YUKON

Introduction

  1. This Report is the submission for the Yukon Territory, covering the period from April 1, 1994 to March 31, 1998.

Article 3: Measures to Ensure the Advancement of Women

  1. The Human Rights Act states among its objectives the advancement in Yukon of a public policy that every individual is free and equal in dignity and rights, as well as the promotion of recognition of the inherent dignity and worth, as well as equal and inalienable rights, of all members of the human family.

  2. In the fall of 1998, amendments to the Maintenance and Custody Enforcement Orders Act and the Family and Property and Support Act changed the definition of spouse to include both common-law and same-sex couples, thus ensuring that the provisions of these Acts apply equally to all families.

  3. The Yukon Women's Directorate has developed a statistical database of women in the territory, Counting Us In: A Statistical Profile of Yukon Women, a Women's Directorate publication, was released on April 12, 1999, and launched Gender Equity Awareness Week. The document compiles data from a variety of sources and provides sex-desegregated information on the lives of Yukon women and men. It is a tool to help government decision makers and policy analysts use gender-based analysis.

  4. From 1994 to the present, the Women's Directorate has been undertaking research, policy development and public awareness on issues such as family violence, economic security, pension reform, poverty, balancing work and family, gender equity, sexual assault and women abuse, and issues specific to Aboriginal women, young women and older women.

  5. In 1997, the Yukon Government introduced the Crime Prevention and Victim Services Trust Act, which establishes a trust and a framework for its administration. The Trust funds community-based projects and programs directed at crime prevention and victim services. It is one of several pieces of legislation that encourage the community to become involved in finding solutions to serious concerns such as violence against women.

  6. In 1997, the Family Violence Prevention Act was introduced. This legislation focuses on the victim by offering three protective court orders that provide several ways in which victims can seek help: an Emergency Intervention Order, a Victim's Assistance Order and a Warrant of Entry.

  7. In the role as co-chair of one of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Status of Women Senior Officials Working Groups, the Director of the Yukon Women's Directorate co-facilitated the Québec City Task Force three-day meeting to build a strategic framework (in French and English) on Preventing Violence Against Women, which was released by the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Status of Women Ministers at their annual meeting in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in July 1999.

  8. Options, Choices, Changes, a resource for women who are in abusive relationships, was released in Yukon in May 1999 during Sexual Assault Prevention Month. This resource had been adapted from the Nova Scotia Status of Women's Council.

  9. Since 1996, the Women's Directorate and the Youth Achievement Centre, Health and Social Services have organized the Young Women of Grit program. This program is a three-week adventure-based, outdoor leadership program designed for young women aged 13-18 who are working towards positive change in their lives. Activities include rock climbing, and an 11-day canoe trip. Group sessions include team building, discussions on self-image, trust and cooperation, anger management, goal setting, problem solving, gender equity and healthy relationships. In 1995, the first such program ran as Women of Grit, for women experiencing hardship, violence or other stresses in their lives.

  10. An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act was passed in the fall of 1998 prohibiting discrimination based on source of income when seeking accommodation, applying for work, using a public facility or assessing a public service.

  11. The Yukon Human Rights Commission celebrates December 10 (Human Rights Day) and March 21 (Elimination of Racial Discrimination Day) by holding candlelight marches, circle ceremonies, sponsoring film festivals and holding open houses. The Commission sponsors community events through their Community Grant program where any person or group in Yukon can apply for funding to help offset the costs of a human rights project in the territory. The Commission requests that the Commissioner of Yukon proclaim December 10th as Human Rights Day in Yukon and advertise it in the newspaper.

  12. The Yukon Government worked with interdepartmental committees to develop the government's Anti-Poverty Strategy, Youth Strategy and Older Persons Strategy in 1998.

  13. In 1997, In Other Words: An Inclusive Language Guide was released to help government workers communicate in ways that reinforce the full participation of all people. It was designed to help those working in communications and policy to incorporate inclusive language in all program and policy development.

