Saskatchewan

Introduction

  1. This Report updates, to March, 1998, the information contained in Saskatchewan's submission to Canada's Fourth Report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Article 3: Measures to Ensure the Advancement of Women

  1. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission continues to administer and enforce the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex or pregnancy in the areas of employment, education, accommodation and the provision of public services.

  2. The Saskatchewan Women's Secretariat continues to provide leadership to government on issues affecting the economic, social and political conditions of women in Saskatchewan.

  3. The Secretariat has developed a statistical database and a set of economic indicators that measure the economic progress of women in Saskatchewan and policy implications for government.

  4. Between 1994 and 1998, the Women's Secretariat undertook research and policy development on issues such as economic security, family violence, single parents, pay equity, employment equity, wage gap, pension reform, unpaid work, poverty, balancing work and family, gender socialization, sexual harassment, Aboriginal women and senior women.

  5. The Victims of Domestic Violence Act, referred to in Canada's Fourth Report, was proclaimed in 1994. It established emergency judicial orders, available in situations of domestic violence, which allow the abused party (usually the woman) to remain in the family home. Orders are available to ensure that an abused party can have access to personal effects following an abusive incident, and further remedies are available for the abused party following a violent incident. The legislation also allows the authorities to obtain a warrant to enter the home to investigate allegations of abuse.

Article 3 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 4: Temporary Special Measures

  1. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission continues to approve programs designed to address disadvantages faced by people on the basis of prohibited grounds of discrimination. The Commission's programs currently target women, persons with disabilities, Aboriginal people and members of visible minorities. The Commission supervises 35 employment equity plans affecting over 35,000 workers, and 29 education equity plans representing over 77,000 students.

Article 4 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 5: Elimination of Stereotypes

  1. The Women's Secretariat has developed and delivered a series of educational workshops for government employees and the general public. Workshop topics include balancing work and family, gender socialization, employment equity, communicating with respect and sexual harassment.

  2. The Interdepartmental Committee on Family Violence includes approximately 10 government departments. In 1997, a policy framework was approved to address family violence. A three-year strategy includes establishing a partnership with the community, providing support to existing services and developing alternative justice services.
  3. The Department of Social Services operates the Family Violence Support Centre. It also funds community-based organizations, including nine shelters, nine sexual assault counsellors, two programs which offer safe homes, and a number of domestic abuse outreach programs across the province which offer referral and follow-up services to abused women. Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, a division of the Department of Municipal Government, has been involved in the construction of shelters.

  4. The Department of Education has developed units for the health curriculum for the middle level of public schools that address issues of gender stereotyping and family education. The curriculum has units dealing with respect and relationships, family and community violence, family structure, roles and responsibilities, and dating. All provincial curricula emphasize gender equity in all subject areas for all grades. The emphasis on gender equity is demonstrated by the use of inclusive language, the use of non-traditional examples for both males and females wherever possible, and a focus on gender-equitable experiences in suggested activities.

Article 5 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 6: Trafficking of Women and Prostitution

  1. The departments of Social Services and Justice have developed a five-point strategy to deal with the issue of children and youth (mainly female) involved in prostitution. The main elements of the strategy are: a public information campaign emphasizing that child prostitution is child abuse; a strict law enforcement policy aimed at those who sexually exploit children; targeted outreach services, using community agencies to serve children involved in prostitution; a tracking and monitoring system to enhance the detection and prosecution of perpetrators and to facilitate the provision of services to victims within Saskatchewan and across the country; and a review of existing provincial and federal laws to ensure they are consistent with the goal of successfully prosecuting those who sexually exploit children.

