March 31, 2008

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE WOMEN'S CENTRE

I would like to express my congratulations to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre for celebrating their 30th anniversary last week. High levels of violence, homelessness, addictions and poverty characterize the downtown east side community. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, injustice and injury.

Life on the street poses more dangers and exploitation for women. The centre is one of the few safe places in the downtown east side for women and their children. They provide support for over 300 women every day by providing hot meals, clothing, secure mailing addresses, phone and computer access, and functioning and secure toilets and showers.

The inequality for women continues today in Canadian society. There are 67 percent more women than men who earn less than $30,000 a year. One in five women continues to live in poverty in Canada; 56 percent of lone-parent families headed by women are poor compared to 24 percent of those headed by men. Women and youth account for 83 percent of Canada’s minimum-wage workers, and 70 percent of workers living in abject poverty in the world are women.

Rural women constitute the majority of the 1.5 billion people who live in absolute poverty. Women own only 1 percent of the land in the world, according to the food and agricultural organization of the United Nations. Women work 2.3 percent of the world’s working hours, producing half of the world’s food, but earn only 10 percent of the world’s income. Yet they own less than 1 percent of the world’s property. And 37 percent of women of colour in Canada are low income.

The link between poverty and health is clear. The lack of access to affordable housing, transportation, food and non-secure health benefits such as medications leads to poor health. Women and children who are poor are also more likely to be socially isolated, which contributes to ill health.

I ask all members of the House to help me congratulate the women’s centre for their good work and commitment to ending poverty for women.