Image courtesy of UNPACIn its 2007 budget, the federal government implemented a solution to the fiscal imbalance through the additional transfer of dollars to provinces and territories. The ways in which this money is transferred, and how it will be spent by provincial and territorial governments, will greatly affect women’s access to social services and programs.

Read FAFIA’s overview on the fiscal (im)balance, and what it means for women.

EXCERPT

Money, social programs and women’s rights

Canada’s social programs are vital to women’s advancement. The infrastructure of social services and income support programs Canada has created over the last fifty years has been essential to improving women’s opportunities to enter paid work and to be involved in higher education and public life. Services and programs, like health care, social assistance, child care and legal aid, have been an egalitarian force in women’s lives. They are a central means of implementing the human rights that Canada has committed itself to in the Constitution, the Charter, and in international human rights treaties. These include rights to equality, liberty and security of the person, and to an adequate standard of living. When Canada ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, it agreed “to take… all appropriate measures… to ensure the full development and advancement of women.”

The human rights that Canada has embraced place require governments to ensure that everyone can enjoy them, and that budgetary allocations for social programs are sufficient. They also require governments to ensure that social programs are adequate and consistent across jurisdictions.

Because Canada’s social programs are such an integral part of women’s lives and their opportunities, the nuts and bolts of how they are paid for, what quality of service is available, and whether they are provided adequately in every part of the country, matters to every woman. [continues]

To download the full document, click here:
Overview of the Fiscal Imbalance.pdf
Overview of the Fiscal Imbalance.doc

Nancy Peckford, Director of Programs at FAFIA, recently presented at the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance meeting. Click here to read the minutes from this meeting:
Minutes

Women in Canada are affected differently than men by tax and spending policies of governments as a result of their varying labour market opportunities, family and community responsibilities, and levels of economic security. In FAFIA’s federal budget overview, we assess the value for women of several key items in this year’s federal budget, including anti-poverty measures, tax breaks, and federal funds for social programs, via federal transfers or related initiatives. In our analysis, we also address which Canadians will be the primary benefactors of this budget.

To read FAFIA’s 2007 Budget Overview, and to learn more about issues concerning the budget, click here:
2007 Budget

For more images of la femme fiscale, and for information about UNPAC, please visit their website at:
UNPAC