Article 6 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 10: Education

  1. The Equity in Education Forum is composed of representatives from the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, the Department of Education, the Saskatchewan School Trustees Association, the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, and the League of Education Administrators, Directors and Superintendents. In November 1997, the Forum and the Minister of Education released a document developed by the Forum, entitled Our Children, Our Communities and Our Future. This document articulates a common vision to promote equity in Saskatchewan schools, setting out policies and action plans for ensuring fair and respectful treatment within the education system. The Forum has now put into place measures to achieve the goals of the policy framework. There are also a number of post-secondary equity plans in place. The University of Saskatchewan, for example, has an equity program for female students in the mathematics department.

  2. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission sometimes grants exemptions from the strict requirements of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code where this is deemed "necessary and advisable." For example, although the Code prohibits sex discrimination in education, the Commission has granted an exemption enabling a Regina High School to offer an all-girl mathematics program.

Article 10 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 11: Employment

  1. The Women's Secretariat developed the Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value and Pay Equity Policy Framework as a guideline for the implementation of government policy, and provided advice to government workplaces on policy implementation. The Policy Framework sets out minimum standards for the implementation of pay equity. It requires a gender-neutral job evaluation system, jointly negotiated through the collective bargaining process. On October 1, 1998, the Public Service Commission, in cooperation with the Saskatchewan Government Employees' Union, implemented the plan for 10,000 union members. It will be phased in over a period of five years.

  2. Recent changes to the collective agreement between government employees and the Public Service Commission include the doubling of the maximum length of an unpaid maternity leave from one to two years.

  3. In 1997, the Department of Labour began a two-year Balancing Work and Family Initiative to identify and address the challenges confronting Saskatchewan workers who face competing employment and family obligations. This government-sponsored community development initiative involves public education, a symposium and a survey of select private and public sector organizations to identify work and family issues. A task force comprised of business and labour leaders is conducting community consultations.

  4. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of "family status," which is defined as "being in a parent and child relationship." Family status was added to the Code as a prohibited ground of discrimination in 1993. The Human Rights Commission interprets the Code to impose an obligation on employers to accommodate their employees' family obligations.

  5. In 1997-98, women comprised 46.4 percent of the total work force of all employers with Employment Equity Programs approved by the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (the "sponsor work force"). This is slightly less than the 1996-97 percentage but exceeds the Human Rights Commission's goal of 45 percent. Women made up 41.1 percent of the work force of public sector corporations (i.e., the corporations monitored that year).

  6. The Commission suggests that women continue to face barriers in the public sector with respect to management positions and non-traditional and under-represented occupations. In 1996-97, women held 35.1 percent of all management positions in the total sponsor work force, but only 28.2 percent of management positions in public sector corporations. By comparison, the 1993 report identified women in 22.5 percent of management positions in the total sponsor work force.

  7. In 1997-98, women occupied 27.4 percent of senior management positions and 38.9 percent of middle management positions in the sponsor work force, but only 14.4 percent of senior management and 30.8 percent of middle management positions in the public sector. The comparable figures from 1993 (for the total sponsor work force) were 16.2 percent in senior management and 28.7 percent in middle management.

  8. Women are hired in numbers greater than their labour force representation of 45 percent; however, they continue to be concentrated in particular occupational groups. In most organizations these positions tend to be the lowest paid. Women are also under-represented in permanent positions.

  9. The overall trend for women in management positions is encouraging. Sponsor reports indicate that the number of women in management has increased slightly. However, almost half of the sponsors have less than 25 percent representation of women in senior management. The Commission recommends increased focus on representation of women in the management of public sector corporations.

Article 11 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 12: Health

  1. The Screening Program for Breast Cancer now provides province-wide screening mammography services to women between 50 and 69 years of age. The Program is currently examining the possibility of expanding to provide services to 40- to 49- year-old women.

  2. The Minister of Health announced the formation of the Cervical Cancer Screening Task Force on February 18, 1998, at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre. Saskatchewan Health is working with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency to develop a cervical cancer screening program in the province, to establish an information system to improve rates of Pap testing, and to improve data collection for program development and decision making.

