New Brunswick

Introduction

  1. This Report is the submission for the province of New Brunswick, covering the period from April 1, 1994 to March 31, 1998.

  2. The Government of New Brunswick is committed to the improvement of opportunities for women through the development of policies and strategies which advance womens' participation in society.

Article 2: Anti-Discrimination Measures

  1. On November 1, 1996, the New Brunswick Vital Statistics Act (S.N.B. 1979, c. V-3) was amended by substituting the gender neutral term "cleric" for the existing term "clergymen," in recognition that women have been appointed to perform marriages in New Brunswick.

  2. In 1996, s. 4(5) of the New Brunswick Change of Name Act (R.S.N.B. 1973, c. C-2) was amended to remove the restriction that a spouse must be separated for at least one year before applying for a change of surname. Currently, it is necessary to provide the date of separation only and, if all other information supplied is satisfactory to the Registrar General, the application will be approved.

  3. New Brunswick's Public Legal Education and Information Service (PLEIS) is a non-profit organization which receives financial and in-kind support from Justice Canada, the New Brunswick Law Foundation and the New Brunswick Department of Justice. The Service fosters access to the justice system by informing and educating the public about the law. It places particular priority on reaching disadvantaged groups, including women.

  4. Since 1994, PLEIS has undertaken Family Violence Programming which addresses family violence issues generally and produces information products specifically to help abused women understand their rights. Among many others, one such product is an educational video entitled Changing the Ending. A booklet called Spousal Assault: What do Victims Want and Need From the Police? was developed to sensitize police to the needs of abused women.

  5. Family Law Programming in PLEIS has grown as there is considerable demand for family law materials and self-help guides to family law matters which tend to be of particular relevance to women. There have already been materials produced on matters such as custody and access, as well as spousal and child support. PLEIS is also about to release a child support variation kit and a revised guide for doing your own divorce in New Brunswick.

Article 2 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | ON | MB | AB | BC | NT

Article 3: Measures to Ensure the Advancement of Women

  1. In 1993, responsibilities for women's issues were reassigned from the Women's Directorate to line departments. These departments continue to play a leadership role in the development of policies and programs specific to their mandates which support the women of the province. In 1994, coordination responsibilities were assigned to the Executive Council Office as Chair of the Interdepartmental Committee on the Status of Women. The Committee is composed of officials involved in the development of social and economic programs and policies that affect the status of women. The Honorable Marcelle Mersereau is the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women in New Brunswick.

  2. The New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women is a body which exists to inform the public on issues of concern to women. It continues to advise the provincial government on issues which directly or indirectly affect women's lives.

Article 3 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC | NT | YK

Article 4: Temporary Special Measures

  1. As an employer, the Government of New Brunswick continues to actively support employment equity initiatives which work towards social, economic and political equality for women in New Brunswick's public sector.

  2. As an employer, the Government of New Brunswick is committed to providing a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. It is the employer's responsibility to prevent and eliminate harassment in the workplace.

  3. The Employment Equity Program for women has been in place in Part 1 of the New Brunswick Public Service since 1985. Part 1 of the Public Service includes line departments.

  4. Departments and agencies in Part 1 of the Public Service continue to work towards the implementation of qualitative and quantitative goals, to ensure increased representation at levels where women are currently under-represented. Departments and agencies continue to implement flexible work arrangements and initiatives aimed at providing harassment-free workplaces.

Article 4 - Links to Conventionand other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | ON | SK | BC | NT

Article 5: Elimination of Stereotypes

  1. Teachers and Guidance Counsellors are currently working closely with the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation/University of New Brunswick Centre for Family Violence Research on two research projects: Creating Peaceful Learning Environments and Dating Violence at the Junior and Senior Levels.

  2. The focus of the Education and Development Branch of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission is to develop and produce high quality programs and products which promote equality and compliance with the Human Rights Act. Among other educational programs developed recently is a four-part television series entitled Vision for Equality. Aired across the province, the series included an episode on sexual harassment.

  3. The New Brunswick Human Rights Commission has presented numerous workshops to groups throughout the province in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors on a wide variety of human rights issues including those dealing with the human rights of women. Topics included "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace", "Harassment in a Health Care Setting" and "Harassment in Schools."

