).  Find the full article here. 

        Just so you know, after all these years, if I went back to Headingly Penitentiary, I bet I’d see the same make-up of men on those bleachers as I did when I was 17.  And that’s sad.

Stephen

Winner of last skill testing question:  Lori Hunter from Winnipeg was the first person to give the correct answer that the constitution of South Africa was signed in Sharpeville, South Africa on December 10, 1996 by President Nelson Mandella. Lori received a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.

Today's skill testing question: On April 17, 2012 we will celebrate 30 years of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The deal to patriate the constitution and include the Charter came about because of a controversial meeting in a kitchen in 1981.  The first person who can tell me the names of the people in that kitchen will win a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.

Related Resources:

  
 
This blog: http://www.humanrightseachday.com/

My website: http://www.stephenhammond.ca

My Podcast: Type in “HumanRightsaDay” to the iTunes store and listen to each day's event from my book, Steps in the Rights Direction, or just click here.

My Twitter: http://twitter.com/Rightstoday (each day has historical human rights info)

Stephen Hammond, B.A., LL.B., CSP, is a lawyer-turned professional speaker. He’s written two books, Managing Human Rights at Work: 101 practical tips to prevent human rights disasters and Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world. Both can be purchased on his website www.StephenHammond.ca

copyright - Stephen Hammond - Jailing Indians

I'm racist. How about you?

       On March 21, 1960, a large crowd gathered in Sharpeville, South Africa to peacefully protest the laws requiring blacks to carry identification papers known as “passbooks”. South African police opened fire on the group, killing 69 people. That date became associated with racial discrimination, and in 1966, the United Nations proclaimed it the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

In Canada we have many historical examples or racism and just yesterday, while at the post office, I bought a book of stamps commemorating Viola Desmond.  Desmond was the woman arrested, jailed for a night and fined $20 back in 1946 for sitting in the whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.  Unlike Rosa Parks in the States, Desmond’s case wasn’t overturned…not until decades later as part of trying to repair our racist past.

We like to think our racism is a thing of the past, but Canada is no different than anywhere else, and neither am I.  It’s not always easy to say, but I’m racist.  I’m also sexist, homophobic, xenophobic and classist.  I’d prefer not to be, but my stereotypes are so powerful, I can’t escape it.  I don’t have to rack my brain to remember examples of my racism.

       In 1987, while on my first trip to San Francisco, a black fellow asked me for the time.  I just kept on walking, completely ignoring him, for fear that he wanted to steal my watch.  Now he wasn’t the best-dressed person on the block, but that was no excuse.  He started yelling at me about how he just wanted the time, and I knew by the things he said this wasn’t his first experience.

       About 15 years later, while more enlightened and with many years in the field of educating people about human rights, I was on a cruise ship.  Jack and I were seated for dinner with a mother and two grown daughters.  They were black.  The mother was retired and one of her girls was a lawyer and the other a doctor.  Over pleasantries, we discovered that the mother had recently retired from an American university.  I thought to myself, “How nice that these two daughters, who have ‘made good’ are treating their Mom to a cruise after some simple job at the university.”  Now I don’t recall thinking the exact word “simple”, but let’s just say I didn’t expect “professor” to be the job that she retired from…which is what she did.

       I promise I’m not evil, but I still can’t believe that I never imagined this woman as a professor.  It’s kind of like the old riddle about the doctor who says “I can’t operate on this boy because he’s my son” and we’re all stumped because the doctor is a woman (this only makes sense if you heard the riddle).  I could use the excuse that there was no President Obama at the time, but there was a Condoleezza Rice, so I have no excuse.

       Then, after having written two books on human rights, with almost two decades of similar work across Canada, you’d think I was finished with my stereotypes.  Well I wasn’t…and this example, just from last year, gets to combine my racism with my sexism.  While working up in Fort McMurray on the longest day of the year I brought my golf clubs.  I was matched up with a couple.  She’s First Nations and he seemed more like me.  They allowed me to tee off first and I actually had a good drive (surprise).  Before they tee’d off, I made some mention about how intimidating golf can be when you don’t know the people you’re golfing with.  Somewhere in that mix I gave the impression that he was the better golfer.  It wasn’t blatant, but I was falling into the stereotype that women don’t golf as well as men and I don’t think I ever met a First Nations person who golfs.  Well, she gets up and whacks the ball to the extent that my jaw unhinged as her ball dropped well past my “good drive.”

Not only was she a golfer, but she recently sold her partnership in a golf course nearby.  So much for getting rid of my stereotypes.

Here’s the thing…we all have stereotypes and we’re all racist in one way or another.  The sooner we admit it, the easier it is to not submit to the strange and stupid things that pop into our head based on race or other grounds.  If things just stay in our head and we don’t act on them, then no one is the wiser (we all know, but we can also tell when most people are doing better than what’s in their head).