  3. An Advisory Committee on Family Planning was established to make recommendations to the Minister of Health on reproductive health issues, such as unplanned pregnancy. Six pilot projects -- Teen Wellness Centres -- have been implemented and evaluated. A "Facts of Life" toll-free telephone line has been funded. A conference entitled "Well-being of Youth: Everyone's Concern" was held in March 1998.

  4. The Bridge Point Centre for Eating Disorders, located in the town of Milden, provides intensive rehabilitation for individuals (primarily women and girls) with eating disorders. The program is offered in four- to six-week modules which run as often as four times a year. An integral part of the program is follow-up in the home community, supported by relapse prevention weekends at the Centre. This is a three-year demonstration project which had its first intake in the fall of 1997.

  5. The Successful Mother's Support Program reaches out to teen and young parents with disabilities and to children who live in conditions that put them at risk of poor mental and physical health.

  6. A Midwifery Implementation Working Group was established by Saskatchewan Health in 1997 to work towards the introduction of midwifery legislation. The Working Group is currently reviewing and developing the necessary regulatory, education and operational mechanisms to permit the legalized practice of midwifery in Saskatchewan.

Article 12 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 13: Economic and Social Life

  1. The Department of Municipal Government has developed an Equity Checklist to assist groups and individuals assess attitudes and behaviour toward women, people of various ancestry and people with disabilities. The document was distributed throughout the sport and recreation community in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Sport Inc. now makes it mandatory (as a condition of lottery grant funding support to its members) that sport organizations institute a policy on harassment.

  2. The Department of Economic and Co-operative Development assists communities with the organization of daycare cooperatives throughout the province.

  3. The Child Care Program, administered by the Department of Social Services, licenses and regulates daycare centres and family daycare homes and provides subsidies for low-income parents, of whom about 87 percent are single mothers. The Department continues to make incremental improvements to the delivery and funding of the licensed child care sector. There has been a 17 percent increase in expenditures on child care grants and subsidies since 1993-94, and the number of licensed spaces increased by 2.7 percent to 7,124. Since 1992-93, over $4 million in enhancements has been spent on child care. The Department of Social Services has increased the number of child care spaces and locations available for infants and toddlers of teen mothers attending high school, provided more flexible child care options for rural women, increased the parent subsidy rates for infants and toddlers, and introduced wage enhancement grants (nearly $1 per hour) for trained child care workers.

  4. The Family Health Benefits Program is designed to help families on social assistance to enter the work force without losing child health benefits (including dental services, eyeglasses, medical supplies and appliances, prescription drugs and ambulance services) and assist lower-income working families to ensure that they are not forced to rely on social assistance because of their children's health needs.

  5. Through cooperation among the departments of Health and Social Services and the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, the province initiated Saskatchewan Assisted Living Services for low-income individuals living in senior social housing who require a combination of shelter and supportive services to maintain their independence. In 1995, 74 percent of senior tenants were female and 90 percent were living alone.

Article 13 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 14: Rural Women

  1. Efforts to increase on-farm income through development and diversification include encouragement and training for women entrepreneurs. Training programs that are supported by the Department of Agriculture and Food include business management and farm financial management.

  2. The Department of Agriculture and Food's Farm Stress Line, supported in part by the Women's Secretariat, offers a counselling and referral service to farm and rural individuals in crisis. Issues often identified include financial pressures, alcoholism, depression and suicide. About half of the calls received annually are from women. Rural women often find themselves in isolated and disadvantaged situations compared to their urban counterparts where emergency services are plentiful and more readily accessible.

  3. The Department of Economic and Co-operative Development cosponsored a study on the economic benefits of rural daycare, undertaken by the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Saskatchewan. The study described as the status of rural daycare, examined alternatives for daycare provision and recommended a development strategy that was considered in the government's review of child care.

  4. The Women's Secretariat has initiated a rural and farm women's project that profiles women's accomplishments and contributions to Saskatchewan's economic and social lifestyle, and provides information of particular importance to these sectors.

Article 14 - Links to Convention and other sections
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