  4. In 1996, only candidates who were either female or from a visible minority were admitted to the Atlantic Police Academy from New Brunswick. The aim of this measure was to increase the representation of females and visible minorities in the police forces throughout the province.

  5. Under the direction of the Department of the Solicitor General, the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre offers various ongoing female offender programs and workshops on topics such as parenting, self-esteem, anger management, assertiveness, self-awareness, community awareness and effective interpersonal communication.

  6. Working in conjunction with the police and Crown prosecutors, staff of the Community and Correctional Services Branch of the Department of the Solicitor General assist in preparing victims and witnesses for the rigors of giving testimony in court. Particular attention is given to the needs of abused women and children.

  7. The Trauma Counselling Project (funded by the Victim Services Fund) also aims to assist women and child abuse victims to participate in the criminal court process. In this project, private specialists are hired on a case-by-case basis for trauma counselling.

  8. All victims of crime in New Brunswick may now make a Victim Impact Statement describing the harm and suffering they have experienced as the result of a crime. A court may consider a Victim Impact Statement when determining the sentence to be imposed on an offender. Since 1991, there have been 1,558 Victim Impact Statements submitted to court, with 80 percent of those having been made by women.

  9. New Brunswick is a National Pilot Site for the project "Gathering Statistics on Woman Abuse". This project is under the direction of the Department of the Solicitor General, the Department of Justice, the RCMP "J" Division and the province's Chiefs of Police Association. It consists of gathering and analyzing statistics on child, woman and elder abuse and bringing that abuse to the attention of the criminal justice system. The program was operational at the end of 1995.

  10. The New Brunswick Interdepartmental Committee on Family Violence continues to monitor, recommend and coordinate government initiatives related to all forms of family violence.

Article 5 - Links to Convention and other sections
|FED | NF | NS | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC | YK | NT

Article 7: Women in Politics and Public Life

  1. In 1998, 8 out of 55 members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick were women (15 percent).

  2. In 1998, there were four female members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick.

  3. In 1994, Mrs. Margaret Norrie McCain was the first woman to be appointed as Lieutenant Governor of the province of New Brunswick. Following Mrs. McCain, a second woman, Dr. Marilyn Trenholme, was appointed in 1997.

  4. In 1998, 5 out of 17 Cabinet Ministers were women (29 percent).

  5. In 1998, 5 out of 21 Deputy Ministers in New Brunswick were women (24 percent).

  6. Of the 711 candidates for positions as municipal councillors and mayors in the municipal elections of May 1998, 191 were women (27 percent).

  7. Between 1994 and 1998, two out of five appointed provincial court judges were women, bringing the total number of female provincial court judges to three.

Article 7 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | MB | AB | BC | NT

Article 10: Education

  1. The New Brunswick Department of Education has reviewed curriculum material to ensure that it is free of stereotypes and portrays women in a positive light. In this regard, A Checklist for Detecting Bias and Stereotyping in Instructional Materials was developed and is distributed to schools on an ongoing basis.

  2. The New Brunswick Department of Education, in partnership with the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, has implemented several programs designed for children, including the Take Our Kids To Work Program which encourages both females and males in Grade 9 to spend a day in the workplace of their parents.

  3. October is Women's History Month in New Brunswick. During this month, each school receives an information package, including several articles and a quiz on the province's famous women, which is used to educate students on the accomplishments of New Brunswick women.

  4. The Professional Development and Innovation Branch of the New Brunswick Department of Education supports the Women in Educational Administration-NB (WEA-NB), an organization which supports female educators/administrators who wish to improve their administrative skills and opportunities.

  5. In October 1995, the Department of Education sent a "Raising Young Voices" kit to every school district in the province and to any school who wished to have one. The kit addressed gender socialization and was designed to facilitate discussion among parents, teachers and school district administrators.