       There are times where our racism has a minor impact on the lives of others.  Then there are times where our racism has a major impact.  Last week’s decision about racial discrimination from the Ontario Court of Appeal is one of those major times.  I’m not picking on police, because all of us are capable of giving into our stereotypes, but police have to be especially careful because they have the ability to detain and arrest.

       Exactly seven years ago this month, Constable Michael Shaw was in his car patrolling Toronto’s Bridle Path district. This is by far the most affluent neighbourhood in all of Canada with residents like entertainers, Celine Dion and Prince as well as crook, Conrad Black.  Shaw was training a new police constable, Diane Noto and they were on the lookout for “suspects described as Male, White and East European, who were using a vehicle” because they had reports telephone lines were being cut.

When the constables saw a man going back and forth across the street, Shaw became suspicious.  As they approached, they found a black man in a Canada Post uniform, on foot, with a Canada Post bag, delivering mail.  This letter carrier, Ronald Phipps, was not the regular postal worker and because he didn’t deliver mail to every door, Shaw became more suspicious.  He got Constable Noto to ask one of the residents why this man knocked on her door.  She said Phipps told her he had misdirected some mail.  Thinking this was more suspicious, Shaw stopped Phipps, asked for identification, ran a criminal check on their computer and finding nothing wrong, let him carry on with his duties.

But it didn’t stop there.  When Constable Shaw saw another letter carrier (one he had seen working there before) in the neighbourhood, Shaw asked him about Phipps and when that postal worker explained there was a temporary carrier, a “Black man” in the neighbourhood, they ended their suspicions.

       As Phipps thought about this more, he asked other white service and construction workers in the neighbourhood if the police questioned them or asked them for I.D.  They didn’t and shortly thereafter Ronald Phipps made a complaint of racial discrimination against Michael Shaw and the Toronto Police.

       The adjudicator at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruled that, while Constable Shaw did not intend to discriminate, “I find that on a balance of probabilities, the fact that the applicant was an African Canadian in an affluent neighbourhood was a factor, a significant factor, and probably the predominant factor, whether consciously or unconsciously, in Constable Shaw's actions.”

       The Toronto Police appealed this Tribunal decision to the Ontario Divisional Court where two of the three judges upheld the decision and then to Ontario’s top court, the Court of Appeal, where last week all three judges unanimously agreed with the adjudicator and disagreed with the dissenting judge of the Divisional Court.

       It’s tough to admit that racism has anything to do with our actions.  And when you’re as high-profile as the Toronto Police Department, with past accusations of police profiling, it must be even tougher.  Who wants to think that race has anything to do with their duties of catching bad guys?

       Well the sooner they do, and all of us do for other aspects of our lives, the better chance we have of eliminating racial discrimination.  It’s not going to solve everything, but it’s going to help a lot, because we can stop before we take action on our stereotypes and we can be open when someone challenges us on our decisions if there is a suspicion of bias or prejudice.  This will involve our interactions with people at work, at school and in our neighbourhoods.

       There are many things we can do to honour the 69 people killed in South Africa 52 years ago.  Admitting our own racism is one of those things.  I’m racist…but I’m trying to do better.

Stephen

Winner of last skill testing question:  Jeannie Littledale from Richmond was the first person to give the correct answer that Bella Abzug wore hats because while she was a lawyer, she was often mistaken for a secretary and she noticed working women wore hats...as well as men.  After a while it stuck and hats became kind of her "brand" before there were "brands."  Jeannie received a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.

Today's skill testing question: On December 10, 1996, a significant document was signed in South Africa.  The first person who tells me what was the document, who did the signing, and in what South African city it was signed will win a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.

Related Resources:

  
 
This blog: http://www.humanrightseachday.com/

My website: http://www.stephenhammond.ca

My Podcast: Type in “HumanRightsaDay” to the iTunes store and listen to each day's event from my book, Steps in the Rights Direction, or just click here.

My Twitter: http://twitter.com/Rightstoday (each day has historical human rights info)

Stephen Hammond, B.A., LL.B., CSP, is a lawyer-turned professional speaker. He’s written two books, Managing Human Rights at Work: 101 practical tips to prevent human rights disasters and Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world. Both can be purchased on his website www.StephenHammond.ca

copyright - Stephen Hammond - I'm racist.  How about you?

Happy International Women's Day...I Guess

On this 101st anniversary of International Women’s Day, I’m able to reflect on how different women truly are.  25 years ago I thought I discovered the real difference when I was watching Shirley MacLaine’s made for TV movie, Out on a Limb in 1987.  It was based on her book of the same name and one I read with great interest.

