An Oct. 18 Person’s Day lunch celebrates three milestones along the journey to equity for Canadian women. If you’re uncertain about when voting privileges became a legal right, when women were acknowledged as ‘persons’ in Canada, and what are persistent economic disparities, think about reducing your confusion by attending this event. After all, 2017 is the 150th year since Confederation.
Dr. Grace Lore, National Senior Researcher for Equal Voice, is guest speaker. Her presentation, Where are the women and why does it matter?, focuses upon how a lack of disposable income deters many women from involvement in politics. She’ll introduce three Daughters of the Vote. Each young woman, selected from one of the 338 ridings in Canada, visited Parliament and sat in the same Green Room as the riding elected MP. It was a lifetime highlight for many.
Musician Jackie Lambeth will sing Bread and Roses and lead O Canada. Peggy de Roos will play her hurdy gurdy and share some background information about this ancient instrument.
Lunch is buffet style at the Westerly Hotel, Conference Room level, at 1 p.m. Cost is $20. Registration begins at 12:45. Teapot donations to offset overhead expenses will gratefully be accepted. Group registration is encouraged but small table settings also provide an opportunity to mix and meet.
Equal Voice is a national, non-partisan, non-profit society that operates on a chapter basis. Although the Comox Valley doesn’t have a group, Nanaimo has a mid-Island chapter. The purpose is to encourage more involvement of women in all levels of governance. According to CBC: “This country is in the bottom ranks in terms of the pay gap between men and women; support for child care and parental leave is well below average; the country registers 57th for gender equality in parliament’s elected members; and it lacks a national strategy to halt violence against women.”
This lunch is an opportunity to have fun, acknowledge women’s political leadership and to learn more about the unique “herstory” we share. We will “take stock of the progress we’ve made as a country and recommit ourselves to achieving shared goals such as gender equality” (Status of Women www).
FMI: Marg Hundt at marghundt1@gmail.com