  6. The Department of Education has implemented several educational programs which emphasize that career choice is for all students and that all occupations are available to both males and females. Among others, "Futures" is a program distributed to middle schools which provides gender neutral education about all occupations, and invites both females and males to examine their interests and options as they prepare for high school. "Women in Cyberspace" was a conference held in October 1997 which brought together girls from every high school in the province to learn about career opportunities in the information technology field. In addition, various information packages, posters and Internet website pages supporting non-traditional careers for women have been forwarded to school guidance councillors.

  7. Women Abuse Protocols have been distributed to all personnel at the Grade 7 level and above. Schools are inviting transition house workers in their local communities to make presentations to students about the problems of dating violence.

  8. Guidance counsellors are incorporating the issue of dating violence and sexual harassment into their curriculum. To assist in this endeavour, the Department of Education has increased the number of videos and films, etc., distributed to schools that deal with dating violence, sexual harassment and violence in schools.

  9. The Career and Life Management component of the Foundation Years Program is a compulsory program of study for Grades 9-10 which deals with human sexuality. Health and physical education studies at the Grade 11 level include a survey of various lifestyle practices in a course compulsory for high school graduation.

  10. Media Studies at the Grade 12 level is a prescribed elective course which includes a decoding of media violence, sex roles, stereotyping and misleading portrayals of women.

  11. Appropriate parenting skills are developed through the curriculum in the Foundation Years Career and Life Management component at the Grade 12 level with the elective course on Family Living.

  12. The dropout rate of female students in Grades 7-12 declined from 2.4 percent in 1994 to 2.3 percent in 1997.

  13. The Department of Advanced Education and Labour awards 10 scholarships annually through the Women's Doctoral Scholarships. The Women's Doctoral Scholarships award up to $5,000 to selected women for up to four years of doctoral study.

  14. The Department of Advanced Education and Labour funds and administers a Multiculturalism Program, which aims to increase the participation of immigrant women in the economic, social and political life of the province.

  15. The Department of Finance and the Department of Advanced Education and Labour have implemented the Summer Mentorship for Female Students program. This ongoing program provides 14 weeks of summer employment for female students, and gives them an opportunity to be mentored by civil servants in senior level positions or women working in non-traditional jobs.

  16. The Department of Advanced Education and Labour oversees the JET Stream program (Job Experience for Tomorrow). This program provides students with summer jobs to help them finance their education and gives them valuable work experience needed to find a job after graduation. In 1994-95, there were 2,344 JET Stream participants, 1,431 of whom were women (61 percent).

  17. Since its inception in 1988, the Visible Abilities Initiative (administered by the Department of Advanced Education and Labour) aims to increase the participation of persons with disabilities in the labour force. Although the ongoing program is not specific to women, approximately 55 percent of the registry are women.

  18. As of March 1998, a workplace harassment policy for municipal employees was being developed by the Solicitor General's Task Force on Workplace Harassment.

Article 10 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC | NT | YK

Article 11: Employment

  1. In 1997, women over the age of 15 comprised approximately 45.1 percent of New Brunswick's labour force.

  2. From 1992 to 1998, the Department of Human Resources Development administered a program entitled NB Works, in cooperation with the Department of Advanced Education and Labour and Human Resources Development Canada. This project provided people on social assistance with the opportunity to upgrade their education and skills to help them compete in the labour market. As of 1996, 852 participants were in various phases of the continuum, and 727 of these were women. Over 70 percent of these participants have not returned to the social assistance caseload.

  3. Families with children who are not in subsidized housing and who pay more than 30 percent of their social assistance on rent are eligible for a monthly supplement of $90 per month (from November to April) and $60 per month (from May to October). As of February 1995, 6,430 families had taken advantage of this Income Security Benefit.

Article 11 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC | YK

Article 12: Health

  1. The Department of Health and Community Services continues to operate Reproductive Health Clinics. The objectives of these clinics are to: decrease the incidence of unplanned pregnancy among adolescents and young single adults; promote healthy sexuality and informed decision making among young people in the province; and assist parents to feel more confident in their role as the primary sex educator of their children. During 1994-95, 12,493 visits were made to the clinics.

  2. In 1995, the province of New Brunswick instituted organized services for breast cancer screening. Before that time, only one third of the province's women over 50 years of age had ever had a mammogram. The objectives of this initiative are to have 70 percent of women, aged 50-69 years, participate in breast cancer screening services and to increase accessibility of breast cancer screening services for the earliest possible detection and treatment of breast cancer.