  14. Since 1996, in collaboration with the Regional Red Cross Society and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Women's Directorate co-chaired the Yukon Regional Advisory Abuse Prevention Services Program Committee. This is a Red Cross program coordinated and delivered in the Yukon. In the first two years, over 1,000 students received educational information on abuse and over 20 volunteers were trained.

  15. In 1995, A Cappella North -- A Survey of Teenage Girls in the Yukon was released. The report included focus group discussions with over 200 young women. This document has proven invaluable both within and outside of government in developing initiatives to improve the quality of life for young women in the territory.

  16. In response to concerns expressed in the Talking About Crime Committee Report, a territory-wide consultation, in 1995 the Yukon Government initiated a crime prevention strategy called Creating Safer Communities. Issue papers on topics such as family violence, property-related crime, youth crime and offender management were released by an inter-departmental committee comprised of the departments of Justice, Health and Social Services, Education, Community and Transportation Services, the Women's Directorate and the RCMP.

  17. The Directorate co-chaired a Federal-Provincial-Territorial Status of Women Working Group on Violence Against Women in 1995. Projects included the bringing together of communications and information officers from across the country to a seminar and producing a document entitled Beyond the Violence: Reaching for Higher Ground. The Directorate also produced the third edition of A Yukon Directory of Services and Resources.

Article 3 - Links to Convention and other sections
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Article 5: Elimination of Stereotypes

  1. In 1998, the Government of Yukon's Department of Health and Social Services introduced the Healthy Families Initiative. This Initiative promotes parent-child bonding and attachment, as the quality of this interaction has been proven to play a significant role in positive outcomes for children. The program promotes positive parenting practices and child rearing, and assists families to create a safe and stimulating early childhood environment that encourages school readiness. The Healthy Families Initiative provides a long-term service (from three to five years) which helps families deal with new issues as children develop and as family circumstances change.

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

  1. In December 1997, the Department of Health and Social Services passed legislation to implement the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. The Hague Convention is consistent with Article 21 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which was passed by the United Nations in 1989. The legislation protects against illegal traffic in children through private adoption for purposes of organ retrieval, child prostitution and child pornography.

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

  1. Through the Family and Children's Branch, the Department of Education works to ensure the health and well-being of families. Programs within the Branch have received additional resources in order to identify problems leading to family breakdown and child abuse/neglect, prevention and support services to prevent harm to children, and the development and provision of information on healthy family functioning and the indicators of abuse/neglect to community and professional groups.

  2. Information and advice on family planning is available to women throughout Yukon by Community Health Nurses, the Whitehorse Health Centre and local physicians.

  3. In May 1996, the Gender Equity in Public Schools Policy was developed by an inter-agency committee and introduced in the Yukon Legislature. The policy responds to the many concerns raised in the A Cappella North report, released by the Women's Directorate in 1995, by providing guidelines that promote gender equity in all aspects of the school system. The areas addressed include curriculum, teaching practices, student and teacher relations, as well as school and community relations.

  4. As a follow-up to the release of the policy, a Steering Committee was formed to ensure that the policy would be implemented in an effective and timely manner. The implementation committee consisted of members from the Women's Directorate, Department of Education, Victoria Faulkner Women's Centre, Yukon Teachers Association, Yukon College Women's Studies, Les EssentiElles, and representatives from Yukon school councils and boards. The Steering Committee developed a draft implementation plan framework which included a consultation process involving the various stakeholders which built a comprehensive action plan for the implementation and monitoring of the gender equity policy in all Yukon schools. Pilot projects to assist in the implementation was the next step, which required contacting four schools (Hidden Valley School, St. Elias Community School, Watson Lake Secondary School, and Porter Creek Secondary), and assisting in the creation of Gender Equity teams.

  5. During 1998, a draft version of a Readers' Guide to the Gender Equity in the Public Schools Policy was developed by the Women's Directorate with approval by the Committee. In April 1999 the final version of It All Adds Up was released.

  6. In 1997, the Directorate sponsored Yukon Educational Theatre to tour rural communities to conduct conflict resolution workshops for elementary students throughout Yukon.

