My top 3 questions for Federal players this Elexmas...

#1 Advancing Women’s Economic Security - Women in Canada who work full-time earn 70.5 % of what men earn. Also, women are more likely to have incomes below the poverty line because they do significant amounts of unpaid care-giving work. Will you and your party support the implementation of federal pay equity legislation, and the use of federal funds to increase social assistance rates across the country so that they exceed the poverty line? Further, will you and your party support the immediate establishment of a federal taskforce on women’s poverty?

#2 Implementing Aboriginal Women’s Human Rights - Aboriginal women in Canada continue to face systematic discrimination on the basis of their Aboriginal status and their gender, as is demonstrated by the over 500 missing and dead Aboriginal women in Canada. Will you and your party agree to prioritize action on Aboriginal women’s human rights by changing the current law (Bill C31) so that Aboriginal women have the same right as Aboriginal men to pass on Indian status to their children and grandchildren, regardless of previous history of “marrying out”; granting First Nations women matrimonial property rights equivalent to the rights of other women in Canada; and funding Aboriginal women’s organizations at the same level as their male-led counter-parts?

#3 Responding to Violence against Women and Girls - Shelter and transition houses in Canada still struggle to get enough money to keep their doors open and serve all of the women who are fleeing from violence . Will you and your party support an annual federal contribution of $50 million to support shelters and transition houses?

Borrowed from FAFIA (Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action) www.fafia-afai.org

http://www.amnesty.ca/campaigns/sisters_overview.php for Amnesty's Stolen Sisters Report (Missing Aboriginal Women)