In one scene, MacLaine is talking to actress Anne Jackson, who plays famed New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug.  MacLaine was preparing lunch in her posh apartment while they were discussing Abzug’s race for mayor of NYC.  I was supposed to be paying attention to the dialogue but I was distracted by the meal MacLaine was preparing for lunch.  As she was tossing the salad, it dawned on me that it was going to be the entire meal.  This university student, who ate the most horrible student-prepared food as long as it was on sale, couldn’t believe that a salad could be a whole meal.  That’s when I knew women were truly different from men.

       I’d like to say I’m joking but I’m not…at least not from a 28 year-old’s perspective.  Ok, perhaps it didn’t define for me the true differences between men and women, but here we are 25 years later and I still remember that scene…vividly.  The good news is that I’ve come a long way in a quarter century and realize there are wonderful differences between men and women and on this day, or any day, we must celebrate the accomplishments of women and continue to support women for true equality.

       After all, we now have women premiers in B.C., Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut.  Of course there should be more, or have been more over the years, but it’s better than where we were.

       15 days ago I wrote a newsletter indicating we’re not truly valuing women…even in Canada.  I’d like to think things can change drastically in half a month, but alas I’m still concerned.  For example:

EU looking at quotas for boards.  There are so few women on boards of companies that the European Union is considering imposing quotas.  Women comprise 14% of certain corporate boards in Canada, but on our biggest firms, we languish with the Europeans at a mere 10%.

First Nations pulls out of Missing Women Commission.  Stating that the commission looking into the murders of dozens of women in B.C. “has no credibility”, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs pulled out of the process.  The lawyer for the B.C. Chiefs, Robyn Gervais, told commissioner Wally Oppal this week, “Given that these hearings are largely about missing and murdered aboriginal women, I feel I shouldn’t have to fight to have the voices of the aboriginals heard.”  The Chiefs are just the latest of organizations who pulled out of the commission.

Women going back to Taliban era.   New guidelines established by Afghanistan’s top clerics and published by President Hamid Karzai, states that women must not work or be educated with men, must be subordinate to men and must have a man guardian whenever they travel.   The Afghan government is trying to make peace by negotiating with the Taliban and it seems women will be sacrificed in the process.  For years I have heard that all the suffering and killing in Afghanistan was at least for the purpose of supporting women.  I guess I don't know what "support" means.

Rush Limbaugh calls woman a slut and prostitute.  When Georgetown university student Sandra Fluke testified about birth control policy to U.S. congressional leaders, radio host Rush Limbaugh referred to her as a slut and prostitute.  And he said that if she wants him to pay for her to have sex, then she should tape her sexual acts and put them on the web so he can enjoy them.  Mr. Limbaugh thought that somehow his taxes paid for the birth control women receive from private insurance companies.  He’s not only offensive and wrong but he’s actually quite stupid.  A lot of advertisers felt the same way and have pulled their ads from his show.

Eve teasing in India.  Now this isn’t new, but I stumbled upon this terminology which is used in India and a few other countries.  It is another way to describe inappropriate actions towards women:  Anything from public sexual harassment to molestation.  I figured it had something to do with the Bible’s first woman and sure enough it does.  Seems the reference is to the fact that women are responsible for these behaviours from men.  After all, they’re teasing the men and what are we supposed to do but respond by groping them.  Whew!  That explains a lot.

       Well, compared to all this cheery news, I don't feel quite so stupid about my youthful analysis of women and salads for lunch.  Cripe, why aren't I President of Pakistan, or head of a Canadian commission or making millions as a radio talk show host?  I guess I just have to try a little harder.

I dunno.  Maybe there's a few of us who have to try a little harder.  Happy International Women's Day.

Stephen

Winner of last skill testing question:  Géraldine Faure from Vancouver was the first to give the correct answer that Agnes Macphail was Canada's first woman Member of Parliament.  She had other "firsts" but that was the one I was looking for.  Géraldine received a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.

Today's skill testing question: Bella Abzug was famous for many things and I Iove some of her quotes, such as, "This woman's place in in the house...the House of Reprentatives."  She was also famous for her hats. The first person to tell me why she wore hats will win a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.

Related Resources:

    
 
This blog: http://www.humanrightseachday.com/

My website: http://www.stephenhammond.ca

My Podcast: Type in “HumanRightsaDay” to the iTunes store and listen to each day's event from my book, Steps in the Rights Direction, or just click here.

My Twitter: http://twitter.com/Rightstoday (each day has historical human rights info)

Stephen Hammond, B.A., LL.B., CSP, is a lawyer-turned professional speaker. He’s written two books, Managing Human Rights at Work: 101 practical tips to prevent human rights disasters and Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world. Both can be purchased on his website www.StephenHammond.ca

copyright - Stephen Hammond - Happy International Women's Day...I guess

We Value Women in Canada. Right? I mean, Right?