  7. In 1995, the Directorate cosponsored Act Out Theatre for a play dealing with the issue of family violence, and in 1996, it cosponsored the Theatre for a play dealing with the issue of gender equity. Both plays were written for and acted by youth.

  8. In 1995, a Yukon Curriculum Review on Gender Bias was prepared and distributed to schools, teachers and administrators.

  9. The Yukon Equity Project, a community-based committee, held a training retreat for adult facilitators in the spring and brought 40 youth together in November 1995, for a four-day retreat. The young women worked with female facilitators while the young men worked with male facilitators, and on the fourth day they met together to work on gender equity issues. From this project, the youth developed action plans which they have continued to work on in their own schools.

  10. Many Yukon schools now have Yukon School Improvement Plans which target gender and social equity issues. More schools will be assisted in developing these on a needs basis.

  11. In 1997, the Directorate worked with the Department of Justice, Partners in Children, and others on developing a workshop for divorcing and separating parents. From these discussions (and based in part on a similar program from Manitoba), the "For the Sake of the Children" program was established.

  12. The Task Force to Promote Safe Schools report was released in May of 1996 and contained 11 recommendations which were accepted and adopted by the Department of Education.

  13. The Department of Education has a Safe Schools Coordinator whose role it is to provide information and advice to students and staff in the area of discrimination towards women, as well as the broader problems related to safe schools.

  14. "SAFE TEEN" returned to Whitehorse in 1996 to present workshops in four Whitehorse secondary schools, a self-defence workshop for women, a workshop for men on men's violence, and a workshop for teachers and parents. The group also returned to Dawson City to present a number of workshops and public lectures.

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

  1. The Department of Health and Social Services recently established the Professional Development Fund to provide financial assistance to health and social workers and to volunteers to advance their skills in the areas of health and social services. The Department has also established a Nursing Bursary to encourage people to take training in the nursing field.

  2. In October, 1994, the Yukon government implemented an Employment Equity Policy and continues to follow employment practices including: increased training in areas of non-traditional occupations, preferences on competitions in areas where there is under-representation, elimination of systemic barriers when preparing recruitment packages, use of temporary assignments, continual education of government employees respecting employment equity.

  3. In 1997-98, the Department of Health and Social Services added an additional $880,000 in funding to the Child Care Subsidy Program, an increase of 8 percent, for a total of $3.5 million. This subsidy assists low-income families in accessing child care facilities. In 1999, the Department also added an additional $350,000 to the Direct Operating Grant for licensed child care facilities, for a total of $1.57 million, to assist with the ongoing costs of operation and to help reduce user fees.

  4. In 1998, a Letter of Understanding was jointly signed by the Yukon Government and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) to provide for an expedited workplace harassment grievance adjudication process. An investigator was jointly selected by union and management representatives to mediate or conduct investigations of complaints, prepare fact-finding reports and provide in-service training to employees, management and union representatives on workplace harassment prevention and resolution. Sexual harassment, personal harassment and abuse of authority are the three areas of harassment prohibited by the PSAC collective agreement and the employer's Workplace Harassment Policy.

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

  1. The Yukon Government is actively participating in the Social Union negotiations and working with other levels of government to deliver health care, education and social services. Yukon is presently chair of the Advisory Committee on Health Services.

  2. Whitehorse General Hospital, with the assistance of the Department of Health and Social Services, is purchasing a new improved mammography machine which will assist in the early detection of breast cancer.

  3. The Children's Drug and Optical program was introduced in 1998, to assist low-income families with the cost of prescription drugs, eye exams and eyeglasses for children 18 years of age and younger.

  4. The Children's Dental Program has been enhanced to provide additional services to all Yukon school children.

  5. The Healthy Families Initiative reaches out to young parents and parents at risk by promoting positive parenting and child rearing practices.

  6. A Midwifery Planning Group has been established to discuss midwifery and work with the Department of Health and Social Services in establishing legislation related to the practice of midwifery.

  7. A Reproductive Health Coordinator is working within the Department of Health and Social Services to provide information on family planning, sexually transmitted disease prevention, prenatal/postnatal health, early disease identification (e.g., breast self-examination) and menopause.