  3. The Department of Health and Community Services conducted an information campaign in the fall of 1996 entitled "Don't Kid Yourself." The aim of the campaign was to inform teens and their parents on how to reduce the risks of teen pregnancy and to promote awareness of existing services.

  4. Through the Day Care Assistance Program, the Department of Human Resource Development provides financial assistance to low-income families to help them access quality daycare at an approved daycare facility. More than 1,110 children are receiving assistance for full- or part-time daycare with an estimated budget in 1996-97 of $4.2 million.

Article 12 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | ON | SK | AB | BC | NT | YK

Article 13: Economic and Social Life

  1. The by-law of the New Brunswick Arts Board Act continues to require that Juries for Artistic Merit reflect a balance of the seven artistic disciplines, as well as gender, language and region.

  2. In 1994, the province adopted a sports and recreation policy which ensures equal opportunities for all persons.

  3. The Department of Economic Development and Tourism has an ongoing entrepreneur program called Self-Start. One of the main target groups is women. As of February 1998, there had been a total of 1,576 approvals, with 599 being for females since the program's inception in December 1989.

  4. The Department of Municipalities, Culture and Housing administers the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program, which assists low-income homeowners occupying substandard housing to repair, rehabilitate or improve their dwellings to acceptable levels of health and safety.

  5. The Department of Advanced Education and Labour offers several programs to help people wishing to start their own businesses. The Student Venture Capital provides students with interest-free loans of up to $3,000. In 1994-95, there were 126 participants, 30 of whom were female. The Entrepreneur Program gives unemployed individuals a chance to run their own businesses by guaranteeing a business loan with the bank. In 1994, there were 253 participants, 101 of whom were female.

  6. Families in New Brunswick with a net income of $20,000 or less receive an annual tax-free payment of $250 for each child under age 18 living at home. Families with a net income of $20,000 or more may receive some benefits, depending on their income and the number of children.

  7. The New Brunswick Geographic Information Corporation gives an allowance to a maximum of $200 toward the payment of property tax to homeowners whose total family income does not exceed $20,000. Approximately 40,000 homeowners in New Brunswick will qualify for this allowance in 1998.

Article 13 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | ON | MB | SK | AB | BC | YK

Article 14: Rural Women

  1. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development operates Rural Riches Trading Co., which assists cottage industry producers to market their products.

  2. The New Brunswick Farm Women's Association receives funding from the New Brunswick Department of Agriculture. This Association lobbies for women and families living on farms in New Brunswick. The New Brunswick Women's Institute also receives funding from the Department of Agriculture. The Institute is a provincial organization that works to promote equality for rural women.

  3. The Department of Agriculture continues to sponsor a farm management program. Surveys have found that more than 60 percent of New Brunswick farm women have taken business management courses.

Article 14 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NS | NS | QC | MB | ON | MB | SK | BC | YK

Article 15: Legal Rights

  1. The Department of Justice and the Department of the Solicitor General, in partnership with the Law Society of New Brunswick, sponsors Domestic Legal Aid. This program provides legal services for victims of spousal abuse to help them leave abusive relationships. This program also provides necessary legal services for dependent spouses to obtain adequate support and/or child support agreements and orders.

  2. The Department of Health and Community Services operates 12 transition houses in New Brunswick. The purpose of a transition house is to provide safe, short-term accommodation to abused women and their children. One of the transition houses is for Native women and children and is jointly supported by the federal Department of Indian Affairs.

  3. Discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual harassment continue to be the largest sources of formal complaints to the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission. Out of the 189 formal complaints filed between April 1, 1996 and March 31, 1997, 35 were of discrimination based on sex and 32 were based on sexual harassment.

Article 15 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NS | QC | AB | BC

Article 16: Women and the Family

  1. The Department of Justice and the Department of Human Resources Development continue to initiate policies designed to ensure that all persons with a legal responsibility to provide support to a spouse and/or children fulfill their obligations.

Article 16 - Links to Convention and other sections
FED | NF | NS | QC | MB | AB | BC