       While thumbing through the news last week, I came across two stories of note regarding  the treatment of women around the world.  The lobby group, Human Rights Watch is calling on the International Olympic Committee to bar Saudi Arabia from the summer games in London.  The Saudis are one of only three countries who do not send women to the Olympics and they hope that if there’s a threat their men can’t compete, they’ll give in and let the women compete.

       The other story was about hundreds of women in mini-skirts, protesting in the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa.  The women (and some men wearing mini-skirts too) were protesting the attack on two women who were wearing mini-skirts, considered too provocative for some of the men in the country.

       I’m not even taking into consideration the horrors inflicted on women on a regular basis, all around the world, but in all honesty, those news items don’t get that much attention because they aren’t as sexy as mini-skirts and the Olympics.  It seems we get tired of horrors too quickly.

       So in contrast, I consider how advanced we are in Canada and when I flip through my book on human rights* in February alone, I find the following:

•    February 4, 1906, Gladys Strum, Pioneer in Saskatchewan & Canadian politics was born
•    February 12, 1994, Anglican Church of Canada appointed the first female bishop: Reverend Victoria Matthews
•    February 15, 1930, Cairine Wilson was sworn in as Canada’s first woman senator
•    February 23, 1944, Agnes Macphail became the first woman sworn in to the Ontario legislature
•    February 25, 1922, Canada’s first woman war artist, Molly Lamb Bobak, was born (we share the same birthday…albeit, not quite the same year)

       So many Canadian accomplishments for women and these are just the ones I was able to write about for February.  There are of course, many others.  So I guess in Canada, women have come a long way.  But then I noticed other recent news items, about women and all in Canada, such as:

•    More than a dozen Vancouver police officers were caught using office computers to view and e-mail porn.  This, while the country hears testimony at the inquiry into the reasons why dozens of women were killed by Robert Pickton in B.C. and no one cared (enough).

•    A guilty verdict of murder is found for Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya and son, Mamed Shafia for the “honour killing” of the Shafia sisters, Zainab, Sahar and Geeti, along with Rona Amir Mohammad.  Debate lingers on about whether this is religious based or just outrageous sexism when the girls don’t conform to the wishes of the men.

•    The Taboo Naughty but Nice sex show has been cancelled in Abbotsford, B.C.  In the previous four years, it was no problem, but this year there was just a bit too much opposition, so they were denied a “roaming” liquor license. However, it’s a “go” for the all-women Lingerie Football League in Abbotsford.  They are lucky enough to be the second city chosen to have such a franchise and they are looking for suggestions to name the team (Toronto is the first Canadian city with hopes for five teams in total).

There are plenty more, but I think you get the gist.

        A long time ago, my sister, Sharon brought to my attention there’s no equivalent for the word misogyny, the hatred of women.  When I tried my best to come up with something equivalent for men, she rightfully pointed out there isn’t one.  It doesn’t matter what terminology we use, we just know that things are different for women…even in Canada.

         If we doubt it, just think about taking a walk at night.  How is it for most men and then for most women, in our own country?  I don’t have to describe because we all know the answer.  And by the way, if I don’t mention it, my sister will call or email me if I don’t mention that for women, it doesn’t even have to be at night.

       A few years ago, I got a call from a woman in Toronto who found me on the net.  She told me how she was fired from her high-paying commission job because she refused to date the owner’s son.  In our conversation, after a pause, she said, “It’s tough being a woman.”  I remember it and I remember how sad I felt when she said it.

Do we value women in Canada?  I think we still have a long way to go.

Stephen

* The book I took those references from is Steps in the Rights Direction.

Winner of last skill testing question:  Andrew Lawson from Toronto was the first to give the correct answer that on February 7, 1971, Switzerland men finally gave women the vote.  The clue was that many men felt women's roles should be kept to "kinder, kirche und kuche" which means children, church and kitchen.  Andrew received a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.

Today's skill testing question:    On February 23, 1944 Agnes Macphail was elected to the Ontario legislature.  While this made her the first woman for Ontario's legislature, Macphail had a previous first in politics.  The first person to tell me what her other political "first" was, will win a copy of my book, Managing Human Rights at Work.

Related Resources:

    
 
This blog: http://www.humanrightseachday.com/

My website: http://www.stephenhammond.ca

My Podcast: Type in “HumanRightsaDay” to the iTunes store and listen to each day's event from my book, Steps in the Rights Direction, or just click here.

My Twitter: http://twitter.com/Rightstoday (each day has historical human rights info)

Stephen Hammond, B.A., LL.B., CSP, is a lawyer-turned professional speaker. He’s written two books, Managing Human Rights at Work: 101 practical tips to prevent human rights disasters and Steps in the Rights Direction: 365 human rights celebrations and tragedies that inspired Canada and the world. Both can be purchased on his website www.StephenHammond.ca

copyright - Stephen Hammond - We value women in Canada.  Right?  I mean right?