, , l . v , I f '0 \‘ an; I ' ‘ f." ‘(JAX'QI~ ‘ ‘_ 3?}an

...

THE CADRE, TUES., MARCH 26, 1974 page} ‘q

Council’of Women V

On March 20 Dr. Katie Cooke spoke'at the semi annual meeting of the P.E.I. council of women. After being intro- duced by Mrs. Dorothy Hicks, Dr. Cooke said that the P.E.I. report on the Status of WO— men was the best provincial report she has seen. She was very happy to see so many women involved in their sta- tus and hope they will make even more progress by stat— ing their opinions.

Dr. Cooke went into a few of the priorities of the Fed— eral Advisory Committee on Women. Their first concern is the establishment of the Human Rights Commission which will hopefully end not just discrimination against fe-

This issues contributors are Sheila, Doreen, Linda, Beth, Bonnie, Donna, Sharon, Vian, Diane, Mari, Sue, Martha and Hilda.

THE STATUS OF WOMEN REPORT No doubt many an Island wo— man, whether she was aware of it or not, has suffered job discrimination which could be directly attributed to-the fact that she was a woman. Such discrimination is even more apparent if the potential employee is married and of child bearing age. In such cases the woman involved would probably feel very angry, but, also very power- less. Those who might turn to the P.E.I. Human Rights .Code in an attempt to de— fend themselves against such

discrimination will find no protection from it, but ra— ther what accounts to leg-\ islated loopholes which per- mit social and economic discrimination against women. As many women can testify, this permeates almost all areas of economic and soc— ial interaction, e.g., _ housing rentals, trade union membership and advertising related to these areas. Con- sider, for example, that in Canada only P.E.I. and Quebec do not prevent ems ployers from advertising po- sitions which specify the sex of the applicant. It must be recognized that, as the provincial advisory committee on the status of women observes, "All persons work because they must, whether this need be finan— cial, self-satisfaction or a combination of personal & monied identity factors. To

'2 QUAD 251.11.

males but also against many other minority groups. They would also like to see the Canada Pension Plan change. As it stands now the husbands and children do not receive any penSion (just a very ~small lump sum) if the wife who has been paying into it shouldwdie. They feel that a husband and the children should have the same rights as the wife. Another example stated was the lack of a pension given to the house— wives of Canada. Although they are contributing to society, they are not as yet covered under the Canada Pen— ? sion Plan.

The Committee would also like to see some change in the Citizenship Act. As it stands now, the child, if

born to a non—Canadian father

and a Canadian mother out of Canada must takeiher father's

deny these needs as indivi- duals is to deny adults the freedom to chose gainful employment as a life—style." Furthermore, although 'equal pay for equal work' is spec- ified in the P.E.I. Human Rights Code, the report of the status of women points out that\what constitutes 'equal work' in this con— text remains nebulous: thus, it is easily violated. The code must be revised to ensure that the loopholes allowing discrimination no longer exist. If you agree you must express your concern to the members of the govern-C ment and demand that the rel- evant reccommendations of the Status of WOmen Report be implemented immediately. HOW MUCH IS A HOUSEWIFE WORTH? we've all thought about the question: Newsweek magazine

. recently helped me get an an-

swer. That magazine reported on a decision handed down in New” York City in February of'this year. In that city a jury prov1ded a "handsome" settle- ment to a Joseph Montalbano for "loss of services". Usually, said Newsweek, those whose wives or husbands are injured in accidents often sue for 'loss of ser- Vices' and receive awards

vfrom injuries. This is be-

cause, said Newsweek, "aff- ection is not easily come‘

'by in this aleniated world

and a person can pine away if the spouse is laid up." However, the settlement given Mr. Montalbano was for a different kind of "loss of services." ‘ ' ‘ His wife, Catherine, had. been injured in a car crash

citizenship and is not allowed to take her mother's instead. Hopefully this will change. ”

Dr.‘Cooke also stated that ishe hoped there would be some change in federal employ— ment along with the other inequalities toward women in Canada. ’ '

One point that Dr. Cooke could not stress enough was the need for the women in Canada to get involved. If their ideas and opinions about any of the reccommend- ations made by the federal. or provincial council are not heard, then little will be done. You must help to help yourself.

After Dr. Cooke's lecture there was a question period where many interesting points were made.

All in all it was a very good meeting and a shame you' missed it!! ~

and was laid up for two months. For this period of timekhe was forced to do all the housework by‘himself?

"As the jury saw it," reports Newsweek, "Montalbano was entitled to $56,000 for his labours.

This amounts to $336,000 a year—-for a woman's houSe— work services.

Again, we must credit News- week for phrasing the next question nicely: "What re-/ mains to be seen, now that Mrs. Montalbano is up and about again, is whether Mr. Montalbano can afford her." UPCOMING EVENTS » - ** WOman ... Secnd world Exhibition of Photography, sponsored by the Goethe In— stitute, a German Cultural Center in Montreal. The theme of the 552 photographs from 85 countries is "woman." It will beron display at the COnfederation Center of the

Arts from April 18 to May 15.

' ** The annual meeting of the ,Family Planning Association

of P.E.I. will be held at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March gg at the Family Planning ' Center at 202 Queen Street. A new board will be elected at this meeting, which is open to the public, and new memberships (no fee) will be accepted. Your support is required. "