  8. Expectant mothers from outlying communities who must travel to Whitehorse to await the birth of their child are able to receive assistance with accommodation through Hospitality House (Rotary House). A hostel program at Whitehorse General Hospital is also available to clients and their caregivers who are directly involved with the services available at the hospital.

  9. In the fall of 1998, the Yukon Government passed amendments to the Limitation of Actions Act. These amendments recognized the plight of survivors of sexual abuse and their intense need for healing -- by removing the time restrictions in matters of sexual abuse so that survivors can take action at any time. The amendments also apply to minors who suffered sexual assault or sexual misconduct in childhood. Moreover, the amendments provide for a transition phase that may serve to revive "time-expired" claims -- provided the right to bring these claims was never prohibited in the first place.

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

  1. The Yukon Government has introduced two major anti-poverty initiatives that make more disposable income available to Yukon families and individuals who need it most. The Yukon Child Benefit is a direct, monthly cash payment for lower income Yukon families with children under 18 years of age. There is no tax on these benefit payments, and they are not counted as income for the purpose of determining social assistance. The Yukon Low Income Family Tax Credit is a non-refundable, personal income tax credit which will reduce the Yukon income tax that low-income Yukoners pay. This measure targets taxpayers with net incomes of less than $25,000.

  2. The Kid's Recreational Fund was established by the Yukon Government to enable children and youth, whose families are experiencing financial hardship, to actively participate in organized recreational programs. Funding is available to help cover registration fees, equipment and supplies for organized sports, arts, cultural, recreational and social activities.

  3. In 1996, the Directorate worked in collaboration with Sports and Recreation to address the issue of harassment in sports. Changes to Community and Transportation's Yukon 2000 report were included to address the issues of gender and harassment.

  4. The Maintenance and Custody and Enforcement Act provides for an order of a court in or outside Yukon for payment of monies as maintenance or support. The Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Act provides for the enforcement of a reciprocal enforcement order in another province, state or country. Yukon currently operates reciprocal enforcement with all Canadian provinces and territories, and with 30 U.S. states and other countries.

  5. This Act was amended and passed in 1998 and proclamation is expected in the fall of 1999. The amendments included new enforcement measures enabling the government to:

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

  1. In 1996-97, the Family Violence Shelter funding policy was established to provide stable funding to shelters in the outlying communities. These shelters offer safe homes, referral and follow-up services to abused women.

  2. The Department of Health and Social Services has increased funding and expanded mental health services in rural communities to meet both clinical and training needs for rural communities.

  3. Increased funding has been provided to the Child Abuse Treatment Service to provide clinical services for abused children and their family members in rural communities.

  4. In 1996-97, the Department of Health and Social Services provided an increase in child care services to support licensing of rural child care spaces.

  5. Since 1997, the Department of Health and Social Services has contributed $30,000 per year to the "Food for Learning" school nutrition program. Schools in rural Yukon actively participate in this program which provides nutritious lunches and snacks for those students in need.

  6. In 1998-99, the Department of Health and Social Services introduced the community telemedicine project in three rural communities. Through this program, health care workers in these communities can capture static or video images and transmit them electronically to Whitehorse General Hospital for clinical diagnosis by medical personnel. Telemedicine offers the potential for improving the quality of life of people in rural Yukon by making a wider range of diagnosis and treatment options available closer to their home.

  7. In 1997, the Department of Health and Social Services established the Health Partnership Committee to work with communities and First Nation Health Directors to develop preventive health and social programs for rural Yukon.

Article 14 - Links to Convention and other sections
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1 These cutoffs represent income levels below which families spend more than 20 percentage points above the average on food and housing. According to this measurement, poverty is defined primarily in relative terms (i.e., in relation to allocation of income) and not in absolute terms (i.e., in relation to certain standards of needs fulfilment). According to this approach, poverty will always exist in Canada, unless income distribution becomes strictly egalitarian. However, this does not mean that the needy will not have enough income to ensure their livelihood, health and well-being.